A WRITER from Poundbury has resurrected a project looking at the accident prone history of a World War Two aircraft.

Warwick Taylor will launch his latest book All the Blenheims, looking at the role the Bristol Blenheim bombers played in the war.

He actually started working on the book more than 30 years ago when he was working for Customs and Excise and was approached by a company that was running a series of books about various aircrafts.

Warwick said: “I started doing all the research and in those days you had to go to the Ministry of Defence in London to do it all.”

Before he had completed the book, somewhat to Warwick’s dismay, he was contacted by the company saying the series had been discontinued.

Warwick said: “The thing just laid around really for many years.”

Around 18 months ago Warwick decided to get back to work on the book and the end result was his newly-published book.

In all over 5,000 Blenheims saw service during the Second World War but many of them met unhappy endings.

It was not just at the hands of the enemy as well, with a number of accidents and mechanical failures among the tragic endings for some of the planes.

Warwick said: “It was a fatal accident for disasters and accidents.

“It was the same old problems such as engine failure and take off.

“The accidents were far too many and not caused by enemy action.”

His book also has a Dorset connection with seven of the misfortunate incidents involving the Blenheims occurring in Dorset at locations such as Winterbourne Abbas, Portesham, Chesil Beach and Frampton.

Warwick, a former Bevin Boy who went on to spend 40 years at Heathrow Airport with the British Overseas Airways Corportation and then Customs and Excise, has also penned two books about the Bevin Boys and one about the South Yorkshire pits.

He became vice-president and chairman of the Bevin Boys Association and was recognised with an MBE for his efforts.

Warwick’s latest book, All the Blenheims, is being launched at Waterstones in South Street from 7pm tomorrow.

Guests will include the book’s illustrator Patricia Forrest, from Shaftesbury, and local historian Brian Bates.