A Bristol Blenheim IV of 17 OTU struggles to maintain height over the North Sea, 11 January 1942.
Taking off from RAF Upwood, Pilot Officer CV Pereira and his crew were hoping for an uneventful training flight over the east of England and the North Sea. Unfortunately the last leg of the route brought storm clouds, snow and freezing conditions. When the starboard engine failed while flying blind in heavy cloud, things looked bleak. The aircraft was rapidly losing height as they approached the Norfolk coast line near Scolt Head, but with some fine airmanship P.O. Pereira was able to coax the crippled aircraft to the shore where they belly-landed in marshland. The crew all escaped with just minor injuries but the aircraft could not be recovered from the boggy ground and the skeleton of it remains there to this day, slowly being reclaimed by the advancing sea.

Double mounted print which is signed and numbered by the artist and supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity.