Spit-loss of 130.Sqn on 2nd May 1945

[Jan-Hendrik]

Dear friends ,

In the diary of ROB johann Huber I found mentioned a downed Spitfire near Schwerin in the last days of war . I ask a friend of mine already , he thinks the only possible loss would be the plane of W.W.Stowe , a Spit Mk.XIV of 130.Sqn on 2nd May 1945 .

What is your opinion and who could provide more on this incident , as Huber only mentioned that the saw the wreck near a railway line as they were marching to the front of US-Troops .

Jan-Hendrik

[PeterA]

This will be Bill Stowe of 41 Squadron I am sure.

Google: "Bill Stowe" Spitfire

He flew my former Mk XII EB-L but I believe he passed away just recently.

PeterA

[Allan125]

Hello Jan-Hendrik

The two pieces below are from the Operations Record Book of 125 Wing - in which 130 (Punjab) Squadron was a part, the other squadrons being 41 and 350 (Belgian). At the time they were operating from B.118 Celle.

2/5/45

With the enemy pocket shrinking rapidly, great care had to be exercised before any ground targets could be attacked. We started off with a rush, 5 aircraft of 130 Squadron on the first patrol saw 4 Buckner 131’s at 0615 hours near LAKE SCHWERIN at zero feet. Our aircraft were at 5,000 ft and they immediately attacked. The result was 2 destroyed by F/O Lord, 1 destroyed by F/Sgt Woodman and 1 destroyed shared between these two pilots. At 0850 hours a section of 4 aircraft of 130 Squadron saw a ME109 in the circuit of SCHWERIN A/D at 1,000ft. Our A/C dived on to it from 5,000ft and P/O Edwards and P/O Mertons shared in its destruction. A large concentration of MET was seen from CRIVITZ to SCHWERIN. It appeared to be unable to move either way. After careful reconnaissance this was duly clobbered by a section of 4 aircraft of 350 Squadron to the tune of 55 damaged. Later in the morning, 3 Fiesler Storches were seen by a section of 41 Squadron flying North at zero feet near SCHWERIN A/F. Two of these were destroyed by W/O Chalmers and one destroyed and one damaged by F/O Smith. We suffered a loss during the afternoon when F/L Stowe got mixed up in the debris from ground targets and had to crash land west of SCHWERIN LAKE either in our lines or just beyond them. He is believed to be safe and we all look forward to seeing him in a few days. We had another victory at 17.10 hours when P/O Watkins, F/Lt Bangerter, F/Sgt King and F/O Van Eckh shared in the destruction of an Arado 234. The Enemy aircraft was trying to land when attacked and a ME262 in the same area only got away owing to superior speed. That concluded our joy except for MET to the tune of 2 destroyed and 13 damaged clobbered by 130 Squadron, and a loco and 5 trucks damaged by 350 Squadron.

SALUTE TO THE HOMER – we learn today that they men who man the Homer successfully landed their one thousand and first aircraft.
__________________________________________________ _____


Hope this helps - by the way it should be F/Sgt Kicq and F/O Van Eeckhoudt from 350 (Belgian) Squadron, not King and Van Eckh, probably misheard on the phone from one Intel officer to another!!
__________________________________________________ _____


And the return of "Bill" Stowe (and S/Ldr Terry Spencer and F/Lt Ken Smith of 350 (Belgian) Squadron) is reported on:


4/5/45

Today, with poor weather and a battle ground nearly out of reach, we could hope for little spectacular. A strong cross wind developed in the afternoon and operations ended early. The big news is the safe return of S/Ldr Terry Spencer. From the reports received at the time it seemed impossible that he could be alive, but the impossible happened. He was shot out of his aircraft as it plunged towards the sea in WISMARBAY and his parachute opened, he hit the water. Having struck out for land he was surprised to find that he was only in four feet of water, so waded ashore in soft mud. Although badly burn, bruised, and shaken he was forced to walk over a mile. He was eventually liberated and brought back home where he arrived this afternoon. F/Lt Stowe who landed in ‘no man’s land’ got back to 142 Wing and an Auster brought him back to the Wing. F/Lt Smith of 350 squadron who crash landed in enemy territory on the 30th April also came back today. He evaded for some days until hunger drove him to join a batch of American prisoners until he was liberated by the Americans.

__________________________________________________ ___________


Also - according to Steve Brew on his superb 41 squadron website http://brew.clients.ch/RAF41Sqdn.htm F/L Stowe left 41 squadron on 24 April 1945, most probably to 130 (Punjab) Squadron, as the 125 Wing squadrons had a lot of interchanges at this time. Steve also has several days of 125 Wing operations in May 1945 on his website (courtesy of me!!) - follow the link from the piece about "Bill" Stowe.

cheers

Allan

[Jan-Hendrik]

Excellent , superb , more than I ever expected !!

Tahnk you very much !!

So they operated from Celle ( Wietzenbruch or Hustedt airfeld ?? ) , thats only a few Km from me !

Jan--Hendrik

[Allan125]

Hello Jan-Hendrik

Glad to help and fill in a few blanks for you!!

Hustedt was B.150 - so B.118 Celle would, presumably, have been Wietzenbruch, Dad moved from there to B.160 Kastrup/Copenhagen just after VE-Day.

cheers

Allan

[Jan-Hendrik]

Well , that helped much to crosscheck the info of Hubers Diary , for the moment I can state that everything I crosschecked until now was 100% fact .

Thank you very much for your input !!

Jan-Hendrik

[Steve Brew]

Hi Jan-Hendrik

Yes, Fliegerhorst Celle-Wietzenbruch (designated B.118) was indeed the airfield that 41 and 130 Squadrons were flying from. They arrived there on 16 April 1945, only four days after it had been cleared by elements of the 15th Scottish Division.

Flt. Lt. William North 'Bill' Stowe (RCAF) was posted from 41 Squadron to 130 (Punjab) Squadron on 24 April 1945. His downing on 2 May was caused by damage to his aircraft by an explosion, which was the result of his own attack on motorised enemy transport. He was flying Spitfire XIV, SM833, and force-landed near Lake Schwerin.

You are also correct in assuming Bill Stowe passed away recently. He died at home in Canada on 28 October 2005. In one of the few contacts I had with him, he stated of this incident, "I was never a POW and... my landing was a controlled forced landing not a crash (out of control) landing."

Hope this is of some help

Regards
Steve

The Pilots of 41 Squadron RAF, 1939-1945

[Steve Brew]

Hi again Jan-Hendrik

As an after-thought, would you mind contacting me directly by e-mail on brew@clients.ch please? I would be interested in further information on the wreck Huber mentions. Korrespondenz in Deutsch ist kein Problem.

Thanks
Steve

[Jan-Hendrik]

Thank you , E-Mail will follow tomorrow as I just returned from a trip to Pommern !

Best regards ,

Jan-Hendrik