Date:	Sunday 12 May 1940
Time:	morning
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	139 (Jamaica) Sqn RAF
Registration:	L9416
MSN:	XD-A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Hoepertingen, Bargloon, Limburg. -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Plivot, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Blenheim L9416/A: Written off (destroyed) when lost on combat operations when damaged in combat with Messerschmitts of JG 1 and 27 and crash landed near Hoepertingen, Borgloon, Limburg, Belgium. That morning 2./JG 1 attacked eight Blenheims and claims to have shot down no fewer than six.

According to the official Air Ministry file onto the incident (File AIR 81/284): "Blenheim L9416 attacked by enemy aircraft, 12 May 1940. Aircraftman 2nd Class J Hill injured".

At dawn on 12 May 1940 the British air commander sent off nine A.A.S.F. Blenheims of No. 139 Squadron to attack a column on the road from Maastricht to Tongres. Running into the swarms of fighters previously reported over the area, they lost all but two of their number—a disaster which ended the life of the A.A.S.F. Blenheims as a useful force before it had begun, for the other squadron (No. 114) had been virtually destroyed on its airfield the previous day.

Blenheim L9416 was one of seven No.139 Sqdn Blenheims lost on this operation. Took off at 05:00 hrs from Plivot (Fr.), briefed to bomb and strafe troop columns advancing out of the Dutch city of Maastricht (Limburg) and advancing towards Tongeren (Limburg), Belgium. All three crew survived, with only one being injured.
Crew:
F/O (39335) Neville Ernest Wetherell PEPPER DFC (pilot) RAF survived evaded capture by enemy forces, returned to his unit
Sgt (580579) Thomas Eric HYDE (Obs.) RAF : survived evaded capture by enemy forces, returned to his unit
AC2 (996690) John HILL (WOp/AG) RAFVR - injured, captured, taken as PoW

Flying Officer N.E.W. Pepper (DFC) and Sergeant T.E. Hyde evaded the Germans. Aircraftman J. Hill was injured and confined in a hospital due to injuries. PoW Number 2429

A Fairchild Bolingbroke exists in the Royal Military Museum at the Jubelpark, Brussels. It has been put on display as a replica of Bristol Blenheim L9416 XD-A (see below)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 62)
2. National Archives (PRO KEW) File File AIR 81/284: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142133
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/139_squadron.html
4. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/66150/Pepper-Neville-Ernest-Wetherell.htm
5. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/blenheim-te-hoepertingen
6. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoepertingen

A Fairchild Bolingbroke in the Royal Military Museum at the Jubelpark, Brussels. The Fairchild Bolingbroke was a maritime patrol aircraft used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a variant of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. It is put on display as Bristol Blenheim L9416 XD-A from 139 sqdn made a crash landing on 12 May 1940 near the village of Hoepertingen in Belgium. The crew was F/O N.E.W. Pepper DFC (EVD), Sgt T.E. Hyde (EVD) and AC1 Hill (POW).

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Jun-2019 01:00	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Jun-2019 01:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
28-Jun-2019 05:50	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]