Spitfire Loss, Sgt Manton 610 Squadron, 29 August 1940

[Peter Cook]

There is considerable variation among the sources over the correct serial number for the Spitfire in which Sgt Manton of 610 Squadron was shot down and killed on 29 August. The Squadron's ORB Form 541 lists it as P9433 (E), which was followed by Mason, however, Manton's aircraft was destroyed (a photo in David Bailey' history of 610 shows a complete wreck), while Form 78 lists P9433 continuing to fly until it was struck off charge in October 1944. The official RAF Casualty File for Manton (also reproduced by Bailey) lists it as R6970, but this aircraft was damaged in combat on 26 August, flown by F/O Lamb, and was repaired, with Form 78 listing it continuing to fly until 1943. BoB Then and Now and the BOBCA list it as R6629, with the BOBT&N describing remains recovered by the Robertsbridge Museum, with some fragments in the Kent Battle of Britain Museum. But R6629 was also repaired and Form 78 lists a lenghty sevice history before it was stuck off charge in July 1944.
Can anyone help in identifying the correct serial for Sgt Manton's Spitfire?

[gedburke3]

Hi Peter,
And to compound the confusion the AIR81 file has it occurring on August 27th in Spitfire R6695.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...ls/r/C16472016
Gerry

[Martin Gleeson]

Hello Peter,

This particular loss has been of great interest to me for many years and I have done some research on it. I am pasting below a rough, but somewhat incomplete, draft of my entry for this loss on 29 August 1940. At the risk of some shameless self-publicity, it will eventually appear on my recently-built website;

https://martinaviationpages.com/

To date I have only reached as far as 4 August 1940 and it will be some months at least before August 29th is uploaded. However, I am happy to share my findings for the loss of Sgt Manton.

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.


610 Squadron, Biggin Hill

Spitfire I X4168. Shot down in combat over Mayfield area of Sussex at approximately 4.00 p.m. Crashed at Great Wigsell Estate, Hurst Green. Sergeant Edward Manton killed. Aircraft DW-E a write-off.
Some fragments in the Kent Battle of Britain Museum and the Robertsbridge Museum.

The circumstances of Edward Manton’s death are one of those situations where most or almost all of the surviving records are missing, incomplete or incorrect.
According to official sources (CWGC, GRO) Manton died on the 28th. He is not listed on the normal RAF Dead list on the General Registration Office, but appears elsewhere in a section on wills (for the 28th).

The entry in the squadron F.541 (AIR 27/2106, p. 184-185) records his loss under the 29th , but his aircraft details are incorrect with the serial noted as P9433 ‘E’. There is nothing in the F.540 (p. 170). P9433 was only Taken On Charge by 610 Sqn. on 9-9-1940 and survived to 1943 at least with the Fleet Air Arm.

The serial number R6629, often assigned to this loss, cannot be correct, as it had a long service history up to 1944 (including with the Fleet Air Arm). According to the F.78 for R6629 it suffered damage on the 31st (‘Cat. FB/2, 31.8.40’), then it was sent to 4 M.U. (1 C.R.U.) on 11.9.40. However to add to the confusion 610 Sqn. did not fly operationally on the 31st (confirmed by the 610 Sqn. ORB and the 11 Group Appendices).

Trevor Woodgate of the Robertsbridge Aviation Society supplied useful information. One point being that soldiers from the 7th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment attended the crash scene in the immediate aftermath. Their War Diary (WO 166/ 4201) survives in T.N.A. at Kew and was viewed. However, even though the unit was based at nearby Hawkhurst there is absolutely no reference to this event.

The Biggin Hill ORB (AIR 28/64) is of no help for this incident. It only records weather for August 28th and 29th . There are no Appendices to go with it.

The 11 Group ORB (AIR 25/193), and especially the relevant 11 Group Appendices (AIR 25/197), are more helpful. The latter is clear the date of this loss was the 29th.

