Date:	Thursday 11 January 1940
Time:	10:15 LT
Type:	Lockheed Hudson Mk I
Owner/operator:	224 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N7262
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, near Horns Reef, 10 miles off Blåvands Huk -   Denmark
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On the night of 10-11 January 1940, four German destroyers under escort by two others laid a minefield off Newcastle, and three others laid a minefield off Cromer. The first minefield claimed only one ship, the 251-ton trawler Lucida (12 killed) on the 11th but three ships were sunk by the second: the 5123-ton Italian cargo ship Traviata on the 11th (no casualty), the 2719-ton British cargo ship Granta on the 12th (12 killed) and the 162-ton British trawler Newhaven on the 15th (9 killed).

According to German records the returning destroyers were shadowed by enemy planes from 11:00 hrs (German time). At 13:45 hrs one of the German formations, three destroyers of 4. Zerstörer Flotille, was unsuccessfully attacked near Horns Reef by two formations of four bombers each. Only two planes dropped bombs, the others turned away in the face of accurate Flak fire. The German ships claimed one plane definitely shot down and one doubtful.

British sources say that the Hudson I N7262 QX-W of 224 Sqn RAF, that had taken off at 08:05 hrs (British time) from Leuchars to patrol the L1 area was shot down at 10:15 hrs by anti-aircraft fire while attacking three German destroyers. There were no survivors.

Crew (all killed):
Pilot Officer Richard Crozier Lloyd (Pilot, Service Number 41594, aged 22)
Pilot Officer Andrew Barkley (Observer, Service Number 41246, aged 21)
Aircraftman 1st Class Robert Smith Morton (Wireless Op, Service Number 551834)
Corporal D Turner (Air Gunner, Service Number 526986 aged 24)

Horn Reef (Danish: Horns Rev) is a shallow sandy reef of glacial deposits in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km/10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk, at approximate Coordinates: 55°31′47″N 7°54′22″E.

1. "The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940", by Geirr H. Haarr. ISBN 978-1-84832-140-3
2. Translated War Diary German Naval Staff Operations Division, January 1940
3. "Royal Air Force Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 1: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1939-1941", by Ross McNeill. ISBN 1-85780-128-8
4. "Fledgling Eagles: the Complete Account of Air Operations During the Phoney War and Norwegian Campaign, 1940", by Christopher Shores, with John Foreman, Christian-Jacques Ehrengardt, Heinrich Weiss and Bjorn Olsen. ISBN 0948817429
6. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/this-day-in-the-war-in-europe-the-beginning.41546/page-22
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/83: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14141905
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1078823/lloyd,-rickard-crozier/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083364/barkley,-andrew/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077286/morton,-robert-smith/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1809110/turner,-daniel/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horns_Rev
13. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=55.529722&lon=7.906111&z=7&m=b
14. http://www.benjidog.co.uk/Tower%20Hill/Fishing%20Vessels%20King%20Erik%20to%20Maisie.html
15. http://www.benjidog.co.uk/Tower%20Hill/Goodleigh%20to%20Gray%20Ranger.html
16. http://www.benjidog.co.uk/Tower%20Hill/Fishing%20Vessels%20Mistletoe%20to%20Ophir%20II.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jan-2017 06:53	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
05-Jun-2019 23:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Jan-2020 08:01	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Source, Narrative]