ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 90907
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| Date: | Saturday 25 May 1940 |
| Time: | 20:35 |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 18 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | R3598 |
| MSN: | WV-M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Abbeville, France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Watton, Norfolk |
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV R3598 (WV-M) 18 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a combat operation (Reconnaissance of Channel Ports) over France 25 May 1940. Of the three crew, two were killed, one survived to be captured and taken as a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/617): "Blenheim R3598 crashed near Abbeville, France, 25 May 1940. Sergeant F Miller and Corporal B M Harding: report of deaths. Pilot Officer D S Dickins: prisoner of war".
Lost in combat 25-05-1940: Shot down by German Luftwaffe fighter ace Fw Erich Rudorffer (2./JG 2) and came down at St.Quentin-en-Tourmont, 35 km WNW of Abbeville. Two of the three crew killed
Corporal (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Benjamin Morgan Harding, RAF 550526 aged 20 - killed in action 27/05/40
Sergeant (Observer) Frank Miller, DFM, RAF 364705 - killed in action
P/O (Pilot) Douglas Stewart Dickins, RAF 41681 - bailed out, survived, taken POW; interned in Camps 12A/L3, PoW No.2271.
Sgt Miller's DFM had been Gazetted 8 March 1940. Corporal Harding and Sergeant Miller were interred in Abbeville Communal Cemetery, Extension, Abbeville, Somme, France. The reported crash location Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France, on the French coast, in northern France, at approximate Coordinates: 50°17′08″N 1°35′25″E
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1980 p 23)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/617: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502309
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2952600/harding,-benjamin-morgan/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2952661/miller,-frank/
5. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/rudorffer.html
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1932
7. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=8435
8. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/18_squadron.html#25recce
9. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/9.htm
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 9 June 1941 | V6428 | 18 Sqn RAF | 3 | North Sea N of Schiermonnikoog, Friesland |  |
w/o |
| 16 July 1941 | V6267 | 18 Sqn RAF | 3 | Noordsingel street, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-May-2011 14:55 | ThW | Updated [Location, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Dec-2014 19:03 | Repac | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 13-Nov-2016 00:43 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Feb-2017 09:18 | fourapain60 | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Aug-2019 18:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Sep-2022 06:45 | Mike | Updated [Aircraft type, Location] |
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