12 December 1940

Fairey Swordfish Mk I (L2748 - code ?)
Plouzané,
(contributors : Claude Archambault, Frédéric Hénoff, Daniel Dahiot)

Fairey Swordfish Mk I of the Fleet Air Arm on a training flight from Crail in Scotland, 1940.
Photo : Imperial War Museum © IWM A 3532 - Photographer : S.J. Beadell (Lt) - Royal Navy official photographer

Crew (No. 812 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm)

- Sub-Lieutenant (A). Edward Marlow HAMILTON (pilot), 21 years old. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Son of Edward and Margaret Hamilton, North Shields, Northumberland.
Kerfautras cemetery (Brest), lot 40, row 3, grave 14

- Midshipman (A). Peter Newton LOFTS (gunner), 19 years old. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

Photos with courtesy of Susy via Findagrave.com
Born August 28, 1921
Son of Renaud J. and Florence A.M. Lofts, Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
Kerfautras cemetery (Brest), lot 40, row 3, grave 15

THE STORY

The aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Deadalus II, based in England, on a mine-laying mission to Brest. He was shot down by flak near the target and crashed in Plouzané at an unknown time. The two crew members were killed and buried in the Kerfautras cemetery in Brest, on December 16.

The remains of the Fairey Swordfish L2748 bear witness to the violence of the shock.
Photos collection Benoit Paquet - ABSA 39-45