Airborne 0500 from Plivot, briefed to bomb and strafe enemy troop columns advancing from Maastricht towards Tongeren. Shot down by Me109s near Lanaken (Limburg), Belgium.
N6215 was the Blenheim that carried out Bomber Command's first operational sortie of the war on 3Sep39. Airborne within an hour of war being declared and operating at 20,000 feet, the crew spotted a number of capital ships with a heavy destroyer escort. Unfortunately, its W/T warning message was completely garbled and no action was taken.