RAF Aircraft Landing Sligo June 1940

[Mark McShane]

Gents,

Does anybody know the identity of the aircraft that landed at Easkey, Coounty Sligo on 23rd June 1940. The aircraft was lost and landed to ask for directions. An eyewitness said that he saw the number L.3319 on the aircraft. After asking at a local house the pilot returned to his plane and took off.

Any info is appreciated.

Mark

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo Mark,

This landing has bedevilled me for years. If it was L3319 then it was a Hawker Henley, a target tug aircraft. I cannot yet determine from its RAF Form 78 Aircraft History Card whether it was with No. 1 Armanent Training Station at Catfoss and Aldergrove or No. 1 Air Armanent School at Manby, Lincs. At this point the former would my favourite.

I have checked many Operational Record Books at The National Archives in Kew in an attempt to obtain more details, especially the names of those on board. No joy whatsoever. RAF training units rarely, if ever, recorded individual training flights and sometimes not even crashes and fatalities. The crew and especially the pilot probably did not even mention this somewhat embarrassing incident on return to their unit. Even the ORB for the RAF Northern Ireland Command only begins on 1 July 1940. They were only on the ground at Easkey for about 20 minutes, almost a 'touch and go' !

No reports for this landing exist in the Irish Military Archives either. The Army did not arrive before the aircraft departed. However I have always wondered about the exact recording of this serial, when almost nothing else was noted. There were two men on board and the aircraft colours were described in unusually clear detail ( yellow and black, target tug colours).

Hope this helps,

Martin Gleeson.

[Mark McShane]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the reply, obviously you've done a lot of research on this one. I was in Cathal Brugha last week, I didn't find anything there myself either but on my way home I popped into the Archives on Bishop street. They have a file there on this landing, file reference JUS 8/835. There is only one page to it and this is where I got the information from.

The aircraft landed at 0515, as you say they were only on the ground for 20 minutes. It does sound a very amusing incident, the airman knocking on the door of the house, asking the wife very politely where he was.

Thanks for your input, regards.

Mark