Dear All,
I was hoping that some of you knowledgeable chaps on this forum may be able to help out.
My father ( from Retford ) is trying to find some more information on a Spit Va-R7218- which was named Retford and District. It was ‘bought’ by donations of the residents of Retford in late 1940 after a plea by the local mayor appeared in the local paper-the Retford Times. To help the RAF brought along a downed 109 to the local cricket club to help with the process and in the end a sum of £5345 6s and 3d was raised and handed to the air ministry.
From then on I have few details. I believe the a/c was sent to 611sqn at Hornchurch in the late spring of 1941 and then was transferred to 145 sqn at Merston in Sussex.
If any of you can help with any info about this a/c or the sqns it would be super to hear from you and I’m hoping we can collate enough info to send to the paper that started it all-the Retford Times.
Anything that can help us in the right direction would be gratefully appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Ian/Scarebus
By: Scarebus - 29th August 2006 at 19:27
Many Thanks MK12.
Have just had a look on Kenneth Wynn’s excllent book Men of the Battle of Britain and found a brief mention of FO Machacek.
Having joined the Czech af in Poland he then enlisted in l’armee de l’air when Poland fell and then moved once more on the falling of France to the RAF. He was then shot down twice,firstly in Hurricane V7337 after being wounded in the leg and then in R7218.
I also had a look for an entry regarding PO Reeves but unfortunately no joy.
It is interesting to note that the a/c was at Bigging for a while with 92 sqn which is certainly news to me. Can anybody shed any light on the a/c at it’s brief stay there?
Thanks all.
By: Mark12 - 29th August 2006 at 16:57
The entry in ‘Gifts of War’
Mark
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August 29, 2006 at 1:39 pm