ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228093
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| Date: | Friday 24 May 1940 |
| Time: | 15:55 LT |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia |
| Owner/operator: | 74 (Tiger) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | K9992 |
| MSN: | 206 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | South of Dunkirque, Pas de Calais -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Rochford, Southend, Essex |
K9992: Spitfire Mk.Ia (c/no. 206): First Flown 24-5-39. Issued to 74(Tiger) Squadron, RAF Hornchurch 28-9-39. Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations, when shot down over Dunkirk 24-5-40. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/528): "Spitfire K9992 failed to return from an operational flight, 24 May 1940. Acting Flight Lieutenant W P F Treacy: missing, later reported safe".
Pilot - Flight Lt William Patrick Francis Treacy - bailed out, and parachuted down to safety. Most published accounts state that Spitfire K9992 was shot down by Oblt Hilleke of II/JG 26. Flight Lt Treacy (RAF 37617) was repatriated back to England by boat, and rejoined his squadron, only to be shot down a second time on May 27th 1940, just three days later (in Spitfire K9875). According to a biography of the pilot:
"Wilfred Patrick Francis (Paddy “Treacle”) Treacy, DSO, SL 420312, Service No. 37617 (died 20th April 1941)
He took part in the Battle of Britain and was one of fourteen Irishmen who were pilots in WWII. He had 5 (2+3) ‘kills’ (officially credited 3.33 - that is, "three and one third" kills in air to air combat; three confirmed as his own, and a one third share of another. The other one and two thirds were disputed!)
Paddy Treacy joined 74 Squadron with Pilot officer Bryan Vincent 'Paddy' Byrne and 'Sailor' Malan and was B Flight commander at the beginning of the war. In Spring 1940, he was the Flight Commander. He flew a Spitfire and saw combat on the 24th (shooting down an Hs 126 & a Ju 88) and 27th May 1940 (shooting down a Bf-109E & a Do 17). He went missing in France when he was shot down for the second time on 27th May 1940. In July 1940 he was in Marseille and had escaped three times from the Germans before being arrested by the French. He escaped after capture, and returned to England again early in 1941.
Paddy Treacy became Squadron Leader of 242 Squadron seeing combat 1st and 5th April 1941. The Hurricanes of 242 Squadron flew from Martlesham Heath to the Stapleford Tawney airfield on the 9th April 1941. On the squadron's first operation out of Stapleford (20th April) three Hurricanes collided in cloud over the Channel after finding themselves suddenly under attack from German fighters. The pilots drowned when their Hurricanes crashed into the sea, one of whom was Squadron Leader Treacy in Hurricane Z2887. Buried: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. Plot 11. Row A. Grave 17.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1976 p 81)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/528: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502016
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p001.html
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=5322
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/74_squadron.html
6. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=12889
7. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=12889
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Aug-2019 00:34 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 11-Aug-2019 00:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Aug-2019 07:06 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
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