Hurricane at Pihen, Pas de Calais

[Chris Goss]

Attempts to identify this aircraft via the likes of Mark Postlethwaite have failed but does anyone have any ideas?

[Revi16]

I don't know if this helps or not?

With the landing gear extended, prop removed, spinner laying on the ground, I would guess this aircraft was abandoned and burned more so than an aircraft which had been shot down.

[Faenor]

Hi all,

another photo of same plane- maybe this plane is after the belly landing, then mechanics try to stand it on the wheel and then it is burned due to withdrawal...or belly landing just on right wheel and collapse of the left …..who knows....

Faenor

[Faenor]

….and this photo is probably same plane, but I´m not 100% sure.

Faenor

[paulmcmillan]

Fabric covered wing?

[Alex Smart]

Perhaps the German ground personnel were in the act of retrieving the engine ?
I also would agree that this looks very like an a/c destroyed on the ground, possibly by retreating RAF personnel .
Alex

[paulmcmillan]

Prob L Series Hurricane

[Chris Goss]

Thanks all. Like many BofF crashes/abandonments, I guess this will remain a mystery. Having visited Pihen, to locate the site would be fairly easy but a makers plate? No way

[Pieter H]

When I look on the map, Pihen-lès-Guînes (the full name) is next to St-Inglevert, which was a WW1 and WW2 (RAF) airfield. (There is a pretty good history on the English Wikipedia). In many cases the names of the surrounding villages were used for the same airfield, especially in case of the smaller ones without major infrastructure. Might well be the case here.
Early 1940 the airfield was used at least for some time by Nos 607 and 615 Squadrons, formally both still using Gladiators but converting to Hurricanes. But by May 10 they had both left and the airfield was in use by the French GAO516. But then the current airfield is on the WEST of St-Inglevert, whereas Pihen is on the EAST. So this was not on the airfield, at best near by. That gives at least two plausible scenarios for this Hurricane, which would then have been landed and/or parked and/or abandoned in the vicinity of the airfield:
1. a Hurricane used for the conversion of either 607 or 615 Sqn, damaged and abandoned.
2. a Hurricane pilot that tried an emergency landing near the airfield he new.
I personally have no records of either of these incidents. Scenario 2 is the obvious one being discussed so far, but maybe scenario1 can narrow down the search. You never know.


Cheers, Pieter

[Alex Smart]

The photograph in post 3 seems to show that the a/c is in some kind of revetment ? So suggests an airfield rather than a field.