The location details entered under X4168 in the Air-Britain ‘AEROMILITARIA’ Spitfire I series match exactly the details of this loss. (‘Shot down near Hurst Green, Sussex Cat W 7.9.40’). X4168 was indeed a 610 Sqn. aircraft at this time, as per the F.78. It has a short history. First Taken On Charge by 24 M.U. on 10 August 1940 and then to 610 Sqn on August 15th. On page 2 it is shown as Struck Off Charge on 11 September 1940 by authority of 43 Group. Nothing else.
The earlier Air-Britain ‘RAF AIRCRAFT W1000-Z9999’ records its fate as ‘Believed shot down over Sussex 7.9.40, SOC 11.9.40’. Both Air-Britain works mentioned above refer to 7.9.40 as the loss date. However no reference was found in any primary source linking this date with X4168.

Unfortunately, the compilers of the otherwise excellent ‘AEROMILITARIA’ Spitfire I series have ‘muddied the waters’ somewhat by inserting a section into the X4168 entry for 222 Sqn. concerning claims by one of its pilots for 7 September 1940. This is completely wrong as the 222 Sqn. ORB (AIR 27/1371) contains no mention of X4168 ever flying with 222 Sqn. during late August and early September 1940.

I wrote to the Air Historical Branch in April 2013. Their reply confirmed the 29th, explaining the initial notification of his death to the Air Ministry Casualty Branch was on August 31st for ‘1730 hours’ on the 28th, but this was later amended on the same day to the 29th. So the 29th seems clear but it appears the CWGC was only notified of the initial message for the 28th. (This information would be confirmed in 2017 when the relevant AIR 81/2936 personnel casualty file was released to the public).

However, the second part of their letter was a shock. They stated that Manton was flying R6695. It has been long accepted that R6695 was lost on August 22nd when Sgt. D. Corfe force-landed it near Hawkinge and it was burnt out. Being aware of the state of 610 Sqn. records it seems unlikely Manton was flying R6695 (as per the A.H.B.). The F.78 for R6695 has nothing new, merely confirming it was ’22.8.40 F.B.O. (3) Burnt Out’. The AIR 81 file released in 2017 was the source for the A.H.B. information above.

The issue of which Spitfire Edward Manon died in can be progressed and perhaps resolved by details contained in the 49 Maintenance Unit ORB (AIR 29/1008) at Kew. It lists by type and serial number apparently most – but not all - of the RAF aircraft inspected and/or recovered by the unit on a daily basis. Up to 31 August 1940 it gives the location of the aircraft also. From 1 September 1940 it further records the date of collection (often weeks later) as well as the date the aircraft was inspected. Certainly not every RAF aircraft that crashed or was damaged in this corner of England is mentioned (or was seen by 49 M.U.) but it is a remarkably comprehensive list.
All of the Spitfire serials listed from August 23rd to September 10th inclusive have been checked. The latest inspection date by 49 M.U. in September is the 5th for an August Spitfire crash/incident.

Firstly to look at R6695 (force-landed and burnt out August 22nd near Hawkinge with Sgt. Corfe according to all sources, except the A.H.B. who state it was Manton’s aircraft on the 29th !). The 49 M.U. ORB lists R6695 under August 26th when it was either reported to them and/or inspected by them, and the location noted is “near Hawkinge”.
Ergo, due to date and location we can totally exclude R6695 as even a possibility for Manton’s Spitfire on the 29th.

R6629 is nowhere mentioned in the 49 M.U. pages for August or September 1940. While it is not 100% proof this absence is a very strong indicator that R6629 was not lost or damaged in these two months in the circumstances often described for it.

Finally to X4168. This serial is listed as being inspected by 49 M.U. personnel on September 1st, with collection of the wreckage on September 23rd.
Under the heading ‘Found at locality inspected’ is just noted ‘Bodiam’.
The village of Bodiam lies three miles ESE of Hurst Green, both places in Sussex but close to the county boundary with Kent. The location usually given for Manton’s crash is at Great Wigsell Estate, Hurst Green. From at least one source there was a large house on the estate. Google Maps does not show the estate. Google Earth shows the village of Bodiam to be only 1½ miles SE of Great Wigsell Estate (owned c.2010 by an American lady).

