ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 14833
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| Date: | Wednesday 19 June 1940 |
| Time: | 00:45 |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IF |
| Owner/operator: | 23 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L1458 |
| MSN: | YP-S |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Terrington St Clement, near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Collyweston, Northamptonshire |
Blenheim L1458/S: Took off at 22:30 hrs for a Night patrol. 18/06/1940
During the combat shot down by return fire of the enemy bomber HE111. Two of the three crew of Blenheim L1458 were killed. Corporal Little died in the aircraft; Pilot Officer King-Clark struck a propeller when he bailed out. Crashed near Terrington St Clement, Norfolk at 00:45 hrs 19/06/1940
Crew:
S/Ldr (34171) Joseph Somerton O'BRIEN DFC (pilot) RAF - bailed out /Ok
P/O (41429) Cuthbert KING-CLARK (observer) RAF - bailed out /killed
Cpl (562340) David LITTLE (WOp./AG) RAF - killed
According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/943): "Blenheim L1458 in air operations, 19 June 1940. Sergeant A C Close: report of death"
Night patrol - Shot down while attacking enemy aircraft 19/06/1940 and crashed near Terrington St Clement, Norfolk. Possibly shot down by the same Heinkel He 111 of 4/KG 4 that was also attacked and shot down in the same area at around the same time by Spitfire L1032 of 19 Squadron (which see). According to published reports:
"Raiders were reported in the Mildenhall and Honington areas, a salvo exploding a mile from the latter airfield, and, at 01:20, AAA guns at RAF Wattisham opened fire while searchlights at Honington illuminated one Heinkel, whose gunner fired down the beams.
Another Staffel crossed the coast at Sheringham, near where a 23 Squadron Blenheim (YP-L) engaged a Heinkel held in searchlights, only to be shot down by return fire. Gunner LAC Laurence Karasek managed to bale out. The Blenheim crashed in flames at Terrington St Clement. A second Blenheim (YP-S), flown by Flt Lt Myles Duke-Woolley (with AC Derek Bell as gunner) was soon in the area and engaged the same Heinkel – 5J+DM of Stab II/KG4:
00:45. Observed a ball of fire, which took to be a Blenheim fighter in flames, break away from behind the tail of the E/A. I climbed to engage this E/A and attacked from below the tail after the searchlights were extinguished. I closed to a range of 50 yards and opened fire. E/A returned fire and appeared to throttle back suddenly. My own speed was 130-140 mph and I estimate the E/A slowed to 110 mph. I delivered five attacks with front guns and during these my air gunner fired seven bursts at various ranges. After the last front gun attack my gunner reported that the E/A’s port engine was on fire. As my starboard engine was now u/s I broke off the engagement and returned to base, where several bullet holes were found in the wings and fuselage, including cannon strikes in the starboard wing and rear fuselage.
One bullet had lodged in Derek Bell’s parachute pack, fortunately without harming him. The Heinkel finally ditched in shallow water in Blakeney Creek on the north Norfolk coast. Coastguards captured the crew, Major Dietrich Fr von Massenbach (the Gruppenkommandeur), Oblt Ulrich Jordan, Obfw Max Leimer and Fw Karl Amberger, who was severely wounded. A subsequent news report revealed:
'Two local auxiliary coastguard patrols saw an aircraft in obvious difficulties, off the coast. Flames were issuing from one of its engines, and it crashed in shallow water close to the beach. They gave the alarm and ran to the beach. They intercepted the crew of the aircraft, a Heinkel bomber, as they swam and waded ashore with the help of their rubber dinghy. It seemed at first that the crew, consisting of four men, would show fight. The auxiliary coastguard men thereupon covered the Germans with their firearms. The Germans shouted and surrendered. They were searched and disarmed and detained until the arrival of the military.'"
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Brtiain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/943: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502575
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2929570/king-clark,-cuthbert/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2697437/little,-david/
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/23_squadron.html
6. http://blenheimsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BB-Journal-1-9-list-of-contents.pdf
7. https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2017/09/03/the-opening-round-of-the-battle-of-britain-i/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrington_St_Clement
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Feb-2008 14:40 | JINX | Added |
| 02-Jul-2008 20:27 | JINX | Updated |
| 17-Jan-2011 13:44 | ThW | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Jan-2011 13:44 | ThW | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Sep-2014 08:37 | Jixon | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 19-Oct-2014 09:56 | Repac | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 20-May-2015 07:16 | Yelush | Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 29-Sep-2015 07:59 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Oct-2018 05:59 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 29-Sep-2019 21:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2019 10:16 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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