03/31/2013. Fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin III, driving a de Havilland two-speed three-bladed propeller, this aircraft was first flown on March 25, 1939. Ten days later, April 4, the aircraft was delivered to No. 65 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch, Essex (now Greater London area), and assigned the squadron code "YT-O". WW II reached western Europe with the invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Two weeks later, May 26, this aircraft was damaged by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Pilot/Officer Kenneth Hart crash-landed (site files) on the beach of Dunkerque (Dunkirk), France. It was struck off charge on August 14, 1940.