Date:	Thursday 23 November 1939
Time:	11:00
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk I
Owner/operator:	57 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1129
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Rosieres-en-Santerre airfield, Somme -   France
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Rosieres-en-Santerre airfield (Fr.)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Blenheim L1129: Took off for a training sortie. 23/11/1939
Aircraft hit a tent on the airfield during a dive on AA gun position while carrying out unauthorised low-flying during a local training flight. Flap controls ceased to work. Pilot gained height to 5,000 ft. to allow the other crew to escape but soon lost control. Aircraft stalled and crashed at 11:00 hrs
The pilot, P/O Hume, managed to keep control and climbed so his two crew could bale out, which they did successfully, but he was still at the controls when the Blenheim stalled and crashed near the aerodrome.
Crew:
P/O (40394) Oliver Carlisle HUME (pilot) RAF - Killed
Sgt (565544) George Frederick COUZENS (obs.) RAF - baled out unhurt
LAC (537147) Charles French STEVENS (Wop/AG) RAF - baled out and sprained an ankle on landing.

According to the following report of the accident, posted on line by the grandson of LAC Charles Stevens:

"LAC Charles French Stevens is my Grandad. He passed away in 1985, but had written about the day he bailed out of the L1129 Bristol Blenheim in France. He spoke of the bravery of the Pilot, Oliver Carlisle Hume #40394 , who had told my Grandad and Sgt. George Frederick Couzens #565544 to bail, Hume stayed in the plane which was heading to crash in a nearby village, Grandad saw him divert the plane away, into a field, where it crashed..."

"...They were undertaking a shooting practise that day when the starboard wing had caught a bell tent at about 4 feet. When they got to about 6,000 feet, Grandad saw bits of tent and aileron coming off the wing. Hume did port wing turns, then after a number of checks told Grandad and Couzens to bale...Grandad had to cut along the hatch hinge to make a hole big enough to get out, then he jumped. He saw the Blenheim coming down in a shallow dive towards the village, but then it turned away towards the 'drome where it crashed into flames. It was only when Grandad saw the plane turn that he realised that Hume had stayed in it to turn the plane to the 'drome instead of the village! He describes Hume as a 'bloody good bloke'!"

1. "The Bristol Blenheim: A Complete History", by Graham Warner)
2. "Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 1: Aircraft and Crew lost during 1939-1940", by W R Chorley. ISBN 0-904597-85-7
3.National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1678: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/C16359509
4. https://www.cwgc.org.
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=996
6. http://39-45.auzeau.fr/?page=le-quesnel
7. http://www.southafricawargraves.org/search/print.php?id=10508
8. http://www.anciens-aerodromes.com/?p=4294
9. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=49.803095&lon=2.744694&z=13&m=b

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Aug-2013 06:43	JINX	Added
15-Dec-2014 10:59	Jixon	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, ]
23-Nov-2015 19:35	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
06-Oct-2018 15:24	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
25-Jun-2019 01:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
15-Mar-2020 08:43	DB	Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, Operator, ]
23-Oct-2022 06:42	Anon.	Updated
17-Jul-2024 21:37	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator, ]
25-Aug-2024 15:59	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator, ]
25-Aug-2024 16:06	Nepa	Updated [Source, Operator, ]