Marseille inspecting downed 274 Sq Hurricane

[kaki3152]

From E-Bay.de

Another shot of the downed Hurricane I shown in MAAW Volume 1 on pg 171. The caption shows Lt Marseille inspecting his victim, a Hurricane I of 274 Sq according to the caption. Can anyone identify the YK marking of 274 SQ?

[Buckeye30]

This is a Mk. IIB, in Werner Held's book it says 213 Sqn Feb.1942 but apparently they only had I / IIC. They usually put their AK code in front of the cocarde.

274 used YK for a few weeks in 1940 then deleted codes but they had IIBs 10/41 to 5/42.

80 Sqn. used YK 6/40 to 1/41.
Nick

[Buckeye30]

Hi Kaki. 2 more photos of the same Hurricane. The aircraft letter is M or N I think.

Nick



https://www.lonesentry.com/panzer/may/hurricane.html


https://www.reddit.com/r/WWIIplanes/...th_one_of_his/

[kaki3152]

So, the Hurricane IIB shown belonged to 213 Sq, or 274 Sq,? MAAWI has the airplane as belonging to 274 Squadron but others seem s to indicate 213 Sq. Apparent date of shot down was February 1942

[Buckeye30]

274 Sqn. used "NH" for a time in early 1942 ( not for long I think) on Mk.IIa / IIBs; probably until they got IICs in May.
The letter may be "N" part of their code as it's in front of the cocarde.
213 Sqn. had Mk.1 / IICs ( IICs in the desert from Jan. 1942 until they got Spitfires).


Nick

[Gerry Bevan]

I've been trying to solve the ID of this Hurricane for many years.

The Hurricane is coded NH and is from 274 Sqn not 213 Sqn.

Bundesarchiv says the photos are from 30th March 1942, but Feb 1942 seems more likely....

Best bet seems to be Sgt Rob Henderson in Hurricane IIB Z5381 on the 12th Feb 1942.

If anyone has the Air Britain series could they please look up Hurricane Z5381 and provide details of its fate ??

Thanks

Gerry

[SteveB]

Hi
AB confirms 274 Sqn but records "shot down by Bf109s near Gambut 27.2.42".

[Buckeye30]

Marseille's claims 41--46 on the 12th / 13th, and Z5381 from the records.
His claims 51--52 on the 27th were for 2 P-40s ( most likely Kittyhawk Is from 3 Sqn RAAF , Hart bailed out, Jennings KIA.
Nick

[Gerry Bevan]

The 274 Sqn ORB adds confusion....

On the 12th Feb 1942, it states that Sgt Henderson in Z5381 force landed.

The 274 Sqn ORB is typed, but an addition is made in ink at the end
of the entry for the 27th Feb 1942 as follows :-

Z5381 Sgt Worthington took off 07.35 hrs - Enemy Action Baled Out

!!??

The 274 Sqn Summary of Events for Feb 1942 confirm that Sgt Henderson
force landed and Sgt Worthington baled out.

The Hurricane photo clearly looks like a forced landed aircraft and is unlikely
to be in this condition, if the Pilot had baled out.

However, this doesn't help ID the serial number of the aircraft in the photo.

[kaki3152]

Unfortunately, WWII records, as we all know, are rife with errors. Simple transpositions and bored clerks suffering from the heat. I would say the chances are pretty good that the Hurricane in question is Z5381 as flown by Sgt. Henderson. Thanks to all for their expert knowledge on this Hurricane. For the record, MAAW2 has the same serial number for Sg. Worthington on February 27th.