Nantes Area RAF Loss

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by Rich Payne, Sep 22, 2021.

  1. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    I'm not very well-versed in researching aircraft losses and lack any literature. However, occasionally photographs on eBay catch my eye if there are visible tail numbers or squadron codes.

    There are some rather sad images torn from an album listed at the moment and I felt that they ought to be recorded together and perhaps identified.

    The aircraft seems to have crashed on farmland during winter. The seller refers to Nantes and to a bombing raid on an airfield but the chronology is unclear.

    I can see a squadron code 'OA' and part of a tail serial 'N10'...Perhaps a No.22 Squadron Beaufort loss? There seem to be at least two casualties, with the Observer wearing a 'Canada' tab.

    I don't think it can be N1016 (OA-X) which was lost attacking Gneisenau as it is reported to have gone into the sea at Brest. James Scott, the Observer was RCAF though.

    The Canadian Observer F.O. Allan Troup also from 22 Squadron is the only fatality listed from N1085 (OA-G) with the rest of the crew POW...but perhaps the second photographed casualty is from another incident.

    Can anyone with more experience of RAF records come up with anything more concrete ?

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    Last edited: Sep 22, 2021
    alieneyes and CL1 like this.
  2. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    If one goes by the MRES report it would appear that F/O Troup was the pilot, the aircraft was an Anson and there was another crew member killed. Unfortunately, only page 1 of the report was scanned leaving some guess work.

    Flying Officer A W Troup: killed; Sergeant I W Jones, Sergeant C Guest, Sergeant A A... | The National Archives

    Regards,

    Dave
     

    Attached Files:

    CL1 likes this.
  3. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  4. Osborne2

    Osborne2 Well-Known Member

    I think the photos show a Beaufort too. An Anson would be of wooden construction at that time I think.
     
  5. Wg Cdr Luddite

    Wg Cdr Luddite Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Sep 22, 2021
  6. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Thanks, chaps...The Graves Registration report shows that they were in the dark too, or there was more than one loss that night....it refers to multiple fatalities. I found the French site which is the only place on-line that seems to confirm that N1085 was OA-G...but three were taken prisoner so the second casualty with rolled up sleeve and light hair remains a puzzle.

    I'm in no doubt that the tunic has a 'Canada' title and an Observer brevet.

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    ...and pretty sure that the fuselage has the 'OA' 22 Squadron code along with 'N10..' and all the serials from N1000 to N1100 are allocated to Beauforts. I can't see any trace online of other 22 Squadron Beauforts with N serials other than N1016 that went into the harbour at Brest. Both of them had Canadian observers though.

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  7. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    The loss of the No 22 Squadron Beaufort 1 Serial Number N 1085, as a part of Coastal Command was detailed to attack shipping in the Loire estuary at Donges which is situated on the north bank of the Loire about 15 kms upstream from St Nazaire.

    9 aircraft of No 22 Squadron had already been detached from North Coates to St Eval for operations against the Gneisenau in April 1941 where F/O Kenneth Campbell had been awarded the VC for his torpedoe attack on the Gneisenau in Beaufort 1, N 1016 OA-X on 6 April 1941.

    However the whole squadron were detached from Thorney Island (their Coastal Command No 16 Group base) to St Eval from 28 October 1941 to take advantage of better access to the Bay of Biscay ports where they carried out mining, shipping patrols and strikes.

    Although they operated in the Channel, I cannot see Ansons operating in the Bay of Biscay....their range was restricted to a radius of about 260 miles.
     

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