Date:	Monday 24 June 1940
Time:	06:35
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	254 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L9409
MSN:	QY-J
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Trondheim, Trøndelag county -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands
Destination airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L9409 (QY-J) 254 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Norway. All three crew missing, presumed killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/980): "Blenheim L9409 failed to return from an operational flight over Trondheim, Norway 24 June 1940. Sergeant A B Norfolk, Sergeant J Price and Flight Lieutenant P S Jolliffe: missing presumed dead".

Took off at 03.55 hours from RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands, in formation with other squadron aircraft. Attacked escort ship "Schiff 47" with bombs and machine-guns at 06.35 hrs. Blenheim QY-H of 254 reported wing man missing and the ship "Schiff 47" claimed one Blenheim shot down, which was presumably L9409/QY-J.

Crew of Blenheim L9409:
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Peter S. Joliffe, RAF 33263, age 24, posted 24/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed
Sergeant (Observer) Alan B. Norfolk, RAFVR 751127, age 28, posted 24/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) James Price, RAF 626267, age 24, posted 24/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed

As no trace of Blenheim L9409 or its crew of four were ever found, the crew are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 62)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/980: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502431
3. Ross McNeill, Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941), Midland publishing, 2003 p 43
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802239/jolliffe,-peter-slade/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077772/norfolk,-alan-bernard/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1804665/price,-james/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondheim

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Oct-2019 22:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Oct-2019 06:27	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]