Archive Report: Allied Forces

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501 Squadron Hurricane I P3808 F/O. Philip Anthony Neville Cox

Operation: Patrol

Date: 27th July 1940 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 501 Squadron (motto: Nil Time - 'Fear nothing)

Type: Hurricane I

Serial: P3808

Code: SD-?

Base: RAF Hawkinge

Location: Strait of dover

Pilot: F/O. Philip Anthony Neville Cox 33184 RAF Age 25. Missing - believed kolled

REASON FOR LOSS:

On this day:

The first major engagement of the day occurred at 09:45 hours, when Ju 87 Stukas from III./StG 77, escorted by Bf 109s of III./JG 27, launched an attack against a coastal convoy, code-named Bacon, off Swanage. of Dorset, England. RAF Fighter Command scrambled Hurricanes from 145 and 238 Squadrons, along with Spitfires from 609 Squadron, to intercept. In the ensuing combat, 145 Squadron succeeded in shooting down a Bf109, while 238 Squadron destroyed one of the Stukas. A second Ju87 was seen trailing smoke as it retreated across the Channel. No. 609 Squadron lost one Spitfire during the action; Pilot Officer James Richebourg Buchanan flying Spitfire I N3023 was listed as missing, the victory credited to Oberleutnant Gerhart Framm of 2./JG 27.

At the same time, along the East Anglian coast, the 18th Destroyer Flotilla—comprising HMS Wren and HMS Montrose, escorting six minesweeping trawlers—came under attack approximately 20 nautical miles east of Aldeburgh. The raid was carried out by Heinkel He 111s from II./KG 53. HMS Wren was hit and sunk with heavy loss of life, while HMS Montrose sustained damage but remained afloat. Due to a lapse in RDF tracking, Fighter Command was not able to vector aircraft to intercept the attackers

Above: German pilots who featured in the events of 27th July. L to R: Lt. Horst Marx, Staffelkapitän Otto Hintze. Fw. Erich Büttner, Oblt. Herzog Emmerich. Marx was shot down and made PoW following the Croydon raid on 15th August 1940, Hintze was shot down and made PoW on 29th October 1940. Emmerich became Staffelkapitän of 3./210 after Hintze was shot down. (Courtesy Kracker Archive)

Dover came under renewed attack in the early afternoon. At 14:30 hours, a formation of six Bf 109s crossed the Straits from Calais, each armed with a bomb mounted on a centreline rack. This marked the first confirmed operational use of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the fighter-bomber (Jabo) role. The aircraft released their ordnance over the harbour, inflicting notable damage to dockside equipment. Although RAF fighters were scrambled in response, they were unable to intercept the withdrawing formation before it returned across the Channel.

A second raid on Dover took place later in the afternoon at 17:30 hours. Four bombs struck the harbour, while five more fell on nearby barracks buildings. During the attack, the destroyer HMS Codrington was sunk at her moorings, and HMS Walpole, berthed alongside the depot ship HMS Sandhurst, was severely damaged. In response, RAF Fighter Command scrambled three squadrons. No. 41 Squadron engaged a hostile aircraft identified as a Heinkel He 113—almost certainly a misidentified Bf 109, as the He 113 was not in operational service. No. 615 Squadron successfully intercepted and shot down a Heinkel He 59, a large biplane seaplane used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance and air-sea rescue operations. During the engagement, 501 Squadron which had taken off at 17:45 hrs. lost a Hurricane; Flying Officer Philip Anthony Neville Cox was posted crashing into the sea off Dover harbour.

HMS Wren, (D88) alongside HMS Montrose (D01), was providing anti-aircraft protection for minesweeping operations off Aldeburgh, Suffolk. She came under heavy and sustained dive bombing attack by 15 Junkers Ju 87 aircraft and was damaged by several near misses which holed her below the waterline. Collapsed bulkheads caused heavy flooding which led her to sink quickly, killing 37 of her crew. Wren's survivors were rescued by the minesweepers. HMS Montrose survived the war and was scrapped on the 31st. January 1946 at Blyth in Northumberland

With three destroyers lost in a single day-including HMS Wren off Aldeburgh that morning - Admiralty ordered the immediate withdrawal of all remaining naval vessels Dover and the cessation of its use as an advanced base. The responsibility for safeguarding Channel convoys now shifted more heavily to RAF Fighter Command. In response, the Air Ministry issued directives mandating that any German formation approaching Dover be met with overwhelming force whenever possible. To implement this policy, fighter squadrons in the southeast were reinforced to 28 aircraft each, and increased use of RAF Hawkinge and Manston was ordered.

A month later, a body was washed ashore in the Westenschouwen, on the Dutch coast, and was buried as an unknown British Air Force Officer – it is now known that this was Cox.

