L.S.,

On the 5th of September 1944 TWO (not one) Spitfires of the 310 were lost near Breukelen. Numbers MA225 and MH616 were hit by flak while in a group of three attacking a (heavily defended) barge transport in the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal. Both Czech pilots. One Spitfire 'crashed near Utrecht' with the pilot having to parachute out being caught and ending up as POW. The other emergency-landed 'south of Amsterdam' with the pilot returning back to liberated territory assisted by resistance in December of that year. Big problem still: where precisely did one plane crash and the other emergency-land? To make things more easy: Breukelen is 'south of Amsterdam' and 'near Utrecht'....

For the Dutch amongst us: the 5th of September 1944 is 'mad Tuesday' (dolle dinsdag).

Kind regards,
Hendrik Land