Battle of Barking Creek [SEP] point in time
Battle of Barking Creek
The Battle of Barking Creek was a friendly fire incident over England on 6 September 1939, resulting in the first death of a British fighter pilot in the Second World War.
Battle.
At on 6 September 1939, a radar fault led to a false alarm that unidentified aircraft were approaching from the east at high altitude over West Mersea, on the Essex coast. No. 11 Group RAF ordered six Hawker Hurricanes to be scrambled from 56 Squadron, based at North Weald Airfield in Essex.
be identified by wire aerials strung between the tailplane tips and rear fuselage. Although the added weight and the aerials reduced maximum speed by about two mph (three km/h), it allowed the aircraft to be identified as "friendly" on radar: lack of such equipment was a factor leading to the Battle of Barking Creek. At about the same time new VHF T/R Type 1133 radios started replacing the HF TR9 sets. These had first been fitted to Spitfires of 54 and 66 Squadrons in May 1940,