Spitfire XII recovery Belgium July 2009

Hello Dan ,

I’ve just send you a PM , you’ll have the picture .
The interest about MB800 in Belgium is that it was fitted with a Griffon Mk IV which is very rare , only 25 built.
Last time I went to German archives held at ECPA Paris , there were a lot of picture of crashed EN235 EB-S ( F/O R.H Hogarth , killed July 18 , 1943 , same mission Slack was lost ) near Abbeville where he was buried. The plane did not bury itself , was just a wreckage on the ground and the Griffon engine could be seen. The German pilot who probably claimed Hogarth is also pictured by the wreckage but I haven’t identified him yet.

I don’t know about Stenborg’s MB805 and what was found.

Zorglub

Hi Zorglub,

Any chance of scanning that photo of EN626? I only ever saw a very small photo copy of it and would love to see it in more detail.

Please keep us posted on any more Spit XII recoveries too. Spit XIIs are in my blood so anything XII related I enjoy hearing.

I seem to recall hearing that Grey Stenborg’s XII crash site had been investigated as some point as well.

Hello Dan ,
Yes actually I do have this picture showing fuselage of DL-E or F amongst captured Typhoons and at least one P-47. This was taken in a hangar in France , could be Villacoublay .
However I’m certain it was Red Blumer’s EN626 lost 6 November 1943 in my area ( crash-landing ).
I yet have two more Spit XIIs lost here , at least MB796 ( Robert Boyd kia ) with buried engine is pinpointed , and EN223 ( Harold Heninger kia ) which needs more investigation to be located accurately.

Zorglub

What the heck, it’s Spitfire XII stuff and it gets the blood pumping.

Stan May, 3rd from the left between IO Lord “Gizzy’ Gisborough and Tom Slack. S/L Tom “Ginger Neil to the left. Leslie Prickett on Slack’s left, unknown, Hugh Parry on the right. Of the named pilots, only Neil wasn’t shot down. Slack was shot down twice, walked out the first time, and POW the second. Parry was shot down and made a POW. Leslie Pricket also was shot down and made a POW. 5% of the Spit XII production was lost with those 4 pilots. Scary when you think about it. Tom Slack lost a 3rd Spit XII as well when he ran out of fuel over the Channel. Behind May is Ross Harding who was shot down by friendly flak while chasing a V-1. So it’s 7% of Spit XII production lost in that photo. Harding survived.

Photo taken early Summer 1943

Stan May is back row 4th from the left. Coltishall July 1985

Yes

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://sites.google.com/site/grouphude/projects/beveren-ijzer-1943&ei=V0zIS_yMMsSgsQbR-viaCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DStan%2B%2BMay%2BSpitfire%2BMB800%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLL_en-GBGB337

Passepartout

Interesting the mention of Geoff Bond’s 91 Squadron Spit XII MB841. I saw a photocopy of an image showing a salvaged Spit fuselage coded DL-E or F which I believe was MB841 There was a Tiffie wreck in the photo too. I’ve never been able to track down the actual photo to confirm it was Bond’s Spit, but the intact fuselage has always made me wonder about how he died as it must have been bellied in.

I had a chance to meet and talk to Stan May back in 1985 at the 41 Squadron reunion at Coltishall.

He recalled that they were escorting medium bombers and he spotted E/A. He tried to call them in, but his radio was dead. He broke into them and got the top of his fuel tank shot off and his controls shot out. He bailed out and managed to evade with the help of the French underground.

MB800 was the first EB-B and had one kill to it’s credit when Polish pilot Jerzy “George” Solak claimed a 190 off Folkstone on June 4, 1943

Stan May while at OTU in a Spit

Hasn’t stopped people in the past!

That might be stretching the idea of a ‘survivor’ just a bit!

Bruce

Can any of our Belgian friends shed any more light on this?

http://new_expatica.nextborn.com/es/news/spanish-news/Team-digging-up-World-War-II-Spitfire_54248.html

Mark

hold the presses – otherwise it won’t be “in the book…..”

Yes

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://sites.google.com/site/grouphude/projects/beveren-ijzer-1943&ei=V0zIS_yMMsSgsQbR-viaCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DStan%2B%2BMay%2BSpitfire%2BMB800%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLL_en-GBGB337

Passepartout

Is this MB800 ?

Might be a BAHAAT recovery. www.BAHAAT.be

The plane was able to fly exceptionally low and so was able to avoid Nazi air defences.

😀