[cheesey]

Hello all.

I wonder if anyone can throw some light on the following incident ?

A friend and work colleague has provided me with some information passed on to him by his grandfather, Capt.R.E.Roberts (dentist) who was serving in the RAMC during the Normandy campaign. He was attached to 146 Field Ambulance. It relates to an incident he witnessed in which an allied aircraft, possibly a Spitfire, was brought down when it strayed into the path of a Royal Artillery 25pdr barrage ! The account was written on scraps of paper during the 1970s and I reproduce the relevant passage below.

"I remember during that first rest period (it was for several days), we were enjoying the sunshine, and the birds were singing, and one really could have thought that we were 100 miles from war. Suddenly the R.A. set up a barrage of shelling and a lone Spitfire whistling by was caught by one of the shells which removed part of his tail.
Seeing the field and the Red Cross, he tried to do a quick landing, but the height was too little and he crashed and was killed instantly. The most appalling and frightening thing was that, as we watched from the reception tent, the engine of the Spitfire broke loose from its housing and 6ft of solid steel came rolling at speed towards the F.A. station.
Our hair stood on end as we watched it slowly come to a rest no more than a dozen feet from where we were standing. It was a close one (one of many close calls pop had !) and it could have done a lot more damage to the station."

I have no idea of the exact date or location other than it was about the 12th of June (he landed on the 8th and was in the front line for approx 3-4 days without rest) and that it was possibly near to Arromanches.
I have looked at F.C.Losses (Franks) for this period and can find no real matches ! Can anyone please help with a possible aircraft/pilot match or location ?
Thanks in advance, Steve.