Date:	Thursday 11 July 1940
Time:	08:10
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk I
Owner/operator:	609 (West Riding) Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1069
MSN:	283
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, 5 miles off Portland Bill, Dorset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Warmwell, Dorset
Destination airport:

Narrative:
L1069: Spitfire Ia (c/no.283) First Flown 21-7-39. Delivered to the RAF 27 MU Shawbury 25-7-39. Issued to 609 (West Riding) Squadron, RAF 3-9-39. Failed To Return after combat over Portland. Pilot Flight Lt Barran posted as killed in action 11-7-40

According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1077): "Spitfire L1069 crashed at sea, south of Portland Bill, 11 July 1940. Acting Flight Lieutenant P H Barran: report of death"

Airborne from RAF Warmwell, Dorset, for a combat air patrol and convoy escort over the English Channel. It all started when six Spitfires of 609 Squadron (Middle Wallop) were vectored into an area where radar had picked out a blimp in the region of Portland. What they found was a a formation of Ju87s. They were just ready to make the engagement when they were pounced on by three Staffels of Bf109s. 609 lost its Flight Commander, and another Spitfire was shot down. Another Stuka attack on Portland later incurred slight damage, but with the arrival of Hurricanes from 601 Squadron (Tangmere) the Stukas had to abort after two of them were shot down and two Bf110s also suffered the same fate.

Spitfire L1069 damaged in combat with Bf 109s of JG 27, five miles off Portland Bill, Dorset. Pilot Flight Lt Barran bailed out and was rescued from the sea but died (reportedly from burns) before reaching land.

Pilot of Spitfire L1069:
Flight Lieutenant Philip Henry Barran RAF 90323, killed in action 11/07/1940. Body recovered from the sea, and buried at Leeds (Lawnswood) Cemetery, Leeds, West Yorkshire

One of two Spitfires of 609 (West Riding) Squadron, RAF lost in this combat engagement: L1069 (Flt Lt P H Barran) and L1095 (Pilot Officer G T M Mitchell)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1077: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502810
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2408669/barran,-philip-henry/
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p002.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_aircrew_in_the_Battle_of_Britain_(A%E2%80%93C)
6. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Barran.htm
7. http://www.rauxaf.net/page125.html
8. The Fallen Few of the Battle of Britain By Nigel McCrery & Norman Franks
9. Ramsay, Winston, ed. The Battle of Britain Then and Now Mk V. London: Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-900913-46-0.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Aug-2013 02:30	JINX	Added
24-Aug-2013 07:58	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
12-Oct-2019 22:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Oct-2019 07:28	juza7	Updated [Operator]