Date:	Friday 17 May 1940
Time:	06:30
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF
Registration:	P4854
MSN:	UX-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sévigny-la-Forêt, Ardennes -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Watton, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Watton, Norfolk

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV P4854 (UX-F) of 82 (United Provinces) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) on combat operations (Target: Gembloux, Belgium). Two of the three crew were killed, one captured, and taken as a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/404): "Blenheim P4854 shot down near Sévigny, France, 17 May 1940. Leading Aircraftman R Morris and Sergeant A G B Crouch: missing presumed dead. Pilot Officer K S Toft: prisoner of war".

On 17th May, 1940, twelve aircraft of 82 Squadron, based at Watton, in Norfolk, took off to attack troop concentrations at Gembloux, Belgium, where the German army was sweeping West towards the Channel ports. Blenheim P4854 (UX-F) was airborne at 04:50 hrs from RAF Watton, Norfolk. One of the 12 Blenheims lost by 82 Squadron on this operation.

They were supposed to have a Hurricane fighter escort but they were intercepted before the escort arrived, and they had to proceed without their escorts. As they reached their target, 15 German Bf-109 fighters attacked them.

Eleven of them were shot down and the sole survivor (Blenheim Mk.IV P8858, UX-W), which was badly damaged, managed to reach RAF Watton, Norfolk, but it was written off due to the damage sustained.

Crew of Blenheim P4854:
Sergeant Arthur George Bernard Crouch, RAF 580508, posted 17/05/1940, as missing presumed killed
Leading Aircraftman Raymonde Morris, RAF 551580, posted 17/05/1940, as missing presumed killed
Pilot Officer Toft, survived captured taken as PoW; interned in PoW Camps L1/9AH/20A/6B/L3, as PoW No.126.

As no trace of the aircraft or two crew fatalities was ever found, they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The reported crash location of Sévigny is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France, at approximate Coordinates: 48°46′54″N 0°00′56″W.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 26)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/404: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502075
3. The Squadron That Died Twice - The story of No. 82 Squadron RAF by By Gordon Thorburn
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/231572/crouch,-arthur-george-bernard/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077225/morris,-raymonde/
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7306
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/82_squadron.html#1705
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9vigny

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

1 April 1940	L8867	82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF	3	North Sea, 180 km west of Amrun, Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein		w/o
8 June 1940	R3709	82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF	1	Lamotte-Buleux, 10 km N of Abbeville, Somme, Hauts de France		w/o
4 December 1940	N3594	82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF	0	near Hulsen, Nijverdal, Overijssel		sub

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jan-2012 10:15	Uli Elch	Added
17-Jul-2019 20:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
18-Jul-2019 10:50	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
01-Mar-2020 17:56	Anon.	Updated [Location]
30-Jun-2022 05:07	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]