Blenheim shot down by Flak 22:45 Frethum nr Calais 8Oct40

[andy bird]

Shot down by flak and crashed at Frethun, 5 km south west of Calais, at 22:45 hrs. P/O Mallon, a New Zealander from Taranaki, died of his wounds and is buried along with his crew in Guines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais.

Wing Commander Murray, who was on this operation states in his diary "arrived over target area 1915, all stooged around for twenty minutes [1930 hours]'.

Therefore is 22.45 hrs German time ? For such a short distance it seem to have taken a long time to reach Calais / Frethum

From Gravelines to Frethum 22km 13 miles
From Gravelines to Calais 18 km 11 miles

Best regards

Andy Bird


08 Oct 40
No.53 Sqn
Blenheim IV
T2036
PZ-K

Op: Gravelines, RAF Detling, Took Off 18:45 hrs

P/O J C Mallon, 42719, Wounded
Sgt W P Whetton DFM, 562350, +
Sgt A T Shackleford, 613282, +

[Chris Goss]

Andy: Believe this is German time. I have photos of the crash and used them in a recent article stating:

The second set of photographs are inscribed “Bristol Blenheim shot down by our Battery near Freythun”. On the fuselage one can see the code ‘PZ’ which would indicate that this crashed aircraft came from 53 Sqn. At about 2245 hrs on the night of 8 October 1940, Flak shot down a Blenheim which crashed near Freythun, a small village close to Calais. Blenheim T2036 coded PZ-T was crewed by Plt Off John Mallon (pilot), Sgt Wilfred Whetton DFM (Observer) and Sgt Arthur Shackleford (Wop/AG). Both Whetton and Shackleford were killed in the crash, John Mallon, from Taranaki, New Zealand, was mortally wounded and died shortly after the crash. All three now lie in the small cemetery and Guines, 10 miles south of Calais

[Nick Beale]

Sorry to be pedantic, but the place name is spelled Fréthun (it's where the Eurostar emerges on the French side).

[Chris Goss]

...in my case, I was just quoting what the Germans wrote! D'accord!

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Even with the time difference between Britain and Germany, there is still a problem. At this date, Britain was at GMT+1 and Germany at GMT+2, so 2245 hrs German time is 2145 hrs British time. So two hours after the time given by Wing Cdr Murray.

At that date, by these hours it was a night operation so the RAF bombers probably not flew together but could have attacked one at the time on a long period maybe ?

Or the Blenheim was shot down earlier and the time recorded is the death time of the mortally wounded pilot ?

[andy bird]

Many Thanks Nick and Chris,

Poor Whetton, comes back from long leave and gets the chop on his first op back with Mallon, who was a good friend of Gatward.

Fortunately spelt Fréthun right in the chapter

Andy

[andy bird]

Originally Posted by Laurent Rizzotti

Even with the time difference between Britain and Germany, there is still a problem. At this date, Britain was at GMT+1 and Germany at GMT+2, so 2245 hrs German time is 2145 hrs British time. So two hours after the time given by Wing Cdr Murray.

At that date, by these hours it was a night operation so the RAF bombers probably not flew together but could have attacked one at the time on a long period maybe ?

Or the Blenheim was shot down earlier and the time recorded is the death time of the mortally wounded pilot ?

Laurent,

Many thanks it is mystifying: According to Gatward's faded pencil notes they flew in two Vics to the target area then as you said attacked individually. - ORB records low cloud at 1,500 feet prevented five of the seven aircraft from attacking Gravelines. The two that dropped their bombs did so blind through the cloud from 3,000 and 5,000 feet.

Currently have a RNZAF guy searching their archive.

Best regards

Andy