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Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
Thanks for the next reply.
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Originally Posted by Six Nifty .50s
The number of RAF planes shot down in error during the Battle of Britain (36) was quoted by Stephen Bungay who was interviewed in a TV documentary series called SPITFIRE ACE. I recorded this program and watched it again today.
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I am curious what was his source |
Hello Franek. Bungay said that he examined the record personally. He probably tapped into several sources for information.
What reference are you working from?
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Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
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Originally Posted by Six Nifty .50s
There is no doubt that some friendly fire mistakes were covered up. One of the RAF pilots interviewed was Iain Hutchinson of 222 Squadron, who said that he was shot down by another Spitfire and then bailed out with burns. The official version of the story, as far as I can ascertain, was that Hutchinson's Spitfire (R6772) crashed after combat with an Me 109 on September 18th, 1940.
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Well, they were covered quite well. I have a case of a shot up RAF Mustang but ORBs of all Mustang Squadrons say there were no sorties that day! |
I have another candidate. Maybe you have read that the L-5 observation plane carrying General George S. Patton came under attack by an RAF fighter on April 20th, 1945. According to his diary entry (see THE PATTON PAPERS) the RAF pilot made several passes and on the last, failed to pull out of a dive and crashed. Patton wrote that the plane appeared to be a Spitfire, and that the pilot may have been a Polish flyer with one of the RAF squadrons.
BTW you might want to read the following article about E.J.B. Nicolson, the only fighter pilot to win a Victoria Cross during World War II. Certain parts of his ordeal during that mission were omitted in the official accounts of his award, but they are mentioned here:
http://www.commandsite.net/Units/Tan..._nicolson.html
25th January 2005, 05:56
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