A Tragic Mistake. Remembering The Battle of Barking Creek.

The first time the RAF shot down an aircraft in British skies during World War Two was over Essex, South East England. The war was only a couple of days old and the new UK Air Defence Early Warning System, The Dowding System, was brand new. It would be put to the test and failure would end in disaster for a young Hawker Hurricane RAF pilot.

When war began on 3rd September 1939, the population of Great Britain were nervously thinking of waves of enemy bombers in Britain’s skies. So too were the pilots of RAF Fighter Command. It wouldn’t be long before they were scrambling into the skies and after just a few days of the war, a Spitfire would shoot down the first aircraft over British territory. But it wasn’t an enemy aircraft….it was one of our own!

56 Squadron Hawker Hurricanes had been scrambled due to an erroneous target report from the nearby Chain Home early warning radar, part of the Dowding System system. This also saw 74 Squadron Supermarine Spitfires scrambled.

Flight leader Sailor Malan of 74 Squadron mistook the hurricanes for the enemy and ordered an attack, resulting in Pilot Officer John Freeborn shooting down and killing Pilot Officer Montague Hulton-Harrop.

It was the first shooting down of an aircraft by the RAF in WW2 and the first friendly fire incident.

This is an updated re-upload
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Credits & Attributions

[TheNorthernHistorian]

This is an updated re-upload of an older video. Apologies if you've already viewed it but many of my recent subscribers may not have.

[British-Hauntings-and-History]

my adopted home is County Durham - lovely to hear a friendly accent - excellently researched and presented video

[nickblack]

Really great video, and you have done a great job of presenting the facts of this tragic incident. Really glad to see my work cited here as well. For too long this story has been presented infactually in histories of the RAF during the Second World War and it great to see awareness of Hulton-Harrop's ultimate sacrifice being preserved. Keep up the great work.

[mbryson]

Thank you for this video. I think it aptly illustrates the difference between real-world situations and games.

I rode motorcycles for 30+ years. Identifying cars and other motorcycles when you're riding at 60-ish mph and they're moving about the same can be extremely challenging, and we're not shooting or bombing.

[raymondyee]

Episode 1 of "Piece of Cake" the TV series had a scene based on this. But they changed it to a Blenheim from 64 Squadron.

[spankflaps]

Friendly fire was inevitable at the start, getting used to the new radar technology etc.
Just as long as they learnt from the mistakes.
I’ve read a lot about Roger Bushell. Imagine the stories he could have told if he survived the war!

[jameslloyd]

My grandfather is the pilot in QJS 8min into the video. It's a great photo of him and the spitfire.

[robscott]

Absolutely fascinating!!!Well done Sir on your impeccable research!

[MichaelCampin]

I have the titanium head off a German AP bomb that was dropped on RAF Hornchurch. Luckily RAF Hornchurch was a grass strip so little damage was actually caused

[LEDAClocks]

Spitfire is such a great plane! I love it! 😄 Amazing Video as well!

[twotone]

The first of many mother's sons to be taken before they even got started in life. So sad.

[tyree]

When the guns go hot, you really don't know where those bullets are going to land.

The only time (imo) to not identify your target first, is when you run into them point blank. Otherwise, you have the time to identify them...

[couttsw]

No mistake there, these pilots don't know what their own aircraft look like from behind, a bullet behind the ear is too good for them. The good ol boys network to the rescue, if the court marshal was serious they'd be locked up for life.