Information on Spitfire crash 27th May 1942 near Southend

If anyone has any information/pictures on P/O Woodhead or this event however small it would be great to hear. Also any pictures or information on the aircraft prior to or after the event.

My grandmothers cousin;

WOODHEAD, ROBERT MARTIN
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Pilot
Service No: J/8156
Date of Death: 27/05/1942
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force 81 (R.A.F.) Sqdn.

He was a spitfire pilot in 81sqn moved to Hornchurch mid May 1942 to become part of 11 group, the original explanation of his death on the 27th of May was a mid-air/on take-off collision with a Polish crewed fighter coming in to land.

Always been fascinated with his story but never been able to find any information about his service or confirmation of the event that killed him. He was a Canadian but he is buried in the churchyard of my village due to family links which are pretty deep as we can trace back to the 15th century. I am currently trying to research as much information as possible on the event that lead to his death and his life in the RAF, any news stories or accounts from witnesses or pictures.

The following information is what I have gathered during the past couple of days.

The incident.

Principles:

Spitfire V.B BM158 Sgt Bubes Cine Gun (Time Up 11.00) (Time Down 11.50)
Spitfire V.B BM467 P/O Woodhead Cine Gun (Time Up 11.00) (Time Down 11.40)

Information on Spitfire: BM467 Vb CBAF M45 FF 10-4-42 12MU 12-4-42 81S ‘FL-T’ 29-4-42 Collided with BM158 during combat practice nr Southend 27-5-42 AST SOC 5-6-42

Summary of events related to incident:

(Weather mentioned in report, probably contributory factor to the collision)

Low cloud, rain and gusts.

Nine hours 20 minutes were spent by “A” flight in Cine gun practice; and 14 hours 10 minutes in Wing formation led by Wing Commander Powell.

During Cine gun practice; P/O Woodhead, Canadian, collided with Sgt Bubes (Polish), and crashed near Southend, fatally. Sgt. Bubes in his damaged Spitfire, with almost complete loss of aileron control managed to bring his aircraft back to base. Two sections maintained readiness for local defence until dusk. The Padre and Station Intelligence Officer visited the Pilots hut W.

(The above report detailing the event was differing from the rest of the months reports; previous reports were clear and well written. The above report in original form as typed differs as there seem to be lots of typographical errors, I suppose the days events had taken a toll on the typist, maybe the loss of a friend)

So taking the information from the summary of events shows that the original account given to my family of a crash on take-off at Hornchurch was probably a censored account as the event as recorded happened some distance from the base and during training. The reason I can think of for censorship is probably not giving away the location of an area used for training missions (just my best guess).

I am also trying to trace any information of Sgt.Bubes, so far I have:

Pilot BUBES, Tadeusz (Jan 1941) joined 306 Sqn in January 1941 and following that was posted to 81. Sqn 29/03/1942, on the 07/07/1942 posted to 316 and following that he was posted to 182.Sqn on the 28/09/1942.

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to contribute.