PL 440

Thanks for that. In fact the info on the spitfires.ukf.net site re the crash landing has recently been added by Andrew Pentland from information I gave him so the source of that info is known and doesn’t help us.
The circumstances of the crash are well known and were supplied by a historical aviation association in Lyons that asked me for help inidentifying the aircraft.
I’ve just found out that the photos I have were published some time ago in a book and are already in the public domain so I don’t really see what harm it could do. They’re attached to this message.

There is some debate about just where all the RAF Spit squadrons were based during those hectic days when they were continually moving forward nearer to the retreating German lines. I do know that Lyons wasn’t liberated till Sept 2nd and that the first aircraft arrived at Lyons Bron on the 5th.
For example, I keep hearing about Spits based in Sisteron but can’t find any evidence of this at all ? It would help if I knew for certain which squadrons were where at the end of August ?
Cheers,
Ian Stevenson

Spit PL 440

Thanks for that, most of the info I had already. My only hope is that someone recognizes the story and gets in touch. The New Texas was just full of brand new Spits that ended up all over the place but 13 of them went to RAF Squadrons that were operating in the South of France at that time.
An eye-witness report says that the pilot was in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with the words ‘New Zealand’ stitched to the shoulder but there were Kiwi pilots in many units….
Cheers,
Ian