Date:	Tuesday 21 May 1940
Time:	15:00 LT
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	18 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L9325
MSN:	WV-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	La Priez Farm, between Combles and Rancourt, Somme -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Watton, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Watton, Norfolk

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L9325 (WV-V) 18 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a reconnaissance mission over Douai-Arras-Amiens, France. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/458): "Blenheim P9325 [*sic] failed to return from an operational flight over France, 21 May 1940. Sergeant A E Craig, Pilot Officer C Light and Sergeant G Hawkins: missing presumed dead".

Took off form RAF Watton, Norfolk 12:00 for Reconnaissance of Douai-Arras-Amiens area. Shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire near Arras, according to the official story. However, there are credible reports that the Blenheim was mis-identified by RAF Hurricanes as a Junkers Ju 88, and shot down in error, in what would now be described as a "friendly fire incident". The Blenheim came down at La Priez Farm, between Combles and Rancourt, Somme.

All three crew were killed. Crew of Blenheim L9325 were...
Pilot Officer Cyril Light, RAF 33479, posted 21/05/1940, as missing, believed killed
Sergeant Arthur Ernest Craig, RAF 358376, posted 21/05/1940, as missing, believed killed
Sergeant George Hawkins, RAF 510166, DFM, age 30, posted 21/05/1940, as missing, believed killed

There is one further "twist"; the bodies of the three crew were recovered and buried at the nearby Rancourt Military Cemetery in Rancourt, Somme, France, as "unidentified RAF airmen". (The exact inscription on each headstone being "An Airman of the 1939-1945 War, Royal Air Force, May 1940").

It was not until June 2015, some 75 years later, that efforts by historians and researchers provided sufficient satisfactory evidence to the CWGC (Commonweath War Graves Commission) that the three anonymous graves in Rancount Military Cemetery were, in fact, the crew of Blenheim L9325. At which point, new headstones were commissioned and installed in the only three WWII-area graves in the cemetery. (all the other graves date from WWI, 1914-1918). The CWGC website has also been updated to reflect this (see links #6,#7 and #8)

NOTE: *The official Air Ministry file (AIR 81/458) lists this Blenheim as "P9325" [sic]. However, P9325 was a Spitfire Mk.I, which served with 222 and 122 Squadrons, and 61 OTU being being struck off charge on 4 July 1941.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 61)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/458: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14501988
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/light-cyril.html
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/18_squadron.html#21recce
5. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/L.htm
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1078711/light,-cyril/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1085170/craig,-arthur-ernest/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799668/hawkins,-george/
9. http://francecrashes39-45.net/recits_avions/l9325_1.pdf
10. Multiple photos of wreckage: http://www.picardie-1939-1945.org/phpBB2new/viewtopic.php?t=1437
11. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=3252

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Jul-2019 22:51	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Jul-2019 11:53	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]