Spitfire PL 440

[Ianfst]

Jerry,
Below are movements for 93 Sqdn for the period in question.
93,M,20-Jul-44,to Calvi
93,M,20-Aug-44,to Ramatuelle
93,M,25-Aug-44,to Sisteron
93,M,9-Sep-44,to Lyons/Bron
93,M,27-Sep-44,to La Jasse

Ian

[Ianfst]

Thanks Jerry,
PL 440 was delivered to Casablanca on 22/8/44, the others were delivered to 341 Sqdn in June 44.
At the time of the carsh landing, 341 Sqdn were operating in the North of France, on the Belgian border.
Could PL 440 have been on a ferry flight to that unit to replace lost aircraft ?
It would certainly explain what it was doing in the Lyons area, the absence of markings, the ambiguous roundels and the supposedly Kiwi pilot....

Any ideas on how to find records of Ferry Units ?!

Cheers,
Ian

Originally Posted by Jerry Murland

You might find what you are looking for in 341 Squadron (French) Looking at batch numbers allocated to 341 Squadron the following are recorded as losses for 341 Squadron in Fighter Command Losses 1944 for August and September:

PL424 Shot down 14th August - Argetan. Sgt/Chef M Cermalacce
PL395 Shot down Lyons 26th August - Cmdt J Schloeing
PL464 Shot down 16th Sept - Lt. Brunschwig

PL440 Could have been in this batch. 341 Was a Free French Squadron. After covering the Allied landings in France in June 1944, No.341 moved to Normandy in August and arrived in Belgium in September. Also they did not display the usual Squadron recognition letters on the aircraft. The
hope this helps a little.

Jerry

[Ianfst]

Thanks Bertrand,
That confirms that the aircraft was not operating with 341 Sqdn when it was lost - see my message also in response to Jerry Murland. What do you think ?
Ian Stevenson

Originally Posted by Bertrand H

Hi,


I am afraid that it is not an aircraft of 341 sqdn. I have studied this Free french unit since many years with crossing official archives with individual RAF Flying log books. I never saw this A/C in these official or private archives.

Please note that the correct spelling are CermOlacce (Maurice); SchloeSing Jacques-Henri and François Brunschwig.

HTH

Bertrand H