Date:	Wednesday 29 May 1940
Time:	12:30 LT
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	235 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L9401
MSN:	LA-L
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel NW of Calais, between Calais and Dunkirk -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L9401 (LA-L) 235 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations over France 29 May 1940. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/666): "Blenheim L9401 in air operations over France, 29 May 1940. Sergeant I MacPhail, Leading Aircraftman D B Murphy and Flight Lieutenant G A P Manwaring: report of deaths".

Took off at 11:31 hrs from RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent to attack enemy troop columns in the St. Omer, Calais and Dunkirk areas. Presumed to have crashed "at sea" - into the English Channel off Calais, due to the fact that the bodies of the three crew members were recovered and buried - one in England, and two in Germany - after being washed ashore

According to a contemporary newspaper report on the death of Sgt Ian MacPhail, the sole crew member to be buried in the UK ("Thanet Advertiser" - Tuesday 11 June 1940):

"YOUNG HUSBAND KILLED IN ACTION.

Only son of Mrs. and the late Mr. Macphail, of 206 Hereson-road, Ramsgate, Ian Macphail has been killed in action while serving with the R.A.F.

Educated at St. George's Central School, Macphail was married in September soon after the outbreak of war. He joined the R.A.F. last year, having been employed by Messrs. Alfred Olby Ltd., of King-street.

Representatives of the R.A.F. were present at the graveside when Macphail was laid to rest at St. Lawrence Cemetery, on Thursday. The Rev. A. H. Culmer (Rector of Holy Trinity) conducted a short service, and the mourners were Mrs. Macphail (widow), Mrs. Macphail (mother), Miss Macphail (sister), Mr. and Mrs. Tomlin and Mr. and Mrs. Gollick."

Crew of Blenheim L9401
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) George Arthur Patrick Manwaring, RAF 39156, age 25, killed in action 29/05/1940, buried at Sage War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany
Sergeant (Observer) Ian MacPhail, RAF 581156, age 24, 29/05/1940, buried at Ramsgate and St Lawrence Cemetery, Kent, UK
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) David Beatty Murphy, RAF 629645, age 20, killed in action 29/05/1940, Sage War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany

Note that the three crew members were buried in separate cemeteries in two different countries. Many Dunkirk victims were washed ashore on the Frisian isles, in the North of the Netherlands and Germany. Those that washed ashore in Germany were mostly buried at Sage War Cemetery, at Niedersachsen, Germany. This may explain why Flight Lieutenant George A.P. Manwaring and Sergeant David B. Murphy, were buried at the Sage War Cemetery - it was close to where their bodies were washed ashore. Likewise, Sergeant Ian MacPhail, was buried at a Cemetery at Ramsgate in Kent, again (presumably) near where his body was washed ashore.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1978 p 62)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/666: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502249
3. Ross McNeill, 'Royal Air Force Coastal Command Losses: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1939-1941 v. 1', Midland Publishing, 2003
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2073967/manwaring,-george-arthur-patrick/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2655003/macphail,-ian/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2074008/murphy,-david-beatty/
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/235_squadron.html#2905
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?action=printpage;topic=11830.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Aug-2019 20:57	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Aug-2019 04:12	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]