Mission: Not known.
Date: 27th August 1940
Time: 1.00 a.m.
Unit: No.1 Squadron R.A.F. (Northolt)
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk.I
Serial: P3897
Coded: JX-
Location: In small wood, Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire, England.
Pilot: Pilot Officer. Charles Arthur Copeland Chetham. 82946 - Baled out safely.
Main image - Flight-Lieutenant M H Brown and Pilot Officer Chetham of No.1 Squadron RAF standing by the nose of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I at Wittering, Huntingdonshire. (IWM)
REASON FOR LOSS:
This aircraft was held by searchlights and pilot lost control. The abandoned aircraft dived into a small wood and was totally destroyed. P/O Chetham baled out unhurt and landed at Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
During 1990 a search for the crash site was conducted with full approval of the landowner. The site was found pretty quickly after talking with the locals. A quick metal detector scan of the area produced mostly damaged .303 ammunition. However there was a dip in the ground which was giving readings on the detector. An application to the MOD for a licence to recover the aircraft was duly sought. In 1991 we received the permission we had been waiting for and licence No.681 wasissued. A search of the crash site revealed that the engine had been smashed to pieces on hitting the flinty soil of the chilterns.
