Car used in BoB film?

Tried this on a previous BoB thread but without any responce :(- As there seems to be some very knowledgable film buffs on here, I hope the following question is relevant & not too impertinent?

For many years I have owned a semi-derelict (well some say completely derelict!) MG YA saloon – one of those projects I am still hoping to get around to one day! 😮 When I bought it, I was told it had formerly belonged to a “senior RAF officer”, though this had nothing to do with my decision to purchase it – I specifically wanted a Y-Type & was on limited funds (as always!) & this was the only one within my budget – I did note that it was brush painted RAF blue, so thought there could be some truth in this?

However, a couple of years ago, I was talking to a well known car restorer, who I happened to be helping source some unusual aircraft switches for a vintage racing car he was working on and the conversation turned to my MG. He thought he recalled the car as it has an unusual number plate (RNU 40) as well as the odd colour! – He had provided vehicles for a number of films made in the 1960s and 1970s and recalled painting an MG Y Type saloon RAF blue for one of these war films – it seems it was used because this model looks like a pre war car (designed in 1938), even though it was built in 1951! He was convinced it was done for the Battle of Britain film (though I do not recall seeing one in it), but said it could have been another film?

Now I have had the car for 20 years and have no intention of selling, so this is not a cheap shot at giving it some provenance to put on the dreaded eBay! But if it was indeed a former “Film Star” or does have some RAF connections through a previous owner, I would love to know – It may just give me the incentive to re-start the project & get it back on the road where it belongs :).

Stirling turret

£5000 – & that’s not even up to the reserve! 😮 NOT going to start on the rights or wrongs of selling crash site items & no doubt it was recovered pre 1986 :rolleyes: – Amazed its still on ebay though with the brownings – contravenes every rule in their book – Don’t suppose the potential fees on it if it achieves the money has anything to do with that at all? :rolleyes:

On a point of interest what would you do with it – great museum exhibit as others have said – but that price will still buy quite a lot for a small museum – most appropriate place is as Peter said – back in the fuselage section it came from – but only if then placed on display – can’t see the RAF museum splashing out the cash though 🙁

No – it will probably end up like it appears to be now – wrapped in a tarpaulin & hidden away in a private collection. Also would you restore it & remove the evidence of its past? – Looks like somework has been done already? The brownings look very straight & in much better condition than the rest – surely they are not original – & no doubt they have all been professionally deactivated & come with certificates? 😮

Probably old hat, but on a recent visit to Vraux-Conde Museum, France, I noticed a very large Stirling section.
http://www.chez.com/amrvraux/

Hi Andy – You did well to find them open – we seem to always be in the area mid week & they are closed 🙁 – Not too far from the MS 406 crash site memorial I mentioned – Did you get the photos?

42-92700

C-47A 42-92700 17TCS 64 Troop carrier Group, pilot Robert Carsons crashed St Chamond ,SW Lyon 01.11.44.

Not positive this is the aircraft concerned but it’s a start.

From: AAIR 441101 C-47A 42-92700 17TCS 64TCG 12 KCR 5 Roberts, Carson M FRA St Chamond

So pilot’s name & number of crew casualties match, as does unit, date and approx area – So I think you have the right aircraft 🙂

Aleda E. Lutz

Googled the name only & got loads of hits 😀 – seems she is pretty famous in the US. Following quote from the best source I could find (URL too long to include!)

Aleda E. Lutz
(1915 – 1944)
Inducted: 1994
Era: Historic
Area(s) of Achievement: Aviation,Medicine/Health Care,Military

“For outstanding proficiency and selfless devotion to duty,” reads the citation accompanying the Distinguished Flying Cross presented in December of 1944 to First Lieutenant Aleda Lutz of Freeland. She had volunteered for duty with the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron, the first of its kind. Lutz had recorded 814 hours in the air when the C47 hospital plane evacuating 15 wounded soldiers from the battlefront near Lyons in Italy crashed killing all aboard.

Aleda E. Lutz is one of the most celebrated women war heroes of World War II. As a First Lieutenant Army Flight Nurse she flew 196 missions evacuating over 3500 men. She also logged the most flight hours of any flight nurse. She earned six battle stars before her death, and she was recorded as the first military woman to die in a combat zone in World War II. Lutz was awarded the Air Medal four times, the Oak Leaf Cluster, the Red Cross Medal, and the Purple Heart. She was also the first woman awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in a World War, our nation’s second highest military honor.

A Veteran’s Medical facility located in her hometown of Saginaw, has been named after her by Congressional Decree. The congressional resolution was first offered in 1949, but died in committee, mainly because she was a woman. Though the building was completed in 1950, it was not until August 15, 1990, that it was officially named. The United States Army Hospital Ship and a C-47 plane have also been named in her honor. With the exception of the Civil War Era Doctor Mary Walker, these honors make Aleda E. Lutz the highest decorated woman in the history of the United States of America.

One puzzle is that almost all of the sources quote the place of the crash as “near Lyon, Italy” yet Ian says he photographed the memorial at La Jasserie, which is near Saint Etienne?

Mosquito?

Assume you are talking about G-ASKH / RR299/HT-E, the last airworthy Mosquito which was destroyed in a fatal crash at an airshow at Barton, Manchester in 1996.

If so I do know that a surprising amount of wreckage was left at the crash site near to the airfield and a number of people took “souvenirs” 🙁 Later the group who had a museum at Barton carried out an excavation and recovered what was left including if I recall correctly most of the instrument panel – Far too soon after the event IMO.

Contacting EOD via Police.

Do have to confess the new system seems far from perfect 🙁

Took several phone calls, two weeks and three police visits – including one by an armed response unit whilst I was at work – frightened the neighbours out of their wits 😮 Then they closed the main dual carriageway bypass for an hour whilst the offending items were finally picked up. All because the local police would not take the items into their custody – in case junior officers got too curious at finally having something in their new bomb-proof bin at their HQ – seems it is used as an ashtray during smoking breaks :rolleyes:

Oh! this was for three live flares and an MBEU barometric firing device – which were not discovered until power-washing through a ton of aluminium cornflakes at home, a week after a dig on a Supermarine Attacker.

Just a thought…most people on this forum are aware of the dangers …..if there is a potential that what ever you’re about to do could end up going ‘BANG’………..don’t do it…….

Totally agree with Spitfireman’s sound advice – If you don’t know what it is – and in many cases even if you do! Leave it well alone and call in the experts.

Call the Police, they will contact EOD who will deal with it properly.