The AIR 81 casualty file for the loss of Sgt. Manton, AIR 81/2936, was released to the public during 2017. It has 27 pages but adds surprisingly little clarity, but does illustrate the difficulty in resolving the details of this crash. The date of the crash is variously given as August 27th, 28th and 29th ! When asked to clarify the date by the Air Ministry (P.4 Casualties section) in January 1941 610 Sqn. replied that the date of death was Aug. 28th . This date was subsequently used for official sources (e.g: the CWGC).
The crash time is only noted once, in the ‘Immediate Casualty Signal’ from 610 Sqn. to the Air Ministry on 31 August 1940, as ‘approximately 1730 hours, 28-8-40’. This conflicts with the 610 Sqn. F.541 on 29 August 1940 which shows the 14-aircraft patrol in which Sgt. Manton was lost as airborne ‘1530-1700 hours#.

The serial is recorded as R6695 in the above casualty signal of the 31st. During October 1940 messages from S/Ldr. J. Ellis, CO of 610 Sqn. and later from the OC of RAF Station Biggin Hill inexplicably note the serial as R6970 (although the latter’s signal was amended in a subsequent version to R6695 in handwriting).
R6695 is wrong for reasons explained above.
R6970 was T.O.C. by 610 Sqn. as ‘DW-M’ on 16-8-1940 but damaged in action to Cat. 2 level on 26-8-1940. The ORB of the 49 M.U. records on 28-8-40 that it was notified about ‘Spitfire R6970’, at ‘Biggin Hill’. Repaired, it served with other RAF units and the F.A.A. until 1943 at least.

So it appears five different serials and three different dates of death have been associated with the loss of Sgt. Manton.

I am convinced that X4168 was the Spitfire in which Sgt. Edward Manton died on 29 August 1940 at Great Wigsell Estate. No evidence has come to light to support R6629, R6695, R6970 or P9433 as his aircraft that day.

It has previously been written that a major recovery was carried out by the Robertsbridge Museum which excavated complete surviving remains and all major components. However, no such recovery was even attempted ! This information (correction) came directly from Trevor Woodgate of the Robertsbridge Aviation Society (email, December 2012).

Local papers of the period ?. Local Police or Coroner’s records ?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Martin

A most impressive research!!
Thanks for sharing it with all of us!!!

Cheers
Stig

[Peter Cook]

A big thank you to Martin for the truly exhaustive examination of this issue. Do you have a copy of Form 78 for X4168? My Form 78 PDF file for Spitfires R6759 - X4778 had X4167 and X4169 but, annoyingly, no X4168. The Morgan and Shacklady Spitfire book, and http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/home.htm have an entry for X4168 of: FF 9-8-40 24MU 10-8-40 610S 15-8-40 222S shot down nr Hurst Green Sussex 7-9-40 SOC 11-9-40.

Peter

[Martin Gleeson]

Hello Peter and Stig,

Thank you both for the kind words. I appreciate that.

Peter,

Glad to have helped. Can you please send me either a PM on this site or contact me using the email address on my website re. the F.78 ?

I ordered a paper copy of the F.78 for X4168 before I discovered the joys of buying PDF reels from the RAF Museum. Very lucky in this case as it turned out. My reel for R6759 to X4778 contains only 1,522 pages, I believe it should be about 2,000. Like you, page 1 of the F.78 for X4168 is missing from that reel, and I suspect now a lot more.

I had long thought something was not quite right about some of the reels from the RAF Museum, insofar as it seemed many serials in some (only) had page 1 or 2, or were completely missing. However, it was about a month ago that another colleague confirmed this, when he told me that his equivalent reel (for another aircraft type) had over 500 pages more than mine !

BTW. The F.78 for X4168 has no mention of 222 Squadron or date of loss, just the Struck Off Charge date.

Regards,

Martin.