Date:	Tuesday 25 June 1940
Time:	14:25
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	254 Sqn RAF
Registration:	R3622
MSN:	QY-K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Stavanger, Rogaland -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands
Destination airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV R3622 (QY-K) 254 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Norway. Of the three crew, two were posted as "missing, presumed killed", and one survived to be captured and taken as a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/993): "Blenheim R3622 crashed off the coast of Stavanger, Norway, 25 June 1940. Sergeant R C Trowbridge and Sergeant G W H Kendall: missing presumed dead. Pilot Officer A J Hill: prisoner of war".

Took off at 12.48 hrs from RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands. Tasked with a "Stab" operation - a patrol between Stavanger and Bergen attacking shipping "targets of opportunity". Shot down by Ofw Arnoldy of IV./JG77 at approximately 14:25 hrs, on a sweep to Stavanger/Bergen. As stated above, two of the crew were posted as "missing, presumed killed, one survived to be taken as a PoW.

Crew of Blenheim R3622:
Pilot Officer Arthur Joseph "Joe" Hill (Pilot), RAF 42004; survived, captured, taken as a PoW. Interned in PoW Camp Stalag Luft III
Sergeant George William Henry Kendall, RAF 563559, age 27, posted 25/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed
Sergeant Richard Charles Trowbridge, RAF 550858, age 20, posted 25/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed

Squadron Leader Hill survived WWII, and in fact died on 2 August 2005

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 23)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/993: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502444
3. Ross McNeill, Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941), Midland publishing, 2003
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/254_squadron.html
5. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/20.htm
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802581/kendall,-george-william-henry/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1809043/trowbridge,-richard-charles/
8. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=61402&postcount=22
9. http://ww2f.com/threads/33-squadron-raf-africa-greece-1940-41.17205/page-2#post-265360

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Feb-2015 13:18	gerard57	Added
16-Feb-2015 11:43	Oezil	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative]
29-Sep-2015 07:59	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
26-Sep-2018 10:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
03-Oct-2019 20:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Oct-2019 06:28	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]