ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228120
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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: | N3243 |
| MSN: | 466 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 20 miles South of Dunkirk, Pas de Calais, Hauts de France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Rochford, Southend, Essex |
N3243: Spitfire Mk. Ia (c/no. 466). First Flown 15-12-39. Delivered to the RAF at 24 MU 2-1-40. First issued to 234 Squadron 22-3-40. Transferred to 74(Tiger) Squadron 10-5-40. Written off (destroyed) when lost (Missing from patrol) and last reported 20 miles South of Dunkirk 24-5-40. Pilot killed.
According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/540): "Spitfire N3243 shot down in the vicinity of Dunkirk, France, 24 May 1940. Pilot Officer R D Aubert: missing presumed dead".
Shot down by Hptmn Ebbighausen (Gruppenkommandeur) of Stab II./JG26 in combat south of Dunkirk 3.55 p.m. P/O R. D. Aubert killed. Aircraft a write-off.
Crew of Spitfire N3243
Pilot Officer Richard Dennis Aubert (pilot, RAF 41361) - killed in action 24/05/40. As no trace of the pilot or the aircraft was ever found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Note that, to confuse matters, the same pilot had force landed at Berck-sur-Mer three days earlier (May 21st) in another 74 (Tiger) Squadron Spitfire, K9957, due to combat damage and running out of fuel. After setting fire to this aircraft, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, he made his way back to England (mainly by "hitching a lift" on a UK-bound Blenheim bomber). P/O Aubert, reported back to his squadron on the morning of May 24th, only to be killed the same afternoon as per the above. Over time, the two incidents have become confused in several unofficial published sources.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 18)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) Fiule AIR 81/540; https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502028
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083083/aubert,-richard-dennis/
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/74_squadron.html
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/11415.php
6. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=50731
7. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=5456
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p003.html
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15244748/richard-dennis-aubert
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Aug-2019 23:56 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 13-Aug-2019 06:53 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
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