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| Date: | Saturday 2 December 1939 |
| Time: | 16:10 |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 104 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L8868 |
| MSN: | EP-K |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | one mile north of Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Sywell, Northamptonshire |
| RAF Bicester, Oxfordshire |
Blenheim IV L8868: Took off for training flight from RAF Bicester . 02/12/1939
The crew had become lost during a cross-country training flight. The Blenheim had been landed at RAF Sywell airfield at 15:25 hrs for the crew to check their position. They took off again at 15:55 hrs to return to RAF Bicester.
Pilot overshot and the aircraft crashed during an attempted forced landing in a field one mile north of Stony Stratford (Buckinghamshire), seven miles north-east of Buckingham at 16:10 hrs. Aircraft hit telegraph poles and ran through a hedge by the Watling Street road.
Crew:
P/O (41858) Thomas Campbell MCGILLIVRAY (pilot) RAF unhurt
Sgt Emlyn EVANS (Obs.) RAF injured /broke an arm and admitted to Princess Mary’s RAF Hospital at Halton.
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L8868, 104 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 2/12/1939 when wrecked in a forced landing at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire. No fatalities, but both crew were injured. According to the official Air Ministry file into the accident (File AIR 81/1705 - see link #2): "Blenheim L8868, 104 Squadron, aircraft accident, Stony Stratford, 2 December 1939; Pilot Officer T C McGillivray, Sergeant E Evans injured"
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1976 p 60)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1705: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16359650
3. https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/458759-104-squadron-blenheim-loss.html
4. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/blenheim/28091-RAF10353.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Jun-2019 02:29 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 25-Jun-2019 02:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 25-Jun-2019 05:47 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 08-May-2023 21:27 | Nepa | Updated |
| 15-Jul-2024 12:20 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator, ] |
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