ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226495
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| Date: | Sunday 12 May 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 139 (Jamaica) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P4826 |
| MSN: | XD-M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Tongeren, Limburg. -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Plivot airfield (Fr.) |
Blenhein P4826/M: Written off (destroyed) when lost on combat operations - officially described as "Blenheim P4826 failed to return from an operational flight over Belgium, 12 May 1940; Leading Aircraftman C C Child, Sergeant J B Keegan and Temporary Flight Lieutenant A W Lee missing presumed dead".
Blenheim P4826/M: Took off at 05:00 hrs for briefed to bomb and strafe enemy troop columns advancing from Maastricht towards Tongeren. Both aircraft and crew lost without trace, presumably in the combat area.
At dawn on 12 May 1940 the British air commander sent off nine A.A.S.F. Blenheims of No. 139 Squadron to attack a column on the road from Maastricht to Tongres. Running into the swarms of fighters previously reported over the area, they lost seven (all but two of their number) - a disaster which ended the life of the A.A.S.F. Blenheims as a useful force before it had begun, for the other squadron (No. 114) had been virtually destroyed on its airfield the previous day.
The German fighter pilot Walter Adolph (1913-1941) of 2./JG 1 shot down three Blenheims of 139 Squadron on this day. The engagement resulted in 11 of 139 Squadron's crew being KIA, 4 being posted MIA (and probably KIA), and 2 taken as POWs.
Crew:
F/Lt (37323) Andrew Wynyard LEE (pilot) RAF : missing believed killed
Sgt (580581) Joseph Belk KEEGAN (Obs.) RAF : missing believed killed
LAC (541344) Charles C. CHILD (WOp/AG) RAF : missing believed killed
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Brtiain, 1978 p 26)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/281: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142106
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/139_squadron.html#1205
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1803231/lee,-andrew-wynyard/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802493/keegan,-joseph-belk/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1084372/child,-charles-colby/
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/10138.php
8. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/raf-losses-may-1940-an-update.16940/page-4#post-195020
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 12 August 1941 | V6261 | 139 (Jamaica) Sqn RAF | 3 | mouth of the Westerschelde off Breskens, Zeeland |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jun-2019 21:20 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 25-Jun-2019 05:44 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 11-Nov-2022 08:18 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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