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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

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53 Squadron Crest
23.06.1941 No. 53 Squadron Blenheim IV V5647 PZ-S P/O. David Bolton

Operation: Convoy escort

Date: 23rd June 1941 (Monday)

Unit: No. 53 Squadron (Coastal Command)

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: V5647

Code: PZ-S

Base: RAF St. Eval, Cornwall

Location: Strait of Dover off Calais

Pilot: P/O. David Malcolm Bolton 61493 RAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed

Obs: Sgt. Kenneth Edward Corrie 918536 RAFVR Age 22. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Gordon Kenneth Kircher 976992 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

After taking off at 10:20 hrs from RAF St. Eval.

During a convoy patrol attacked and shot down by Uffz Karl Heinz Rotte (1) of 6.JG2 - aircraft crashed into the English Channel at 12:46 hrs.

The Squadron lost another crew during this operation:

Blenheim IV V6125 PZ-F Flown by P/O. E. Hewson 87400 RAFVR taken PoW (PoW Number 3724-Stalag Luft Sagan) with all his crew (the others held at Stalag Luft Heydekrug) - also shot down in the English Channel.

(1) Uffz Karl Heinz Rotte was killed just the following month, on the 13th July 1941 at Belleville near Dieppe - cause not known. Flying a BF109f KI-35B-1 Werk No: 1616 (details via Kracker Archive on this website)

Burial details:

P/O. David Malcolm Bolton. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 31. Son of David Colfox Bolton and Katherine Bolton, of Oakamoor, Staffordshire, England.

Sgt. Kenneth Edward Corrie. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 41. Son of Thomas Edgar and Frances Campbell Corrie, of Woking, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Gordon Kenneth Kircher. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 46. Understood to be from Cornwall, England. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Peter Howell, distant cousin of the pilot who contacted us in July 2017. Further information from sources indicated below.

KTY 07.07.2017

Acknowledgements: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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