Thread: Need ID on wreck of Fairey Battle “M” crashed near village during Western Campaign of May-June 1940
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Old 25th July 2014, 18:15
Martin Gleeson Martin Gleeson is offline
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Re: Need ID on wreck of Fairey Battle “M” crashed near village during Western Campaign of May-June 1940
Hi Alex,

I am certain it cannot be P2265 because of the very efficient RAF aircraft recovery organization. Teams were usually on a wreck site within 3 days and P2265 crashed 5 weeks before the start of the Blitzkrieg, and at that stage of the war there were relatively few crashes to deal with.
I have just checked the ORB for No. 3 Salvage & Repair Section (AIR 29/802) and it sent a team on April 9th to Berry-au-Bac. The ORB records the team collected the wreckage.
Peter Cornwell in 'The BATTLE of FRANCE, THEN and NOW' notes the code was MQ-B. The 'M' in the photos appears to have been the aircraft individual letter and not part of the unit code. Also the photos have the fin flash which on 7 April 1940 probably was not on P2265.

Regards,

Martin.
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