Still doing Leif Lundsten research, and I’m still a bit puzzled about the loss of the pilot and the Spitfire.
The story goes as follow;
In the evening on 9th of June 1944, 331 and 332 cross the French coast southwest of Îles Saint-Marcouf.
North of Isigny they climbed to 1500 to avoid balloons in the area. Then they went down to the deck again.
They fired at by shorebased flak north east of Isigny, and the controller ordered them to turn back and get out
of France they way they came in. So, they turned. Immediately after they turned around, they were fired upon
by naval vessels in the area. One pilot said they pulled straight up, going over the ships outside the coastline while
being fired at by all vessels in the area. They were ordered by the controller to go into the clouds. Then Sqdr Leader
Lundsten reported he was hit, and had to bail out. Last seen weaving like mad with smoke pouring out from the engine.
Then he disappeared into the clouds.
From what I know of, no trace of either pilot or Spitfire was ever found.
So my questions;
A) What naval vessels were in this area? It’s just outside Utah beach, so American? There must be some kind of record about this incident somewhere.
B) With the channel and the coastline so full of ships, shouldn’t someone have seen him go down? Either in his Spit or in a parachute? Of any days
going down in the channel, D-Day and the following days must clearly be the “safest” of days to end up in the channel? If he didn’t get out
at all and went down with the Spitfire, wouldn’t the chances of him being spotted be rather high? Or?
By: DCK - 6th February 2014 at 14:03
Very helpful Mothminor, thank you very much.
I have also started (once again) a campaign to locate Major Lundstens fiance, Miss Sheila Lee from 292 Earl’s Court Road. Local MP’s have been contacted, local newspapers, even a local church.
By: Mothminor - 30th October 2013 at 20:10
Found this map on www.combinedops.com showing the position of the main ships.
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By: Mothminor - 30th October 2013 at 19:44
Thanks for the answer re the letter. I still hope someone will reply.
By: DCK - 30th October 2013 at 19:29
Possibly the days following D-Day were far from being the safest days to end up in the Channel. With so much going on the “minor detail” of an enemy aircraft being shot down might not have been logged at all. And whoever shot him down, whether German flak-gunner or
US or British sailor, believed he was the enemy. Also, is it possible that the Spitfire may have flown on for some distance before crashing?I know it’s possibly a bit soon but have you had any reply to the letter you sent to Earls Court?
No reply yet. I don’t really expect one to be honest. I wrote a detailed letter, added photos as well. It seems to me that the house are split into flats – which means it can end up at either of the flats or none at all.
I wrote “to the owner of the residence” or something along those lines.
He was indeed shot down by American flak from one or several of the ships off Utah beach. The entire fleet fired it was reported. It clearly should be written down in some report, or? Other sources say he crashed near Isigny – as in “on land”.
With everything going on, a Spitfire coming down with or without a man inside should cause some stirr – or perhaps not with everything going on.
By: Mothminor - 29th October 2013 at 19:37
Possibly the days following D-Day were far from being the safest days to end up in the Channel. With so much going on the “minor detail” of an enemy aircraft being shot down might not have been logged at all. And whoever shot him down, whether German flak-gunner or
US or British sailor, believed he was the enemy. Also, is it possible that the Spitfire may have flown on for some distance before crashing?
I know it’s possibly a bit soon but have you had any reply to the letter you sent to Earls Court?
By: DCK - 29th October 2013 at 18:00
Perhaps, but if MK966 came down on top of all those ships someone would have seen him. If he came down near Isigny as others say, then surely there should be enough men on the ground to see a Spitfire explode.
Maybe not on an ordinary day, but during the D-Day landings?
By: trumper - 29th October 2013 at 17:48
Maybe the cloud or the smoke from the invasion forces + the activity hid the view and hearing of those that may have seen him.I guess everything happens so quickly .
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October 29, 2013 at 5:33 pm