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Joined RAFVR, assigned to 121 [Eagle] Sqn RAF, transferred to 234 Sqn RAF.
On a mission in Spitfire BL831, shot down by a Focke Wulf 190A-2 from 4./JG26 on 24 April 1942 over Berck-sur-Mer. Killed in Action (KIA) 24-4-42.
On 24 April, 1942, Fighter Command carried out two circus operations over Northern France. In Circus 133, six Bostons of 88 Squadron were to bomb the airfield at Abbeville. The Ibsley Wing, operating from Tangmere, was acting as escort. Over the French coast at Cap Griz Nez, the wing was intercepted by Fw l90s from II/JG26 from Abbeville/Durat. Four Spitfires were shot down. Svendsen and Flight Lieutenant Vivian Eugene Watkins were among the pilots posted missing in action. The 234 Squadron Operations Record Book records:
'The Squadron operating from Tangmere together with 501 and 118 Squadrons carried out a fighter sweep over the French coast at Berck sur Mer. Seven of our aircraft became separated from the main formation when reaching the French coast and attacked from above and astern by 20 F.W.190s. Black and Red Sections (F/Lt. Watkins (U.S.A.) F/Sergt. Fisher, (CAN) P/O Svendsen, (Danish) and Sgt. Machan (Canadian) are missing from this operation.'
(NA: AIR 27/1439)
