ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 196622
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| Date: | Thursday 21 March 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 18 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L1427 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Jeffries Point, Portslade, East Sussex, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | |
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.
Winter was awarded the EGM, later changed to a George Cross.
Crew:-
Pilot : Pilot Officer Henry Stephen Penton Hulton RAF 33428 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 03 October, 1939) [Killed]
Observer : Sergeant Oliver William Dumbreck RAF 580537 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Leading Aircraftman Oultram RAF [Injured]
Rear Gunner : Corporal G E Lapwood RAF [Injured]
Sources:
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?6243-Crash-of-18-Squadron-Blenheim-21-March-1940
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=18247
http://web.archive.org/web/20110812143320/http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/20710-all-george-crosses-world-war-two-2.html
https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2457052/DUMBRECK,%20OLIVER%20WILLIAM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portslade
18 Squadron Record of Events doc AIR27/243/12 National Archives records incident as desribed
http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/south-east/brighton-and-hove/portslade/
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jul-2017 08:58 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 21-Mar-2024 07:42 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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