Date:	Wednesday 29 May 1940
Time:	18:00
Type:	Avro Anson Mk I
Owner/operator:	500 (County of Kent) Sqn RAF
Registration:	N5227
MSN:	MK-L
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	Missing off Dunkirk, Pas de Calais -   France
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent

Narrative:
Avro Anson Mk.I N5227 (MK-L) 500 (County of Kent) Squadron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a "Shamrock Patrol" on 29 May 1940. All four crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry File into the incident (File AIR 81/678): "Anson N5227 failed to return from patrol over Dunkirk, France, 30 May 1940. Sergeant H W Johnson, Leading Aircraftman F H Giles, Sergeant R G T Soper and Pilot Officer I S Wheelwright: missing presumed dead"

Took off 15:35 hrs from RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent. Last seen on the surface of the sea in position VXWY 1357 near destroyer T61 at 18:00 hrs. The body of LAC F H Giles was washed ashore on 30th of July 1940.

Crew of Anson N5227:
Pilot Officer Irvine Syme Wheelwright, RAF (AAF) 91003, posted 30/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
Sergeant Herbert William Johnson, RAF 521711, age 26, posted 30/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
Leading Aircraftman (Wireless Op.) Frank Howard Giles, RAF 812052, killed in action 30/05/1940, body washed ashore 30/07/40, buried at Ameland (Nes) General Cemetery, Friesland, Netherlands
Flight Sergeant Russell George Theophilus Soper, RAFVR 903332, age 22, posted 30/05/1940, as missing presumed dead.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/678: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502342
3. Ross McNeill, Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941), Midland publishing, 2003. ISBN: 1 85780 128 8
4. The Anson File (Ray Sturtivant, Air Britain, 1988 p 53)
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531337/wheelwright,-irvine-syme/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802135/johnson,-herbert-william/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649025/giles,-frank-howard/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807671/soper,-russell-george-theophilus/
9. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/500_squadron.html#2905
10. http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13944.0
11. Detling Airfield: A History 1915-1959 By Anthony J. Moor
12. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-652-anson-i-north-sea-4-killed-1
13. http://www.626-squadron.co.uk/willem14c.htm
14. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T0716A&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
15. http://survincity.com/2015/11/avro-anson-gunships/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
18-Mar-2012 09:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
13-Aug-2012 14:12	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, ]
14-Jun-2013 18:17	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative, ]
14-Aug-2013 21:50	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
03-Jun-2015 16:10	Z. Zeeland	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
22-Feb-2016 10:46	JINX	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
28-Feb-2016 10:45	BlB	Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
01-Dec-2017 10:42	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Aircraft type, ]
28-May-2019 16:53	TigerTimon	Updated [Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
29-Aug-2019 19:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Apr-2022 05:43	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]