Region
Europe

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I at Elefsis AFB: 3 killed

Date & Time: Dec 30, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
B252
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
Schedule:
Elefsis - Elefsis
Location:
Elefsis AFB (Elefsina)
Attica / Αττική
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
Crashed upon takeoff for unknown reasons. All three crew members were killed.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I in Agrínio: 3 killed

Date & Time: Dec 7, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
L4926
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
8941
YOM:
1939
Location:
Agrínio
West Greece / Δυτική Ελλάδα
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The bomber was shot down by enemy fire and crashed in Agrínio, killing all three crew members.
Crew:
F/O Paul Bernard Pickersgill, pilot,
Sgt Harry Taylor, observer,
Sgt Norman Alfred Hallett, wireless operator and air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by enemy fire.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I near Lamia: 3 killed

Date & Time: Dec 7, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
L1535
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
MSN:
8818
YOM:
1939
Location:
Lamia
Central Greece / Στερεά Ελλάδα
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The bomber was returning to its base in Greece following an operation to Albania when it impacted the slope of a mountain near Lamia. All three crew members were killed.
Crew.
P/O Guy Inglis Jerdein, pilot,
Sgt James Ernest Barber, observer,
Sgt John Munro, wireless operator and air gunner.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim in Karusades

Date & Time: Dec 5, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
K7100
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
8053
YOM:
1937
Location:
Karusades
Ionian Islands / Ιόνια νησιά
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane crash landed in Karusades after being hit by enemy fire. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I in Khalkis

Date & Time: Dec 1, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
K7103
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
8056
YOM:
1937
Location:
Khalkis
Central Greece / Στερεά Ελλάδα
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On 1 December 1940 three Blenheims from 30 Sqn RAF returning over the mountains to their Greek base from a raid on Valona ran into a severe front which caused ice to begin forming on the wings, badly affecting control of the aircraft. As conditions deteriorated further, the formation leader, Flt Lt Alfred Llewellyn Bocking, a Canadian in the RAF since 1935, started to consider whether or not the crews should all bale out. At that point however, a murky gap in the snow clouds was sighted and Bocking and another pilot managed to dive through it, emerging in clearer air between the whitened mountain-sides, and reached base. The third pilot, Sgt G. Ratlidge, became separated in the dive, so he attempted to climb over the cloud layer. However, at 20,000 feet his Blenheim I K7103 wallowed so badly that, despite full power and his strenuous efforts, it kept slipping back into the clutches of the cloud, taking on more ice, which soon blocked a carburetor air intake. One engine stopped, flipping the aircraft into an immediate spin in the cloud. Ratlidge ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft but the violent spin had flung the observer’s parachute pack into the well, way out of reach so he could not clip it on. The pilot and the air gunner decided to stay with him aboard the aircraft, which lost 13,000 feet and spun out of the cloud at 7,000 feet into a narrow valley near Khalkis with sheer mountain faces rising into the cloud on either side of them. The pilot recovered from the spin and on sighting a small but rough cultivated area made a successful ’dead-stick’ forced landing on to it - the only possible place to put the aircraft down for miles around. All three crew were safe. The Blenheim was not recovered.
Source:
http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Bristol-Blenheim-losses-in-Greece-1940-1941.pdf

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I in Kerkyra

Date & Time: Nov 24, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
L8511
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Location:
Kerkyra
Ionian Islands / Ιόνια νησιά
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane was damaged by Flak and the crew was forced to make an emergency landing. All three crew members were uninjured and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
S/L James Richard Gordon-Finlayson, pilot,
P/O Gerald Davies, observer,
P/O Arthur Charles Geary, wireless operator and air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by enemy fire.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I in Chorefto

Date & Time: Nov 21, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Bristol 142 Blenheim
Operator:
Registration:
L1166
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
8449
YOM:
1938
Location:
Chorefto
Thessaly / Θεσσαλία
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was returning to his base following an operation in Albania when the airplane ran out of fuel. It crash landed on a beach located in Chorefto, near Zagora. All three crew members evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Emergency landing due to fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Breguet 19 on Mt Pindos: 2 killed

Date & Time: Nov 4, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Breguet 19
Operator:
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Location:
Mt Pindos
Epirus / Ήπειρος
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
While on a scouting mission, the airplane was shot down by the pilot of an Italian fighter and crashed on Mt Pindos. Both crew members were killed.
Probable cause:
Shot down by an Italian fighter.

Crash of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 in Doliana: 3 killed

Date & Time: Nov 2, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Savoia-Marchetti SM.81
Operator:
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Location:
Doliana
Epirus / Ήπειρος
Country:
Greece
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane was shot down by enemy fire at an altitude of 3,000 feet and crashed. All three crew members were killed.
Probable cause:
Shot down by enemy fire.
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