Looking for info/photos of Hurricane N2426 FL in Belgium on 16 May 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Seeking further information and/or photos of this Hurricane: "79 Squadron Merville: May 16, 1940: Hurricane N2426. Shot down by Oberlt. Redlich (Staffelkapitän) of 1./JG27 during attack on Fw189 of 9.(H)/LG2 near Braine-le-Comte and crash-landed near 'Les Hayettes', at Réves (Belgium) at 8:30 p.m. Sergeant H. Cartwright believed unhurt. Aircraft abandoned."

I've got photos of two 79 SQ Hurricanes in the EoE DB: NVoK, P2537, abandoned on an airfield derelict and captured, and NVoL, SN unknown, captured by German motorcycle troops sitting on its landing gear, possibly on the same airfield. One of these certainly isn't N2526, and the other, since it is on its wheels, probably isn't the a/c I'm looking for.

Who can help?

Regards,

[ClinA-78]

Hello Larry,

What a coincidence... I am also looking for any info's about this aircraft. A picture of this alleged Hurricane exists but the fabrics were cut off and any serial shown...
HOWEVER I have two pictures of this particular aircraft which was keenly dismantled and kept in a barn during 4 years! Unfortunately the German discovered it in August 1944 and scrapped it. Only one rocker cover remains up today, what a shame!
Allow me some time to find it out.

Best regards

ClinA-78

[Pieter H]

Hi Larry,

I don't have pictures of the 79 Sqn a/c you ask for.
But on the two others you mention I have a correction: the second one is not NV-L but NV-U.
You can firstly see that from the rounding of the corners of the picture you mention - I assume that's the same as I have - but I have a second picture of almost certainly the same a/c, albeit in more dismantled/plundered form, clearly showing the full U. No serial nr visible unfortunately.

Both pictures likely show Hurricanes captured on an airfield, probably Merville.

Regards, Pieter

[Larry Hickey]

ClinA-78,

I'll certainly be patient. Very interesting info on this Hurricane. Like everyone else who saves photos from eBay auction images, I have dozens of photos of Hurricanes abandoned or crashed during the WC/FC stripped of the fabric from their rear fuselages so that the a/c codes and SN can't be read. If you have some photos like this that you think are from this a/c, perhaps we can share information and help each other.

I'll wait to hear further from you about this.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Pieter,

You are absolutely correct about the second a/c being NVoU, vice NVoL. I've now changed the identity of this a/c in the EoE Photo DB. Thanx for pointing this out. It sounds like we have pretty much the same photos. Do you have photos of any other identified 73 SQ Hurricanes abandoned or wrecked besides NVoK and NVoU?

Can anyone else out there provide a Serial Number for NVoU abandoned at probably Merville? Someone, somewhere probably has a photo from eBay or elsewhere showing the SN of that plane.

Regards,

[JohnE]

What/where is the EoE Photo DB??

John

[Larry Hickey]

JohnE,

Please see the permanent post at the top of the Luftwaffe forum about the EoE Project. There are now 38,600+ photos in that photo data base, with about a 50 being added each day.

Regards,