BINNS, HARRY FLETCHER Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 89799 Date of Death: 17/08/1941 Age: 28 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force 22 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 31. Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of Willie and Ethel Binns; husband of May Binns, of Cleveleys, Lancashire. Casualty Details
22 Squadron was in Coastal Command, and at this time was based at Thorney island from where its Beauforts conducted anti-shipping operations. Lack of effective torpedoes meant they mostly used mines and bombs until September 1941 apparently. According to Aviation Safety Network, P/O Binns was killed when his aircraft, Beaufort Mk1 OA-G, serial number AW214, was on a gardening operation. It took off from RAF Thorney Island at 2040 hrs and set course for the Dewberry area off Boulogne but was shot down by flak (Abt. 31/XI) and crashed in the West Scheldt estuary. P/O I. G. Mitchell 88667 P/O H. F. Binns 89799 Sgt. T. Penrice 637107 Sgt. D. A. Campbell 974760 Pat. Edit: I'm not certain about this (my German is poor, my Dutch worse) but this light flak battery seems to have been located at Vlissingen; it was redesigned as 1./ Leichte Reserve Flakbatterie 847 a couple of weeks after OA-G was shot down.
