Hurricane P3533

My information was for one squadron only: 607. ORB etc was left in France. Information came from the various pilots above and some others: P3535 AF-C was well known on the squadron.

It has been stated elsewhere that there may have been a clerical error on 607 Squadron re P3535 AF-C. This is totally wrong as no less than five 607 Squadron pilots are recorded as flying it: Will Gore, Francis Blackadder, Peter Parrott, Bobby Pumphrey and George Fidler.

Not necessarily ‘totally wrong’. Hurricanes in France are certainly not my area of research, but I believe there were quite a few well documented cases where the serial number of a particular aircraft was repeatedly and consistently misspelled in various documents (such as both ORBs and individual pilots’ log books). As an example, 308 Sqn’s F/Lt Wandzilak was shot down in Spitfire PL279 ZF-Z in August 1944, this aircraft having been used by the unit since June, but all squadron documents only ever referred to it as PL269 (which, incidentally, was the serial of the previous ZF-Z, sent away from the squadron in June 1944).

Sounds like a case of Pilot Officer John Benzie to me maybe?

Not exactly, jetdrain.

There could be a number of reasons why he was ‘wearing no parachute’

a) It was still in the plane on fire/damaged
b) It fell off him when he bailed out
c) It got caught up in plane and he preferred to end it quickly….

I actually never took the statement

“Fidler was wearing no parachute and he fell into a field near Bachy” to mean he didn’t have a parachute in the aircraft.. Rather it was not used on bailout…

Paul, you are correct as always.

Why wasn’t George Fidler wearing a parachute; what was he sitting on?
I have no idea at all. This information was passed on to me from a French source and was handed down by an eyewitness. ‘He was found in a deep depression sans parachute’. Although he was CO of 607 Squadron his total experience on a Hurricane was three hours: he had been an armaments officer with 14 Group. He lasted less than three days.
It has been stated elsewhere that there may have been a clerical error on 607 Squadron re P3535 AF-C. This is totally wrong as no less than five 607 Squadron pilots are recorded as flying it: Will Gore, Francis Blackadder, Peter Parrott, Bobby Pumphrey and George Fidler. That is not to say P3533 was not on 607 Squadron only that no record of it has been found to date.

There could be a number of reasons why he was ‘wearing no parachute’

a) It was still in the plane on fire/damaged
b) It fell off him when he bailed out
c) It got caught up in plane and he preferred to end it quickly….

I actually never took the statement

“Fidler was wearing no parachute and he fell into a field near Bachy” to mean he didn’t have a parachute in the aircraft.. Rather it was not used on bailout…

We can clearly rule out P3535. We are certainly looking at P3533 here.

Incidentally, and as Creaking Door has aluded to, what on earth was Fidler sitting on if not a parachute? Was he not wearing a parachute when he fell, or did he not actually have one? The latter would have made flying the Hurricane quite a problem I’d have thought unless he had a cushion!

Why wasn’t George Fidler wearing a parachute; what was he sitting on?

Dave,
P3535 AF-C was flown by George Marley Fidler when it was shot down on a patrol over Cambrai. Fidler was wearing no parachute and he fell into a field near Bachy, now a housing estate known as ‘Allee des Comtes’. Fidler was buried by locals and later removed to Bachy Communal Cemetery. P3535 fell into a field known as ‘Ferne Marchand’: Meadow of Wanhain-bachey.

Sounds like a case of Pilot Officer John Benzie to me maybe?

It is in the general area, but off to the east of Cambrai. Quite a way from Bachy. Do we know that crash was actually at Bachy, or is it just that the pilot of your Hurricane was buried there?

The closest serial that I have as being lost in France is P3535 AF:C which crashed at Bachy on 19/05/40.

Given the similarity in the numbers is it possible that the records recording the demise of P3535 could be incorrect and that it was P3533 ?

Is the crash area in the right vicinity ?

It is certainly not unkown for items from other airframes to get into another specific aircraft. It is possible it has happened in this case. However, since the crash site in question is in France, is believed to have been during May 1940 and P3533 is shown to have been lost in France in May 1940 there is a high probability that this is, indeed, the crash site of P3533.

The question is; what squadron was P3533 with at the time of its loss? And what was the date of that loss?

Hurricane loss

Hi;

Is it feasible/possible that although the piece of equipment came from P3533 at some time, it ended up somehow in another aircraft. Is it possible to confirm the identity of the aircraft you are researching as definately P3533??

regards,

Andy Wis