Date:	Thursday 7 August 1941
Time:
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	107 Sqn RAF
Registration:	R3816
MSN:	OM-J
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Manston, Ramsgate, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Manston, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Manston

Narrative:
Blenheim R3816/'J: Took off at 17:55hrs for Test flight after repair work had been completed. 07/08/1941
The report on the accident (AVIA 5/20, Precis W1084 at the National Archives) contains much supposition which could have been cleared up if the pilot, at least, had survived.

"On 23rd June the aircraft was damaged by enemy action and the pilot was forced to land at Manston away from his home base. The necessary repairs, which included replacement of both elevators, were carried out at Manston by representatives of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. On 26.7.41 the work was completed and was finally inspected and passed out by an R.A.F. Warrant Officer on the same day. The elevator and tabs, set in the neutral position, were afterwards doped as required and the aircraft was left out in the open for the next twelve days. According to the evidence the aircraft was signed for by R.A.F. personnel on 6.8.41 as containing full fuel and oil tanks and on 7.8.41 as having been daily inspected. On the latter date a pilot and crew arrived by air to collect the aircraft. The pilot ran up the engines, apparently checked the controls and signed for the aircraft as being satisfactory.

The report, which fails to list details of the crew, carries on to describe the accident which befell the Blenheim. It appears that it became airborne sooner than normal due to a bump in the surface of the airfield ( Manston was, of course, a grass airfield in those days) and, almost immediately, it commenced a right-hand turn at a low speed, and the undercarriage was lowered as if the pilot was attempting to land again. Unfortunately the Blenheim stalled and crashed.

Examination of the wreckage at the scene of the accident showed that the main controls were in order, but after removal of the aircraft for more detailed examination it was found that the starboard elevator was jammed 'solid' in the neutral position. Unbroken dope showed that this tab had not moved from the neutral position in which it had been left after the inspection on 26.7.41. The port tab was fully down in the tail heavy position but this was considered to be due to impact. All three hinges on the starboard tab were rusted tightly on the sleeves which form the bearing journals and which are pinned on to the elevator framework tubing. In the centre bearing which is nearest to the tab actuating lever the bearing journal locating rivet had sheared, possibly during an effort to alter the tab settings. There was no sign of lubrication on any of the hinges.

The report concludes by running through the likely sequence of events that lead to the accident, beginning with the Blenheim being left outside for so long, which allowed the parts to rust solid, continuing with the suggestion that the pilot had relied on the tab position indicator being in neutral and hadn't tested the circuit, and ending with his decision to land so that the trim problems could be investigated. The ultimate cause of the crash was, of course, the low-speed stall.
Crew:
P/O (63489) Harold Andrew Thomas LIND (pilot) RAFVR - killed
Sgt (925250) Norman William PAPLES (obs.) RAFVR - killed
Sgt (919756) Eric Douglas KENNEDY (WOp/AG) RAF - survived albeit injured.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1980)
2. Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 18 August 1941
3. 107 Squadron ORB for August 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/842/16: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8385901
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/20/W1084: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6577291
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/8149: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16757446
6. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2932909/norman-william-paples/
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2453258/harold-andrew-thomas-lind/
8. https://www.manstonhistory.org.uk/timeline/
9. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=9868.0
10. https://www.facebook.com/Navman239/posts/4466534876692660/
11. https://ne-np.facebook.com/manstonhistory/posts/onthisday1941-23-junebristol-blenheim-iv-r3816-from-no107-squadron-damaged-by-en/3404354649800294/
12. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/221553/
13. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/216791/
14. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Manston#Second_World_War

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

17 April 1940	N6185	107 Sqn RAF	3	Missing - North Sea		w/o
19 April 1940	P4906	107 Sqn RAF	3	Missing - North Sea		w/o
2 June 1940	P4919	107 Sqn RAF	0	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, England		w/o

AIRCRAFT OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: BRISTOL TYPE TYPE 149 BLENHEIM IV. © IWM (CH 2428) Blenheim Mark IV, R3816 OM-J, of No. 107 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Leuchars, Fife.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates