Date: 16th June 1941.
Unit: No.21 Squadron R.A.F.
Type: Blenheim IV.
Serial: V6034.
Code: YH-D.
Base: Watton, Norfolk, England.
Location: In the sea off the Frisian Islands.
Pilot: F/S Evered Arthur Reginald Rex Leavers 745760. R.A.F.V.R. (D.F.M.) Age 24. (Killed)
Obs: Sgt Ian Overheu 40727. R.N.Z.A.F. (D.F.M.) Age 23. (Missing)
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt Joseph William Phelps 751054. R.A.F.V.R. (Killed)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took-off from R.A.F. Station Watton at 1319hrs on a shipping strike. During an attack the aircraft crashed into the sea off the Frisian Islands after colliding with the mast of the ship being attacked. This tragic event was captured by the combat strike camera of the following 21 Squadron aircraft in this attack. Thus died a crew that had gained a reputation for showing outstanding courage in low level attacks on enemy shipping.
Blenheim V6034 tragically entering its death throes with debris from the ships mast and a section of the Blenheim’s outer starboard wing filling the air, the aircraft enters a high speed spin to starboard from which it would not recover, as large plumes of water engulf the ship with the explosions from its strike.
Burial Details:
Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Evered Arthur Reginald Rex leavers 745760. R.A.F.V.R. (D.F.M.) Age 24. Baflo (Den Andel) Protestant Cemetery Row 22. Grave 12. Son of Jessie Leavers, of Dunkirk, Nottingham.
Sergeant (Obsever) Ian Overheu 40727. R.N.Z.A.F. (D.F.M.) Age 23. Runnymede Memorial Panel No.64.
Sergeant ( W.Op./Air Gnr) Joseph William Phelps 751054. R.A.F.V.R. Sage War Cemetery, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany Plot 7. Row C. Grave 15.