Date:	Thursday 21 March 1940
Time:	10:05
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk I
Owner/operator:	18 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1427
MSN:	WV-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Jeffries Point, Portslade, East Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Rosieres-en-Santerre (Fr.)
Destination airport:	RAF Kenley, Surrey

Narrative:
On 21 March 1940 the Blenheim I L1427 of 18 Sqn RAF took off from Rosieres-en-Santerre at 0800 hrs bound for Kemble via Tangmere. It crossed the English coast East of Shoreham, disappeared into cloud over the hills North of Brighton and, still in cloud, crashed on a hill-top known as Jeffries Point, Portslade. The crash was witnessed by three men who were working in a field a few yards from where the aircraft first touched the ground. Gerald Winter, an agricultural worker of the East Sussex Agricultural Committee, was one of these men.

The Blenheim caught fire on impact and travelled for a distance of 300 yards coming to rest in a gorse bush on the side of the hill. The grass and gorse caught fire from the point where it first struck the ground to the point where it finally came to rest. Winter immediately ran to the scene, and was informed by Corporal Lapwood, one of the crew who had managed to extricate himself from the wreckage, that there were still men inside. Winter immediately extricated A.C.I Oultram. He then climbed into the gun turret in an endeavour to locate the remainder of the crew. He saw two figures at the front of the machine beyond his reach. Climbing from the turret he tried with great gallantry to approach the nose of the aircraft but was unable to do so owing to the explosion of the ammunition and the intense heat of the flames. Moreover, the gorse plantation in the middle of which the aircraft had come to rest was also on fire.

Crew lost their bearings in fog and crashed at 10.05 hrs. when the aircraft hit the top of a hill on the South Downs at Jeffries Point, between Mile Oak Farm and Fulking (Sussex). They were on a transit flight to Kemble via Tangmere to exchange their Mk.I Blenheim for a newer Mk.IV.

Winter was awarded the EGM, later changed to a George Cross.

Crew:
P/O (33428) Henry Stephen Penton HULTON (Pilot) Commission Gazetted Tuesday 03 October, 1939) RAF killed
Sgt (580537) Oliver William DUMBRECK (Obs.) RAF killed.
LAC (625647) Ivor Bernard OULTRAM (WOp/AG) RAF suffered concussion, shock and bruising.
Cpl (567727) George Ernest LAPWOOD (Fitter) RAF badly injured.

1.http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?6243-Crash-of-18-Squadron-Blenheim-21-March-1940
2.http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=18247
3.http://web.archive.org/web/20110812143320/http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/20710-all-george-crosses-world-war-two-2.html
4.https://www.cwgc.org.
5.18 Squadron Record of Events doc AIR27/243/12 National Archives records incident as desribed
6.http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/south-east/brighton-and-hove/portslade/
7.Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
8.Bomber Command Losses (1939-1940) WR Chorley, page 32

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jul-2017 08:58	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
21-Mar-2024 07:42	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
14-Jul-2024 17:48	Nepa	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator, ]
02-Oct-2024 09:23	Nepa	Updated [Source, Operator, ]
13-Jul-2025 12:50	MMR	Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative, ]