Date: 4th July 1942
Unit: No. 13 OTU (Operational Training Unit) R.A.F. Bicester, Oxfordshire
Type: Bristol Blenheim IV
Serial: R3912
Base: Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Take off: 09.50 hours.
Location: Pawlett Hams, Somerset.
Pilot: Sergeant James Anderson 591536 Killed
Son of James & Jean Falconer Anderson, of Dunphail.
Observer: Sergeant Adam Hogg 1552074 Killed
Son of Adam & Margaret Hogg, of Hawick.
Radio/Op: Sergeant Gilbert McBoyle 1178919 Killed
Son of George Ingram McBoyle and Hilda Kate McBoyle, of Fratton, Portsmouth.
RESON FOR LOSS:
This aircraft took off from Bicester at 0950 hours on a training cross-country flight. Shortly before 1220, eyewitnesses saw the Blenheim in a
near vertical dive, entering a large area of whitish cloud which was estimated to have its base at 3,000 to 5,000 feet. On emerging from cloud,
the Blenheim appeared to straighten out but then dived again and crashed resulting in the tragic loss of the three airmen at Pawlett Hams on the
E bank of the River Parrett, 4 miles north of Bridgwater, Somerset.
This crash site was excavated by Mr Tim Hake on the 14th July 2007, assisted and researched by David King, and Melvin Brownless from theAircrew Remembrance Society, also Herr Rudiger Kaufmann, chairman of the Museumsverein f¸r Technik- und Luftfahrtgeschichtee.V, Dalldorf,Germany.
No. 13 O.T.U. Blenheims.
Sgt. Adam Hogg. Sgt. James Anderson Sgt. Gilbert McBoyle.
Left - The War grave of Wireless Operator G. I. McBoyle. Right - The family grave plot where Observer Adam Hogg is buried.
Newspaper cuttings relating to the loss of Adam Hogg.
Relics from the recovery of Blenheim R3912 in the Aircrew Remembrance Society Archive Collection, which include Webley & Scott signal pistol held under licence No. 61798 Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House Deactivation Certificate.
Burial Details:
James Falconer Anderson
Sergeant (Pilot) Royal Air Force
Edinkillie Parish Churchyard Plot A.8. Grave 71.5
Adam Hogg
Sergeant (Obs.) Royal Air Force
Hawick (Wellogate) Cemetery Burghal Portion. Grave 34.
Gilbert Ingram McBoyle
Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Royal Air Force
Bridgwater (Quantock Road) Cemetery Sec. C. Grave 179.
Page construction, Crash site photo and researched photos by David King Aircrew Remembrance Society.