ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226489
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| Date: | Sunday 12 May 1940 |
| Time: | 10:40 |
| Type: |  Bristol Blenheim Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 107 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P4905 |
| MSN: | OM-P |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Bettenhoven (Liège), 25 km WNW of Liège. -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Wattisham, Suffolk |
Blenheim P4905/P: Lost on combat operations when failed to return /shot down near Waremme, Belg. at 10:40 hrs. 12/05/1940;
Blenheim P4905: Took at 09:00 hrs briefed to destroy the strategic bridges across the Albert Kanaal at Maastricht as the Wehrmacht advanced to cross the Meuse into Belgium. (Hurricanes of 87 Sqdn acting as fighter escort). Shot down by a Bf109 of JG 27 near Bettenhoven (Liège), 25 km WNW of Liège, Belgium - although the official Air Ministry file gives the crash location as "near Waremme". Oblt Gerhardt Framme of JG 27 claimed to have shot down a Hurricane of 87 Squadron, and two Blenheims on this day - one of which could have been P4905. Of the three crew of Blenheim P4905, one was killed, one was injured and taken as Pow, and one was captured and taken as PoW.
Crew:
F/O (40045) William Henry EDWARDS DFC (pilot) RAF : Injured /POW
Sgt (561589) Vincent George Lovelock LUTER (Obs.) RAF : Ok /POW
LAC (551629) William Edward PALMER (WOp/AG) RAF : killed in action
Injured and initially detained in hospital, PoW No 326 F/Lt W. E Edwards was later held at various camps throughout Europe including Stalag XXA Thorn Poland, Oflag VIB, Oflag XXIB, Stalag Luft III, and Stalag IV DZ Annaburg until September 1944. He was one of the "third party" of repatriated PoWs considered unwell enough for an exchange of prisoners with the Germans in neutral Sweden.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 26)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/280: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142105
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2258807/palmer,-william-edward/
4. http://www.211squadron.org/wh_edwards_dfc.html
5. http://www.belgians-remember-them.eu/crash-lie-bett.php
6. https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/view.php?uid=207834
7. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/blenheim-bij-bettincourt
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jun-2019 19:05 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 23-Jun-2019 20:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 25-Jun-2019 05:44 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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