On 6th August 1940 this 616 Squadron aircraft was damaged on a patrol over the North Sea twenty miles north east of Flamborough Head. The pilot sighted a lone Junkers Ju88 and made an attack on it but was damaged by the Ju88's return fire. The Spitfire pilot was able to keep control of his aircraft and land safely at Leconfield.
Pilot - F/Lt Richard Hellyer RAF (90054).
Richard "Owen" Hellyer was born in North Ferriby near Hull, he had two older brothers had also served in the war, Peter Hellyer in the Fleet Air Arm and Tim Hellyer in the Royal Tank Regiment. All three brothers attended Aysgarth School in Wensleydale, Yorkshire. Richard Hellyer joined the RAF(Aux) in 1936 and was posted to 503 Squadron. He was awarded his Wings in July 1938 and granted a Commission on 10th November 1936 as P/O. 503 Squadron was later disbanded but reformed in November 1938 as 616 Squadron based at RAF Finningley and he transferred to this unit. He was called up for active service in September 1939 and was shot down and wounded flying Spitfire K9804 on Dunkirk Beach on 28th May 1940. He arrived back in the UK and recovered from his injuries and rejoined 616 Squadron in July 1940. He rose to F/O on an unknown date and then rose to F/Lt on 15th May 1940, he was later posted to 56 OTU at Sutton Bridge in September 1940 and in 1941 trained as an instructor before instructing at 28 EFTS in 1942 and later with 5 (P)AFU at Hutton Cranswick in 1944. He was commended For Valuable Service in the Air on 1st January 1944 and survived the War. He later moved to live in South Africa where he died in the mid-1990s. He is remembered on a plaque at Aysgarth School to all those who served in WW2. I thank his grand-daughter Mrs De Leeuw for contacting me in November 2011 and for the additional information she was kind enough to provide this account.
Spitfire R6980 was built to contract 19713/39 by Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd at Woolston and was first test flown on 19th July 1940. Later that day it was flown to 6MU at Brize Norton and then taken on charge by 616 Squadron at Leconfield on 27th July 1940. Cat.M/FB damage was recorded following this incident above and it was repaired on site and moved with the unit to Kenley on 20th August 1940 and on 3rd September 1940 with the unit to Coltishall and six days later to Kirton in Lindsey. On 3rd January 1941 it sustained Cat.M/FA damage when it belly landed in error at Kirton in Lindsey. It was repaired on site and on 26th February 1941 it was transferred to 65 Squadron also based at Kirton in Lindsey. On 6th April 1941 it transferred to 308 Squadron at Baginton. On 14th June 1941 it was damage assessed by 43 Group (Salvage and repair) spo may have been damaged but records are vague. On 29th July 1941 it was allotted to 52 OTU at Debden, in error; this was an Hurricane unit. On 4th August 1941 it was taken on charge by 61 OTU at Heston but on 14th July 1942 Cat.E/FA damage was recorded when its engine cut and the pilot made wheels-up crash-landing two miles south of Rednal.