Quote:
Originally posted by Racing Teapots@Feb 22 2004, 04:58 AM
As a 10 year old schoolboy, I watched a WW2 fighter aeroplane being excavated from the village of Hildenborough (around 1972/3).
Hildenborough is a small village between Sevenoaks and Tonbridge.
I thought that the aeroplane was a Spitfire, and the 'rumour' was that the pilot was Polish.
But no Kent aero historians I have spoken to, can identify which plane this might have been; "it certainly does not appear to have been a Spitfire."
So I now wonder if it was a Hurricane (or other fighter)......
Is there any book/database which lists where and when WW2 aeroplanes crashed, and the name(s) of the crew.....?? |
"After the Battle" did a book/some books on the Battle of Britain "Day by Day".
There is a pilot buried in the churchyard at Ifield in Sussex, he is called John Romney Mather. See:
http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...asualty=2723532
IIRC I read in the above book that he blacked out due to a failure in his air supply, and crashed at Hildenborough.
Of course, this could be another incident, how does John Mathers date of death compare with your crash?
Hope this helps, I know very little about the RAF really. This case stuck in my mind as the pilot is buried in my home area. Member Paul Reed may know more, as he is also from the same town.