[Matheson]

Looking at the entry for 21st April again I see that the 'prang' was at Horsham St Faith and not Duxford. I note that:-
No. 19 Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson piloted Spitfire N3200 on its first and only operation as he led his squadron on a patrol to cover the evacuation of Allied forces.After shooting down a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, Stephenson was himself shot down. He crash-landed on a beach at Sangatte, near Calais, and was captured. His Spitfire N3200 was recovered from the French sands in 1986 after strong currents revealed it, more than 45 years after it sank. The wreckage was excavated during the spring of that year and, though largely intact, very few parts could be salvaged. The Spitfire was restored to flying condition and returned to the air in 2014, before it was donated to IWM in 2015. During a visit to the museum in July of that year, the Duke of Cambridge watched an air display by the Mark 1a fighter, sat in its cockpit and visited Duxford’s Battle of Britain exhibition – housed in the very same hangar that No 19 Squadron’s Spitfires were kept during the war.

The Entry in Matheson's personal notes to himself of this incident on 21st April 1940 are as follows:

"In the afternoon I fly to Duxford and send Magister with Fitter to put the Magister stuck, right. Both Magisters return to Duxford about 7 pm. Send P/O Baker on to Horsham immediately with a Magister. P/O Howard-Williams stays behind to take back the C.O.’s Spitfire. I leave Duxford at 8 o’clock with H-W in formation with me; I misjudge the amount of light and we arrive at Horsham in the dark. I land alright but H-W lands in the wrong direction and goes straight through the obstructions. He damages the C.O.’s aircraft. Clouston and the C.O. furious. Can’t really blame them. I am put under arrest by the C.O. As the C.O. did not specify, it should mean ‘close arrest’ but as he has not placed another officer to guard I take to mean ‘open arrest’. I feel pretty bad about the whole thing because I take particular pride in being careful when I lead people about the sky. It is not H-W’s fault because he is very inexperienced. Lucky he didn’t kill himself."

Hope this explains my interest in this incident,

Howard