Date:	Thursday 13 June 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	142 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P2194?
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Dreux, Eure-et-Loire -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Villiersfaux, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I (serial unknown - possibly P2194) 142 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations. All three crew survived. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/950): "Battle aircraft lost in air operations, 13 June 1940. Sergeant B J Rowe and Sergeant T H Rudd: injured".

Since no Serial Number is recorded, due, undoubtedly to the chaotic conditions that prevailed during the Fall of France, it is not possible to be 100% accurate about the identity of this aircraft, or the other two 142 Squadron Fairey Battles that were lost on this day. Any records that were created - presuming that they were created in the first place - were destroyed when the squadron evacuated from France back to England

Airborne from Villiersfaux to attack a Panzer column reported refuelling in the Forêt de Gault. Shot down in air to air combat, but not before shooting down one enemy fighter and damaging another. According to a biography of the pilot, Pilot Officer K R Sutton, for this period:

"On a sortie on 13th June in a chase at treetop level, Sutton's gunner shot down one enemy aircraft and damaged another. Sutton crash-landed the damaged Battle near Dreux, Eure-et-Loire. He received a Mention in Dispatches and the gunner was awarded the DFM. 142 Squadron was withdrawn to Waddington on 15th June 1940 and Sutton was posted to 264 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey on 15th August."

Crew of Battle P2194(?)
Pilot Officer Kenwyn Roland Sutton (pilot) RAF
Sergeant B J Rowe (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 536699 - injured, awarded the DFM
Sergeant T H Rudd (Observer)

All the crew survived, made their way back to their unit, and were evacuated from France back to England on 15 June 1940. Little is known about the operational history of Fairey Battle P2194; it was delivered to 142 Squadron on 01/06/1939, and from there issued to the AASF (Allied Air Strike Force) on 09/05/1940. The only other entry on the aircraft's record card (Air Ministry Form AM.78) is "presumed abandoned in France June 1940"

The reported crash location of Dreux is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, at approximate Coordinates: 48°44′14″N 1°21′59″E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/950: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502582
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 165)
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/142_squadron.html#1406
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=6235
6. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/SuttonKR.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreux
8. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/men_of_142.htm .
9. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1940/1940%20-%201984.PDF

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Sep-2019 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Sep-2019 14:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Oct-2019 09:18	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
29-Oct-2020 00:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Source]