ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226608
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| Date: | Sunday 12 May 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 139 (Jamaica) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N6219 |
| MSN: | XD-V |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Maastricht to Tongres Road, near Maastricht, Limburg. -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Plivot airfield (Fr.) |
Blenheim 6219/V: Written off (destroyed) when lost on combat operations 12/05/1940.
According to the official Air Ministry File on the incident (File AIR 81/282): "Blenheim N6219 crashed near Maastricht, The Netherlands, 12 May 1940. Sergeant P C Gray and Sergeant C Taylor: missing presumed dead. Flight Lieutenant G E Grey Smith: prisoner of war".
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 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.
Blenheim N6219: Took off at 05:00 hrs from Plivot, France, briefed to bomb and strafe enemy troop columns advancing from Maastricht towards Tongeren. Shot down by Bf109s of 2./JG 1 and 3./JG 27 over the target area. The German fighter pilot Walter Adolph (1913-1941) of 2./JG 1 shot down three Blenheims of 139 Squadron on this day, two of which may have been N6219 and P4923.
Crew:
F/Lt (39460) Guy Edward GREY-SMITH (pilot) RAF : injured /POW
Sgt (580511) Phillip Cole GRAY (Obs.) RAF : missing presumed killed
Sgt (530913) Cyril TAYLOR (WOp/AG) RAF : missing presumed killed
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J. Haley, Air Britain, 1977 p 37)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/282: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142107
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1798727/gray,-phillip-cole/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1808488/taylor,-cyril/
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/139_squadron.html#1205
6. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=19488
7. http://blenheimsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/BB-Journal-60-69-list-of-contents.pdf
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 16 July 1941 | Z7362 | 139 (Jamaica) Sqn RAF | 0 | Kruisstraat street, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Jun-2019 21:54 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 27-Jun-2019 05:28 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 17-Jun-2022 12:46 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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