Date:	Saturday 15 June 1940
Time:	12:45 LT
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	254 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L9480
MSN:	QY-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, West of Smøla Island, Smøla Municipality, Møre og Romsdal -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L9480 (QY-F) 254 Sqaudron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Norway. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/911): "Blenheim L9480 lost in air operations over the North Sea, 15 June 1940. Sergeant C A C Burran, Sergeant J D Wicks and Pilot Officer P C Gaylard: report of deaths"

Two Blenheims took off from Sumburgh Shetland at 09:45. Destination Trondheim harbour. There they were attacked by two Messerschmitts. L9480 was shot down, the other escaped. Shot down at 12.45 hrs by Ltn. Bender and Helmut Lent of 1/ZG 76, west of Smøla Island, Smøla Municipality, Møre og Romsdal. No survivors among the crew of three.

Crew of Blenheim L9480:
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Peter C. Gaylard, RAF 41995, killed in action 15/06/1940
Sergeant (Observer) John D. Wicks, RAFVR 751253, age 20, killed in action 15/06/1940
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Colin A.C. Burran, RAF 552645,killed in action 15/06/1940

The crew was at first buried in a marsh at the crash site during the war. They were interned post war at Trondheim (Stavne) Cemetery, Trondheim, Norway. In 2004 the wreck was said to be still seen at the crash site.

The reported crash site of Smøla Island is located in Smøla Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, at approximate Coordinates 63.3566°N 8.0342°E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 62)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/911: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502390
3. Ross McNeill, Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941), Midland publishing, 2003
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2186257/gaylard,-peter-carrington/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2186345/wicks,-john-david/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320953/smith,-leonard-george/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sm%C3%B8la_(island)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Sep-2019 23:58	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Sep-2019 08:29	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]