Hurricane excavation early 1980's Belgium

[Andy Saunders]

Doh! That is just me being rather stupid in misunderstanding the first post. My apologies.

[pointedeflèche]

The Hurricane came down on the territory of Huldenberg not on that of Loonbeek. Until this day there is no absolute proof who the pilot was. See also;

http://www.rafcommands.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=14039&forum=DCForumI D6&archive=yes

Dirk

[Andy Saunders]

From one of the posts on that site we have the following. The question needs to be asked - what was the final outcome here? It sounds to me as if the remains were quietly disposed of. A more thorough investigation of the site and wreckage might well have given rise to an identification in this case.

The Huldenberg Hurricane was excavated 25 years ago in the presence of a man of the Belgium Aviation Museum Brussels, on Saturday September 11th 1982 . According to local witnesses it had crashed somewhere around May 15th 1940. The engine and parts of the cockpit were found at a depth of about 5 metres, together with a few human remains of the pilot and a piece of parachute cloth, suggesting that the pilot had died behind the pilot stick and had crashed to his death.
When I asked the Belgium Aviation Museum Brussels (pieces of the Huldenberg Hurricane make part of their collection) whether a thourough report was ever made after the excavation, they could'nt answer my question. I strongly doubt whether a thorough official inquiry was made after the excavation of the plane to establish the pilots true identity or that of the plane and the Squadron it served with? I find this truly a pity and wonder where the pilots remains went.

[bn785371]

I read about the excavation in the newspaper at the time,after a bit of research I found the man who saw the crash as a young lad and he helped the Museum to the locaction.As reward he was given 2 machineguns(all black,both in good condition),an underwing flap(white painted,well preserved),one undercarriage leg without the wheel(silver,good condition)and a piece of upperskin from one of the wings(brown and green,the latter crudely overpainted with a lighter green with brush).He also had written down a few numbers(no serial number of the aircraft) a transmitter serialnumber,one of an hydrolyc pump and another one.He was not interested in this old metal and gave the lot to me,except for the Brownings.

[pointedeflèche]

The excavation of the Hurricane:
The excavation took place on Saturday, September 11th 1982. The information I have about the excavation is based on a newspaper clipping dated September 13th, 1982 from 'Het Laatste Nieuws' - a Flemish news paper. According to the news paper, the following officials were present at the excavation of the plane:
representatives of the British Embassy and representatives of the 'Luchtvaart Museum, Brussel' (= Air Museum, Brussels), amongst whom the Technical Advisor of the Air Museum, Brussels.
Prior to the excavation, a rural policeman had contacted the British Ambassy, Brussels and the Belgian Ministry of Defence to inform them about a fighter plane still lying buried beneath the land of a farmer at Huldenberg. According to the author of the newspaper article, both British and Belgian Officials showed their interest in the excavation of the plane, but weren't eager to carry all the expences, especially when a crane was needed to make it all possible. Consequently, the rural policeman took the initiative in own hands. A firm lent the crane-driver and crane. Two weeks prior to the excavation of Sept. 11th 1982, the wings and flaps were already dug out by volunteers with the aid of spades. Found were several guns and 700 to 800 rounds of ammunition. Weapons and ammunition were all handed over to the Belgian demining service. The Belgian demining service even sent men with metal detectors to pin-point the exact location of the plane.
In the article the following is stated: 'At present the search goes on for numbers and mark indications, necessary for the further identification of the aircraft. With the results London would be able to identify the pilot who flew that aircraft at that time.'
I wrote the British Ambassy in Brussels, but was thus far given no concrete answer as to what happened to the unknown pilot's remains.

René, I'm a member of the history circle of Huldenberg.

Regards,
Dirk

[bn785371]

Hi Dirk,thank you for this information,I remember the policeman well,he was very upset at the time and his son took the conversation over.

[pointedeflèche]

Hallo René,

I have sent you a private message.

Dirk