Not quite Burma and not Spitfires either.

From Martin Bond, 99 Sqn historian, in an e-mail to me today:

Talking to 99ers about the Ennis incident, they ascribe his loss to cutting a corner on the return route and being jumped by an Oscar which itself was destroyed by fire from the rear gunner. I met Ennis’ brother many years ago but sadly do not have contact details. Policy at the time was to remove as much crash debris as possible (as well as any human remains) and re-use any re-usable bits. There may not be much left to recover. This was the role of the Repair and Salvage Units to which my late father was seconded during his spell away from 99 Sqdrn.

It’s not proof that return fire did down the Oscar, but perhaps it is true.

Interesting, thanks Matt. Still I never expect the press to get it right, even in India.

Good one, David. There’s so much pierced steel planking around, everywhere on the planet. Not too much geodetic fencing…you may have sparked interest in a new retro-design product line.

That news story, as is typical, is loaded with errors. [ADDENDUM: I just heard that the newspaper twisted the facts around rather conveniently, to fit their agenda. Nothing new there. The group headed by Raj (as his friends call him) have not even found wreckage yet. They have interviewed elderly residents and have narrowed down the crash sites to a small diameter area, but they have a long way to go. Presumably the wrecks all fell on 17 June 1944, when there was, indeed, a big air battle in the vicinity, with about eight aircraft lost (a Wellington, a Spitfire, and four Ki-43 Oscars).]

If wreckage includes a twin-engine aircraft downed on 17 June 1944, then it is 99 Sqn Wellington HZ719, which was on a bomb-ferrying assignment at the time. The skipper was the highly-decorated S/Ldr A.S.R.E. Ennis DSO DFC, who had flown Whitleys on 78 Sqn and Halifaxes on 158 Sqn before heading to the Far East.

Attached: a photo of Ennis, from http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york40/p4964b.html.

This crew list from 17 June ’44 is tentative:

Pilot: 740735 S/Ldr Anthony Stewart Reginald Edmund ENNIS DSO, DFC
2P: R.157741 WO2 Donald McLeod LINDSAY (RCAF)
Nav: 1389497 F/Sgt William Edmund George GRIFFIN
Nav: 1467524 F/Sgt David Robert REES*
Wop/AG: 1015920 Arthur Sisterton DAVISON
AG: 1663367 F/Sgt Alwyne ATKIN

*Grave 6.H.19, Imphal War Cemetery. All others are in communal grave 6.H.14 – 18.

It is likely that 16-kill Japanese Army Air Force KI-43 Oscar ace Sgt Tomesaku Igarashi (50th Sentai) shot down the Wellington, shortly before he was killed; Japanese expert Hiroshi Ichimura has reported that Igarashi downed a twin-engine aircraft on 17 June, in flames, just before he was jumped and shot down by Spitfires. There were no other Allied twin-engine aircraft lost in the area that day.

Did the Wellington guns shoot down two Oscars during the action? I doubt it, but the evidence, or what little I’ve seen, is too sketchy.

I wonder how much fencing in the area is geodetic.

If it’s true, that Wellington put up a good fight.

Moggy