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Date: | Tuesday 11 June 1940 |
Time: | 19:00 LT |
Type: | Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
Owner/operator: | 21 Sqn RAF |
Registration: | L8746 |
MSN: | YH-Y |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | St-Aubin-sur-Scie (Seine-Maritime), 6 km SSW of Dieppe -
France
|
Phase: | Combat |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Bodney, near Watton, Norfolk |
Destination airport: | RAF Bodney, near Watton, Norfolk |
Narrative:Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L8743 (YH-Y) 21 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from a combat operation over Northern France. Of the three crew, two were killed, and one survived to be taken as a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/848): "Blenheim L8746 crashed at Offranville, France, 11 June 1940. Sergeant G Lewis and Sergeant A G Murray: report of deaths. Pilot Officer D MacDonald: prisoner of war".
Airborne 11:30 from RAF Bodney, near Watton, Norfolk. One of three Blenheims from 15 Squadron (L8746, L8743 and R3674) tasked with bombing targets in the Basse-Seine area in support of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force). Shot down over St-Aubin-sur-Scie (Seine- Maritime), 6 km South South West of Dieppe, by, it is believed, Oblt Senoner of 3/JG 20. All of these three Blenheims were lost in this combat operation on this day, with the lost of five crew (plus one taken PoW). Blenheim L8746 lost two crew with one taken as PoW
Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Lieutenant Donald MacDonald RAF 42243 [PoW] (Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 12 December, 1939)
Observer : Sergeant Gwyn Lewis RAF 580549 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Alastair Gordon Murray RAFVR 759321 [Killed]
Both crew fatalities were buried at St. Aubin-sur-Scie Communal Cemetery, Seine-Maritime, France. The reported crash location of Saint-Aubin-sur-Scie is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France, by the banks of the river Scie in the Pays de Caux, some 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Dieppe at approximate Coordinates: 49°52′20″N 1°04′16″E
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/848:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502654 3.
http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1172 5.
http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/21_squadron.html#1106 6.
http://aircrewremembered.com/macdonald-d.html 7.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2689076/lewis,-gwyn/ 8.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2689077/murray,-alastair-gordon/ 9.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Aubin-sur-Scie 10. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
21-Sep-2019 22:35 |
Dr. John Smith |
Added |
24-Sep-2019 13:10 |
stehlik49 |
Updated [Operator] |
26-Jun-2022 18:34 |
Anon. |
Updated [[Operator]] |
18-May-2023 17:57 |
Rob Davis |
Updated [[[Operator]]] |