Date:	Saturday 15 June 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	59 Sqn RAF
Registration:	R3818
MSN:	TR-L
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bayeux, Calvados, Normandy -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Odiham, Hampshire
Destination airport:	RAF Odiham, Hampshire

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV R3817 (TR-J) 59 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Northern France. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/952): "Blenheim R3818 in air operations, 16 June 1940. Aircraftman 1st Class F V W Thake and Pilot Officer B Everton-Jones: prisoners of war. Sergeant G W Taplin: report of death"

Airborne from RAF Odiham, Hampshire for an armed recce sortie over Northern France. Shot down near Bayeux, Calvados, Normandy. Of the three crew, one was killed, and the other two survived to be captured and taken as PoWs.

Crew of Blenheim R3818:
Pilot Officer Benjamin Everton-Jones (Pilot) RAF 72397; survived, captured, and taken as a PoW. Interned in PoW Camp Stalg Luft III as PoW No. 460
Sergeant (Observer) George William Taplin, RAF 580406, age 26, killed in action 16/06/1940, buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, Calvados, Normandy, France
Sergeant F V W Thake (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 630682; survived, captured, and taken as PoW. Interned in PoW Camp 357 as PoW 1421

The reported crash location of Bayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France, 10 km from the Channel coast, at approximate Coordinates: 49°16′46″N 0°42′10″W

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 24)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/952): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502584
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2341457/taplin,-george-william/
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/59_squadron.html#1606
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7300
6. http://39-45.auzeau.fr/france/14-calvados/14-bayeux-war-cemetery-2/
7. Flight Lieutenant Benjamin Everton-Jones PoW report (1945): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14081446
8. Warrant Officer F V W Thake PoW Report (1945): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14081638
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Sep-2019 16:48	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Oct-2019 09:20	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]