Date:	Thursday 9 May 1940
Time:	02:54
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	53 Sqn RAF
Registration:	R3634
MSN:	PZ-N
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Laboissière, north-east of Montdidier, Somme, Hauts de France -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Metz, France
Destination airport:	Poix-de-Picardie, France

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV R3634 (PZ-N) of 53 Squadron, RAF: Lost bearings due to ground mist on return from reconnaissance over Hamm and the Ruhr Valley. Unable to locate the airfield at Poix-de-Picardie, R3634 forced-landed at Laboissière, north-east of Montdidier, Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France, at 02.45 hrs. Sgt Falconer baled out but landed dead on the road between Erches and Andechy. The other two crew were uninjured.

Crew of Blenheim R3634:
Squadron Leader W.B. Murray (pilot) - unhurt
AC.1 Voules (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) - unhurt
Sergeant (Observer) Douglas Gordon Bonnar Falconer, RAF 523067, age 28; killed in action 09/05/1940, buried at Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-sur-Mere, Seine-Maritime, France

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 23)
2. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/204: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142029
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2317030/falconer,-douglas-gordon-bonnar/
5. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/raf-losses-may-1940-an-update.16940/#post-194607
6. https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Blenheim/RAF-53Sqn-PZ.html
7. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=4196
8. http://www.picardie-1939-1945.org/phpBB2new/viewtopic.php?t=1117
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboissi%C3%A8re-en-Santerre

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

18 May 1940	L4841	53 Sqn RAF	3	Near Frévent, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France		w/o
7 June 1940	R3602	53 Sqn RAF	1	between Hiermont and Yvrench, Somme Department		w/o
Gear-up landing

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2019 22:12	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-Jun-2019 09:46	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]