Date:	Wednesday 10 July 1940
Time:
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Owner/operator:	107 Sqn RAF
Registration:	R3606
MSN:	OM-O
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Glisy, Amiens, Somme department, Picardy region. -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Wattisham

Narrative:
Blenheim R3606/O: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over France. All three crew survived, but were captured and taken as PoWs. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1067): "Blenheim R3606 force landed near Amiens, France, 10 July 1940. Sergeant G A Allison, Sergeant G C G Hawkins and Sergeant S L Bain: prisoners of war. Death of Warrant Officer G C G Hawkins whilst a prisoner of war, 19 April 1945"

Airborne from RAF Wattisham, Suffolk as one of six Blenheims tasked to attack Glisy Aerdrome, near Amiems, Somme Department, France. Five of the six Blenheims were shot down (R3916, R3815, P6894, L9468 and R3606). Blenheim R3606 was shot down over the target area by a Bf 109 of 9/JG 3; force landed at Glisy, and all three crew survived.
Crew R3606:
Sgt (552647) Geoffrey Arthur ALLISON (Obs.) RAF : survived, /POW
Sgt (746982) Gordon Cyril George Todd HAWKINS (WOp./AG) RAF ; survived,/PoW
Sgt (742188) Sinclair Lang BAIN (Pilot) RAF ; survived /PoW.

In a tragic post script, Sgt Cyril Hawkins (who had been promoted to a Warrant Officer whilst in captivity) was killed on 19 April 1945 by "friendly fire" when an RAF Typhoon fighter strafed the column he was in. Sgt Hawkins was being transferred from one PoW Camp to another, as the allied forces advanced. However, the RAF Hawker Typhoon mistook the columns of PoWs for a column of enemy troops, and strafed them, killing Sgt Hawkins. April 19, 1945 was just 19 days before the end of the war (VE-Day was declared on May 8 1945)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 23)
2. National Archvies (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1067: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502679
3. The Other Few: The Contribution Made by Bomber and Coastal Aircrew to the Battle Of Britain (p 29) By Larry Donnelly
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=4386
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2201472/hawkins,-gordon-cyril-george-todd/
6. http://bluegrassireland.blogspot.com/2015/04/no-connection-with-bluegrass.html?m=0 .

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

18 April 1941

R3873

107 Sqn RAF

3

Missing - North Sea

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Oct-2019 17:14	Dr. John Smith	Added
11-Oct-2019 20:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
11-Oct-2019 21:37	juza7	Updated [Operator]
14-Oct-2019 18:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Source]