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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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234 squadron crest
07.09.1940 No 234 Squadron Spitfire I X4009 Fl/Lt. Hughes

Operation: Patrol.

Date: 7th September 1940.

Unit: 234 Squadron

Type: Spitfire I.

Serial: X4009.

Coded: AZ-?

Base: RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire

Location: Bessels Green, Kent.

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Paterson Clarence Hughes DFC. 39461 RAF Age 23. Killed.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off on an interception scramble at 17:35 hrs with 11 others to attack enemy fighters and bombers flying at 20,000 ft. between London and Brighton.

The squadron claimed 3 x Me109's, 1 x Heinkel 111 and 1 x Do.17 destroyed with 1 x Me109 probably destroyed, 1 x Me109 damaged.

One month after his wedding, Pat Hughes was killed when the Dornier 17 he was attacking blew up with such force that it wrecked his Spitfire, his aircraft crashed into the ground at Darks Farm, Bessels Green, Kent.

In twenty-four days of intense combat he had accounted for fifteen enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of others. He was awarded the DFC. posthumously.

Also 28 year old, Sq/Ldr. Joseph Somerton O'brien 34171 RAF flying Spitfire I P9466 was shot down over Biggin Hill and killed, He was also classed as an 'ace' with 5 confirmed enemy aircraft.

The remainder of the squadron returned safely to base by 19:15 hrs.

Grave photograph kindly supplied by Anthony Gilroy - August 2018

Burial Details:

Buried on the 13th September 1940.

Fl/Lt. Paterson Clarence Hughes DFC. Sutton-On-Hull Churchyard, (St. James). Yorkshire. Row G. Grave 4. Son of Paterson Clarence and C. C. Hughes, husband of Kathleen Agnes Hughes, of Hull, England. Grave inscription reads: "And In Loving Memory Of His Wife Kathleen Who Died 28th June 1983 Aged 66".

Sq/Ldr. Joseph Somerton O'brien DFC. MiD. St. Mary Cray Cemetery. Plot E. Division 3. Grave 131. Born on the 09th April 1912 in Calcutta, India. Born on the 09th April 1912 in Calcutta, India Son Major Wulstan Hubert O'Brien (killed 07th February 1917, age 33), and Edith Muriel O'Brien (née Somerton - died in 1971). Husband of Marguerite Josephine (married 09th July 1938, née O'Reilly - died 15th December 1996), of Herne Bay, Kent, England.

National Archives Kew Air-27-1439-9/10.


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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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