August 07,1944 Abschusss Identified

[MW Giles]

NS311 did not exist. It was a code allocated to cancelled production of Swordfish by the Blackburn company.

There were a number of NS5xx to NS8xx Mosquitos

NS511 was on 60 Sqn SAAF,
NS611 did not exist - that code was in a blackout block,
NS711 went to the USAAF and served with the 25th BG - lost 24.03.45
NS811 went to the USAAF but was returned and sold 16.12.46, becoming G-AIRU

MM311 however did exist as a DH Mosquito XVI and was on the 802nd Recon Group (Provisional)

MM311 Delivered Alconbury 22/2/44. 482nd conversion to Mickey H2X, to 8th Special Squadron 13/5/44, Lost 7/8/1944 with 802nd RG(P) with 1Lt W W Thompson pilot and 2Lt K C Edgar (also noted variously as EC and CC Edgar) both killed and buried in Germany after the a/c crashed at Klausheide, E of Nordhorn

In an over simplified way the 8th Recon Group became 802nd RG(P) which, shortly after the crash we are discussing, became 25th BG (Rcn)

There is an account of the loss in the book The 25th Bomb Group (Rcn) in World War II by Norman Malayney

Thompson and Edgar were nowhere near Normandy

Martin

As an aside on the website link you provide, if the sortie was to Salzbergen, how on earth did they manage to crash coming back from Normandy? And then find themselves burried in Germany. If they crashed in England would there have been an MACR?