Hawker Hurricane V6696 - 13/11/1942

On the morning of the 13th November 1942 (a Friday) Flying Officer Fannon of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit took off in Hawker Hurricane No V6696 on a routine Cine Gun Practice flight when not long after take off the aircraft caught fire due to the failure of the No 5 cylinder. Flying Officer Fannon attempted  to make a forced landing on Allerton Golf Course, but flew straight ahead hit the trees causing the aircraft to catch fire.

The RAF investigation concluded that Flying Officer Fannon was not to blame as no choice of landing field was available. However had the pilot run his engine up it was possible that the engine trouble might of been discovered prior to take off.

Flying Officer Stanley Arthur Fannon was the elder Son of Mrs. H. Fannon of Brockley and is remembered on the Screen wall at Camberbell (Honour Oak) Crematorium, London, Panel number 5.

Flying Officer Fannon was noted to be full of life and the possessor of an attractive personality, his death was a sad loss to his unit in which he was a most popular officer. At Brockley Central School where he received his education, he proved a brilliant scholar, and the qualities which he developed as a boy made him a competent flyer and an esteemed companion. As a youth he passed the London Society of Arts examination with honours and won the silver and bronze medals for swimming, a sport in which he had excelled. His younger brother served in the RAF as a Leading Aircraftsman. 

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