Date:	13-JAN-1939
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	106 Squadron Royal Air Force (106 Sqn RAF)
Registration:	K7631
C/n / msn:	F.2389
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	North Sea, off Souter Point, Marsden, near South Shields, Co. Durham -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Thornaby, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I K7630: Built by Fairey Aircraft at Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Cheshire, and delivered new to 88 Squadron, RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire on 17/12/37. Transferred to 106 Squadron, RAF Thornaby, North Yorkshire 8/10/38.

Written off (destroyed) 13/01/39 when crashed into the North Sea in bad visibility, one mile off Souter Point, Marsden, near South Shields, County Durham.(At approximate Coordinates: 54.970503°N 1.364100°W). Both crew killed:

Crew of Battle K7631:
Sergeant (564798) Eric James Beer (Pilot, aged 24) - killed on active service 13/1/1939
AC2 (539046) William Ingram (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) - killed on active service 13/1/1939

According to the official Air Ministry announcement in "Flight" magazine (January 19, 1939 page 61 - see link #5):

"FLYING ACCIDENTS
Sgt. Eric James Beer and A/C.2 William Ingram are missing and are believed to have lost their lives as the result of an accident which occurred near Souter Point off the coast of Durham on January 13, to an aircraft of No. 106 (Bomber) Squadron, Thornaby, Yorkshire. Sgt. Beer was the pilot and A/C.2 Ingram the other member of the crew."

1. The K File - The RAF of the 1930s (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1995 p.126)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 63)
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.32/p.127)
4. 106 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1 June 1938 to 30 September 1939: File AIR 27/831/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8385712
5. North Devon Journal Devon, England 19 January 1939
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souter_Lighthouse
8. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939%20-%200137.html
9. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280130
10. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280131
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souter_Lighthouse

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Mar-2018 20:18	Dr. John Smith	Added
22-Mar-2018 20:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
22-Mar-2018 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]
27-Oct-2018 20:50	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
03-Nov-2020 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]