Saturday, June 27, 1942

Saint-Agathon

"Toul ar Lann"

Hurricane Mk.II c BN231

Coded ZY-E


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Warrant Officer Class II (Pilot). WHITE, ALLAN RENE

 

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No. 247 (China-British) Squadron (RAF)

 

Mission intruder As he was sent on a night intruder mission over Morlaix and Saint-Brieuc, Warrant Officer Allan White takes off at 0. 10 from RAF base located at Exeter. The target is the railway. His Hurricane registered MK II c B N 231 is reported missing.(1)

 

Saturday June 27th 1942. Saint Agathon. Côtes d’Armor.

Hawker Hurricane MK II c BN 231 code- named ZY n° 247 (China-British) Squadron (RAF)

247th Squadron had been based at Exeter (RAF) in Devon (at the tip of British Cornwall) since May 17th 1942. This squadron was known as China-British. As far back as the beginning of WWII many air units from RAF had received financial backing from the Commonwealth of Nations (i.e. the former British colonies and protectorates). This squadron had been trained along the Chinese coast as early as August 1st 1940 and was immediately operational. It chose the name Chu Feng (in Chinese characters) which means fierce wind; its motto was “Rise in the East”. The squadron had a most important part to play in U.K air defense that was repeatedly attacked by its stark enemy.

As early as December 24th 1940 the squadron’s former aircraft (Gloster Gladiator) was replaced by fighter Hawker Hurricane as the previous biplane had become obsolete in comparison to German planes. The missions would be launched night and day to make a reconnaissance of enemy sites of all kinds and attack them (and whatever they were connected with).

 

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This snapshot shows one model of a wagon that Flak used along railways.

 

 

Warrant Officer White took off from Exeter air-field at 0.10 on Saturday 27th 1942 aboard his Hurricane M K. II c (a fierce fighter well-equipped with 4 guns (each having 20 mm Hispano-Suiza). His mission was called intruder; its aim was to spot enemy targets on the ground and destroy them. The pilots who flew at night were selected for their visual acuity and their ability to move in the dark.

The Canadian pilot must have been the victim of Flak firing as he was flying along the Saint-Brieuc/ Guingamp railway. He crashed in a place known as “Toul ar Lann” in Saint Agathon, 200 m away from the railway. He died instantly. Warrant Officer White was 31. He was born in Amhurst, Nova Scotia on October 6th 1911; he used to live there before enrolling. Amhurst is located in Cumberland (along the Atlantic coast of Canada). He rests in the western cemetery in Saint-Brieuc, in the military section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jean Michel Martin ABSA 39-45. Janvier 2013

 

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Allan Trenton (Canada, Flying School) in 1940 - he sent this picture to his mother for Mother's Day

 

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White Allan Rene during his training as a pilot with his friends in his class. Allan is the back row on the left

 

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Allan Rene White piloting a T6 (North American T6 Texan was the typical training aircraft used by fighters during WWII).

 

Allan and his girlfriend Theresa St. Hillaire

 

 

Witnesses’ accounts

From Madame Annick Moisan :

 

I was 18 at the time. I quite remember the plane crashing at night not far from our village (Toulan) during WWII. Before, we had heard a dreadful noise from what we thought was an aerial combat. We gathered it had been shot down by another plane. Before crashing it knocked down a big chimney of a house located 100 m from the crash-site. The plane caught fire as it crashed; it was like a furnace; the body of the poor pilot was discovered the following day in the morning.

The neighbours’ skylight window known as Outeau exploded in the blast. The first Germans arrived in side-cars on the next morning; they were followed by another pack of soldiers which forbade anybody to approach the burnt-out plane. I also remember the branches of a chestnut tree from a slope nearby that must have been chopped like mincemeat by the shooting. Lopped-off branches lay scattered all over the ground. Even if the Germans kept us away, we would throw flowers towards the pilot’s body. When the body was removed from the plane we found out four cigarettes inside a packet that were intact. The wreckage remained there for several months. Last week I was thinking of the pilot’s parents who never saw their son again. We never knew who he was. Today I am happy to know who he is.

 

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 Photo collection M. Gilbert Le Guillou

 

 

From Madame Christiane Marjo:

 

I was 7 at the time and I vividly remember the plane crashing near our village, Toulan. We had been scared to death when hearing that dreadful rumble that wakened us in the middle of the night except for my father; he was surprised when we woke him up to tell him what was going on. I remember that my parents had discovered that a skylight window had tumbled down from the roof; it was brown-painted.

The plane had crashed in the middle of the two railway lines.

Our neighbours’ next door, the Moisans had had their chimney split up as the plane flew past.

There was also another neighbour who farmed a small garden near what we used to call “the small train” railway leading to Plouha. There, he found out a big gap with a piece of propeller inside; it had probably been wrenched off and had driven itself into the ground during the attack. Only last week I was thinking of that air-crash. We never knew anything about either the poor pilot’s identity or his nationality. I am glad to know it.

 

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On this photo you can identify the rear tail-plane with its two ailerons, its vertical stabilizer, its tail wheel with its burnt-tyre.

Photo collection M. Gilbert Le Guillou

 

From Monsieur Louis Jegon

The plane had crashed in between the two railway lines that existed in those days: the main one that still exists and the other one we used to call “the small train” line (which the Germans dismantled because it was leading to Plouha, that is, to the sea coast). On our way back from school we walked past the field where the plane had crashed. It was burnt down. The Germans had come and forbidden to approach it. A two-meter high chimney was brought down by the plane in distress.

(La ligne du petit train des Côtes du Nord- Guingamp à Plouha n'était plus en service depuis 1939).

 

Jean Michel Martin ABSA 39-45. Le 5 février 2013

 

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Journal Ouest France
 Journal le Télégramme, du vendredi 8 février 2013
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Journal L'echo of the Armor and Argoat
Journal L'echo of the Armor and Argoat

 

 

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Hurricane Mk.II c

Envergure :

12 m

Longueur :

9,83 m

Hauteur :

3.99 m

Moteurs :

1 Rolls-Royce Merlin. 1,280 hp (954 kW)

Vitesse maximale :

547 km/h

Plafond pratique :

10120 m

Autonomie :

740 km

Poids en charge :

2993 kg

Équipage :

1

Armement :

4 canons Hispano Mk II (20 mm) - 2 bombes, 250 lb (114 kg), ou 500 lb (227 kg)

Letter dated January 17, 2013, Ministery of Defence RAF

Hurricane BN231 crashed in der Nahe des Dorfs, St Agathon near Guingamp Cotes-du-Nord.

Bibliography: Roland Bohn, Air raids on Britain. Philippe Dufrasne. Thanks to Michel Pieto

Realization of color profile. Jean Marie Guillou

Translation of the biography in English: Véronique Sergeant Veyrié ABSA 39-45

 

 

1939-1945 Star, The Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal 1939-45, War and Air Efficiency Award, War Medal 1939-1945
RCAF Cap Badge
  

Letter from the Prime Minister of New Scotland Mr Stephen MacNeil