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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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82 Squadron Crest
04.07.1941 No. 82 Squadron Blenheim IV V6426 P/O. Gordon T. Bartlett

Operation: Transit flight

Date: 04th July 1941 (Friday)

Unit: No. 82 Squadron

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: V6426

Base: RAF Bodney, Norfolk

Location: Exact location unknown - thought to be Fairford, Gloucestershire

Pilot: P/O. Gordon T. Bartlett 63485 RAFVR Survived - injured

Obs: P/O. Nicholas Aitkin Cooper 64325 RAF Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Owen Hall 751473 RAFVR Age 33. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Dennis Walter Hughes 1165297 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Two Blenheims took off from RAF Bodney in Norfolk at 10:15hrs en route to St. Eval in Cornwall, prior to a ferry flight to Malta. Just 30 minutes into the flight they collided at 10:45 hrs. The pilot, P/O. Bartlett, although injured, managed to bale out. The remaining crew were killed. 

82 Squadron Blenheims at RAF Bodney

No details on any other loss from the squadron on this date, so it would seem that they managed to land safely. (Some reports state that it was Blenheim V6070 - but that seems to have been lost on a previous date) We invite any further information on this.

Left: Sherborne School, Dorset - Any further information that you are able to assist them with fallen former pupils from all wars, we would be pleased to pass onto them.

Burial details:

P/O. Nicholas Aitkin Cooper. Watton Churchyard (St. Mary). Row C. Grave 54. Further information (courtesy Sherborne School Archives) Born 3rd May 1920, son of Major J.P.C. Cooper, O.B.E., M.C., The Roundabout, West Byfleet, Surrey. Attended St Edmund's School, Hindhead. Attended Sherborne School (The Green) May 1934-March 1939; 6th form.

Sgt. Owen Hall. Watton Churchyard (St. Mary). Row C. Grave 55. Son of William and Mary Hall of Lodge Farm, Hook Norton, Oxfordshire. Husband of Emily and father to Maurice.

Sgt. Dennis Walter Hughes. East Claydon Churchyard (St. Mary). Son of Ernest Fred (died 29th July 1955 - age 71) and Beatrice Alice Hughes (died 1st June 1945 age 60), of Botolph Claydon, Buckinghamshire, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. With thanks to Mark Rogers relative of Sgt. Hall, Sherborne School Archives for additional information.

KTY 17.08.2015 New crew member photo added.

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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 Captain 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', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. 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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