Date:	Monday 7 July 1941
Time:	night
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	144 Sqn RAF
Registration:	AD871
MSN:	PL-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	North Sea -
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Mission - Brest, France.
Claimed shot down by night fighter pilot Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Beier of the 3./NJG 2, who was flying Ju 88 C-2 R4+AL from Gilze-Rijen airfield, the Netherlands. This claim is unlikely to be correct due to the route taken ( Hemswell, Upper Heyford , South coast) and the claimed time of the encounter. Beier had a less than stellar reputation for honest accounting and the original source (See the first source below) notes that the 100th Flak brigade based around Brest also made a claim of a Hampden. The only Hamden lost on this night was AD871. The overclaim by Beier was also reflected in the official German claim of aircraft shot down that night exceeding the RAF figure by 1 This discrepancy is noted in a personal letter of reply to the Widow of Sgt Edwards by the Air Ministry.

For the crew, see Aircrew Remembered.

Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=AD871
ORB 144 Squadron July 1941 National Archives
Air Casualty Pack AD871 National Archives
Family archives Sgt Norman Victor Edwards.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Jul-2019 09:05	TigerTimon	Added
08-Jul-2019 14:29	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, ]
08-Aug-2020 07:31	Booster69	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]