Tempest EJ803
 

Hello everyone,

Could anybody help me in my hunt to find out more of my grandfathers death, or have any advice on how to move forward if this is possible? . I have found out a lot of very useful information about him and the day he was killed. But I'm now wondering if any photographs or records exist of the Tempest that he crashed in. As the Germans would have made records of the removal of the a/c, and could have taken a photograph for these records. The serial number was EJ803 and the squadron markings were JF-V, of 3 (f) squadron who at that time were based at B80 Volkel.

It crashed just outside the German town of Spelle on the 29th December 1944 at 11.30am. And he was buried at the local cemetery until 1947 when he was moved to the Reichswald Forest Cemetry.

Many thanks
James

Re: Tempest EJ803
 

Not sure what you have already seen?

http://www.hawkertempest.se/edwardsmalcolm.htm

Starting around the 2:00 minute mark there are some 3 Squadron aircraft, but I don't see "V".
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/br.../query/tempest

Another 3 Squadron at the very end.
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/en.../query/tempest

Re: Tempest EJ803
 

Hello,

Thank you very much for the links , I have seen the Edwards link but I have not seen the other two, most interesting to watch thankyou. I wasn't aware of the footage that was out there.

I was lucky enough to visit the crash area in Spelle in 2012, here I found out that the German Luftgaukommando XI in Hamburg was responsible for informing the correct local recovery groups. The Bergebataillon VII was the section which recovered the Tempest EJ803. I don't know weather there are any surviving records of this day or if pictures were ever taken. I am aware a lot of German records were lost but I feel there must have been something.

Best wishes
James