Records showed some details of his name and number (Cox 33XXX). When he was buried in Bergen-op-Zoom cemetery in 1946, it appears some of these details were accidently struck off, and attempts to identify him missed, resulting in him being buried as an “unknown”.

Research shows there was only one other missing with the name Cox, but he was not an officer, and the date and location of his crash ruled him out.

The rededication service was organised by the Ministry of Defence’sJoint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) - also known as the 'MOD War Detectives'.

The service was conducted by the Reverend Jonathan Stewart CF, Station Chaplain at RAF Odiham, at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery in the Netherlands on the 04th June 2025.

Burial and other details:

F/O. Philip Anthony Neville Cox. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery. Grave 14. C. 12. Born on the 21st July 1915 in Patcham, Brighton. Educated at the Brighton Hove and Sussex Grammar School. Enlisted in September 1932 as an Aircraft Apprentice. Awarded R.M.Groves Memorial Prize, RAF College, Cranwell, 1937. Served with 43 squadron based at Tangmere and also as an instructor at St Athan. Joined 501 Squadron as a Flight Commander on the 06th June1940. Son Of Dr. Arthur Neville MD and Winifred Alice Neville Cox, of Brighton, Sussex. Epitaph: 'A Gallant Airman, He Died That Others May Live.'

His younger brother, Lt. Robert Arthur Neville Cox DSC ( Awarded the King's Gold Medal, H.M.S. Worcester, 1935) of the Royal Naval Reserve, was killed in action on the 27th August 1944 aged 27 when his minesweeper HMS Hussar (N 82) was sunk by a direct hit from 'friendly fire].. His body was never found and he is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. Panel 92 Column 2. A total of 55 crew lost their lives. The number of survivors is not specified, but they were reportedly told to 'keep their mouths shut about the whole affair'.

HMS Hussar was part of a flotilla sweeping the channel off Le Havre. The ships were attacked in error by rocket-firing Typhoons. Hussar, HMS Britomart and HMS Salamander were sunk or badly damaged.

Fathers obituary published by the British Medical Journal:

Dr. Arthur Neville Cox, whose death at Brighton on the 09th April 1940 we regret to record, received his medical education at Guvs Hospital.
After a distinguished career as a student, during which he obtained a junior science scholar-ship, and the Golding-Bird gold medal and scholarship in bacteriology, he took his M.B., B.S.Lond. in 1910, later becoming M.D. and M.R.C.P.
At Guy's he was house- surgeon and obstetric resident, and for some time edited Guy's Hospital Gazette. Leaving Guy'the intention of entering the then newly formed tuberculosis service, he held the post of house-physician at the Bromp-ton Hospital, and was afterwards appointed tuberculosis officer for Brighton, a post in which he remained for the rest of his life.

Bringing to his work an ability and a Keenness well above average, Neville Cox was. generally recognized as one of the best tuberculosis officers in the country, and his opinion and advice were greatly valued Dy nis fellow practitioners.
During the war he served R.A.M.C.,] and afterwards was an active member of the Tuberculosis Society, and of the Brighton and Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society, of which he was an excellent president in 1933 and 1934. Always interested in his special branch, he had visited Swiss and Canadian sanatoria, and he contributed to the medical journals on the subject of tuberculosis.
A life-long asthmatic, Neville Cox was greatly handi- capped by much ill-health, but his unfailing sense of humour and the happiness which he had in his family enabled him to maintain an optimistic outlook which was the admiration of his friends. a particularly

His remark to the writer, wet week.end at Brighton, that "even the weather is largely what you make it," summed up his philosophy of life, and he contrived to make of it a happy affair, both for himself and for those around him.
His favourite hobby was the carving and playing of reed flutes, and even during his last had one tucked under his pillow. illness he usually To

Cox's friendship was a great privilege. enjoy Neville His dry wit, his wide reading, and his unfailing appreciation of others made him a charming companion, and he will be greatly missed by a large circle of friends.
He leaves a three sons, and a daughter, whose sorrow will be lightened by the love he bore them.

P/O. James Richebourg Buchanan. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 7. Born on the 17th May 1915 in Iden. Educated at Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, Sussex. Enlisted in December 1937. Joined 609 squadron at Kinloss, on the 26th December. Son of Col. Bertram George Buchanan MiD (served in WW1 - born in Madras, India - died 1962, age 79) and Kathleen Agnes Buchanan (née Carter - died 1977, age 91), of of Iden, Sussex, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of these pilots with thanks to the National Archive Kew, AIR 27-1949-196/241. Annabel Stock The Argus Newspaper. British Medical Journal. Battle of Britain Diary, Kracker Luftwaffe Archive.

Other sources as quoted below:

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