ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228652
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| Date: | Friday 31 May 1940 |
| Time: | 12:30 LT |
| Type: |  Westland Lysander Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 16 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P9127 |
| MSN: | KJ-P |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Pihen-lès-Guines, 7 miles SW of Calais, Pas de Calais -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lympne, Lympne, Kent (LYM/EGMK) |
Westland Lysander Mk.II P9127 (KJ-P) of 16 Squadron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) 31 May 1940 when lost (failed to return) from a Tactical Reconnaisance mission over the Dunkirk-Calais area. Both crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/695): "Lysander P9127 shot down over Dunkirk, France, 31 May 1940. Pilot Officer C J F Hare and Acting Flight Lieutenant G R Shepley: report of deaths"
Took off 11.00 hrs from RAF Lympne, Kent, tasked to search for bombing targets and observation of own troops. Aircraft failed to return. Believed to be the aircraft claimed as shot down by Fw Witzel of 6./JG27 over Dunkirk at 12.30 hrs. Crashed near Pihen-lès-Guines. Both crew killed, but only one was recovered, the other was posted as "missing"
Crew of Lysander P9127:
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) George Rex Shepley, RAF (RAFO) 37577, DFC, age 28, killed in action 31/05/1940, buried at Pihen-les-Guines War Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France
Pilot Officer Charles John Francis Hare, RAFVR 76908, age 31, posted 31/05/1940, as missing presumed dead (body not recovered).
As no trace of P/O Charles John Francis Hare was ever found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The reported crash location of Pihen-lès-Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France, located 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Calais, at approximate Coordinates: 50°52′20″N 1°47′15″E
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 50)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/695: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502359
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2280532/shepley,-george-rex/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799390/hare,-charles-john-francis/
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=4385
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/16_squadron.html#3105
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/06899.php
8. https://www.winchestercollegeatwar.com/archive/hare-charles-john-francis/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pihen-l%C3%A8s-Gu%C3%AEnes
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Sep-2019 00:38 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 01-Sep-2019 00:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-Sep-2019 08:44 | stehlík49 | Updated [Operator] |
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