Date:	Friday 2 January 1942
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb
Owner/operator:	602 (City of Glasgow) Sqn RAF
Registration:	P8722
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	Missing off Le Treport -   France
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 2 January 1942 four Spitfires of 602 Sqn RAF took off at 1320 hrs from Kenley for a Rhubarb mission over France. However they sighted two German float planes over the Channel and turned towards the Germans and started to attack. During the battle the Spitfire Vb P8722 of Kapt. Jens Schjelderup Hertzberg, a Norwegian pilot, was probably hit by return fire. He was just able to advise over the radio that he was hit. His engine then cut and he was seen ditching into the sea off Le Tréport. He was not seen again and probably went down with the aircraft unable to escape from it. He has no known grave. His loss was sad for the Norwegians as he had been picked to lead the new 332 (Norwegian) Sqn RAF from later in the month.

Another pilot of 602 Sqn, Plt Off Kemper, claimed both floatplanes, identified as He 114s, shot down at 1350 and 1400 off Le Tréport. In fact the Spitfires met Ar 196 floatplanes from BoGr 196. Only one was lost, the Ar 196A-3 W.Nr. 0148, T3+EK of 1./B.Fl.St. 196. It was reported missing on a transfer flight from Schellingwoude (Amsterdam) to Brest, in Pl.Qu. 0169/05 Ost . The pilot, Fw. Hilarius Kuhn, was alone aboard and was lost with the aircraft.

http://www.rafandluftwaffe.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Nordic-RAF-Casualty-Register-2.pdf
RAF Fighter Command activity in 1942 file, by Tony Wood (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=40185
Avions n° 146 (French magazine, July-August 2005)
https://www.mapquest.com/latlng/50.323056,0.854166?centerOnResults=1 (reported position of the loss of the Ar 196)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Jan-2017 15:42	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
05-Jan-2017 05:07	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Aircraft type]
13-Feb-2018 21:41	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
23-Dec-2021 18:44	TigerTimon	Updated [Time]
18-Apr-2022 05:48	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
07-Jul-2022 17:56	angels one five	Updated [Narrative]