Thanks all. I hope to make a start, after some prep work, over the weekend, hands permitting. I had a steroid injection last week, as a temporary measure before starting on a new drug in the early new year ( I hope !), and this has really helped a lot, easing off the pain and stiffness, although things are not yet perfect.
Now a little background.
RAF 82 Sqn had already suffered losses, some heavy, during the weeks prior to this raid, including the loss of
all 12 aircraft in a single raid the previous month.
The target this time, on 13th August 1940 (also the date of the Luftwaffe's "Adler Tag" at the height of the Battle of Britain) was Aalborg West airfield, in the north of Jutland, Denmark, with 12 aircraft departing from Watton.
One aircraft turned back over the North Sea, due to fuel problems, with the remaining eleven Blenheims crossing the Danish coast, where they were reported by an observation post, alerting the flak crews on and around Aalborg.
The Blenheims attacked at 12.15 hrs, and heavy flak started to take it's toll, before the Bf109's of JG77 attacked the formation, and within twenty minutes, all eleven aircraft of 82 Sqn had been shot down !
The subject for this build will probably be Blenheim Mk.IV, R3821, code UX-N, flown by P/O. E.R. Hale and crew, none of whom survived. Coincidentally, the current Duxford-based Blenheim was painted to represent this aircraft, some years ago, before it's second accident and conversion to a "short-nose" Blenheim Mk.1 fighter.
The pic below shows a line-up of the Squadron's Blenheims at Watton (pic Wartime Watton Museum), with UX-N fourth in line. The aircraft in the foreground (UX-A) was one of the first to be fitted with the rear-firing nose gun, and was lost on 7th June 1940.
The map shows the locations of RAF Watton, and Aalborg West airfield.