ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 158607
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| Date: | Saturday 1 June 1940 |
| Time: | 09:08 |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IVF |
| Owner/operator: | 254 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | R3630 |
| MSN: | QY-Q |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel, off Goodwin Sands, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent |
| RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent |
At 04:50 hours on Saturday 1st June 1940, two Blenheims of No. 254 Squadron and two of No. 248 Squadron took off from RAF Detling to make a three-hour shipping cover patrol of the Dunkirk evacuation shipping route (Operation "Dynamo"). The patrol was commanded by Flying Officer J.W. Baird in Blenheim L9481.
Soon after take-off at 04.47 hrs first one and then the other of the No. 248 Squadron Blenheims radioed that they were returning to Detling due to aircraft unserviceability, The two No. 254 Squadron aircraft commenced their patrol at about 05:00 hours and had made several circuits up to 07:45 hours. During two of these circuits, they engaged in unresolved encounters with first a Junkers 87 aircraft and later with a Heinkel 111.
At about 07:50 they started their last circuit before returning to Detling and at 07:55 they were at 8,000 feet approaching Dunkirk, two miles out to sea flying parallel to the shore, when they were attacked by eleven Bf 109 aircraft diving on them from the South in line astern.
Bristol Blenheim Mk IVF, R3630 (QY-Q), 254 Squadron, Lost: 01/06/1940 in combat operations. All three crew killed.
Crew of R3630:
Sergeant Richard Arthur Bate, RAF 564536, Killed In Action, 01/06/1940, missing
Sergeant James Clements Love, RAFVR 745109, Killed In Action, 01/06/1940, missing
Leading Aircraftman William Thomas Harrison, RAF 629949, Killed In Action, 01/06/1940, missing
All three crew were posted as missing in action (presumed killed in action); no trace of the aircraft or crew was ever found, so they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 23)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/740: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502624
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/254_squadron.html#0106
4. https://goodwinsandssos.org/save-our-shipwrecks/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083525/bate,-richard-arthur/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1078937/love,-james-clements/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799537/harrison,-william-thomas/
8. https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1323060
9. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=52804
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 24 June 1940 | R3826 | 254 Sqn RAF | 3 | North Sea, West of Stavanger |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Aug-2013 04:05 | JINX | Added |
| 14-Sep-2014 09:07 | Jixon | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Country] |
| 29-May-2019 02:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2019 02:53 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2019 18:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative] |
| 30-May-2019 12:48 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 06-Sep-2019 21:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Sep-2019 09:06 | stehlík49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 16-Feb-2021 13:33 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Source] |
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