Aircrew lost at sea and buried as unknown

[Larry]

According to experts, a body usually sinks after two weeks at sea, and I was thinking that if this is generally true it would help in the search for the true resting place of many of the MIAs that have no known grave but have in fact been buried as ‘unknown’ within a few weeks of going missing. This would have been fairly common in WW2 on each side of the North Sea and the Channel.

However this got me thinking that some would have been wearing an inflated life jacket, so that may extend the time the body was on the surface, but typically how long would a life jacket stay inflated before the ravages of the sea broke it?

Also with the ‘unknown’ airmen found washed up or recovered from the sea, it amazes me that their ID disks were not still attached if these dog tags were made of metal and secured by a metal chain and compulsory?

I suppose that the condition of a body also relates to its loss, so a person that goes in to the sea in the crashing aircraft is less likely to be found if they remain trapped (and may not be complete if they float up to the surface), whereas a person that ditches or bails out and then dies of exposure or drowning is more likely to be found.

My interest in this goolish subject is due to the fact that for many years I’ve been searching for FL/t Douglas Rayment and Sgt Sadler who were shot down by Erg / JG2 in Blenheim P4832 on 17th July 1941, just off the coast of Cherbourg Peninsular, and I’m convinced one or both of them is probably buried in France as unknown.

Your comments on the subject please!

[Alex Smart]

Hello Larry,
If this info is correct ?
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co...ntry.php?id=68
Then would they have flown over to the other side of the Channel ?
Surly they would have stayed on the English coast for such a flight ?
This report via RAF Commands forum seems to suggest they did, seen on the aircraft in the sea some 25 miles off the Dorset coast ?
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/sho...rmen-17-7-1941
In which case if the aircraft went into the sea and they left the aircraft it would be possible that eventually they would have drifted across to the "Enemy" coast .
Has any trace of the aircraft ever been found ?
Alex

[ssg keay]

I have seen X-Files (burial reports of US unknowns) where a body was found washed up that was in the water for over 4-6 months. Especially if they had a life preserver. A fair amount of them had no head when found. Especially fighter pilots tend to lose their head in a crash, which would explain the lack of ID tags. Plus, the chains were not tight, but allowed the tags to hang around the sternum area. So with submersion in water, they might have slipped off due to wave motion, or from the impact with water. Danny

[Larry]

Thanks for your replies.

Leutnant Hans Schneider of 1.Erg/JG2 was credited with a Blenheim shot down 12 miles north of Cherbourg at 15.10 hours on 17th July 1941 at the very same time that Blenheim P4832 was in the area. P4832 was seen with one engine on fire before it ditched in the sea about 15 miles north of Cherbourg by Spitfire Pilots of 118 Sqn. It was the only Blenheim lost that day in NW Europe that was not on a training flight. I have the testimony from Howard-Williams of 118 Sqn to say that he later saw the crew on the wing in the water.

F/Lt Rayment was being directed in his task by F/Lt Len Pittendrigh, and although he says in letters I have that the pilot was distracted by something on the water, like an escaped barrage balloon and radioed to say he was investigating it, all contact was lost after this. The CHL station at Worth later confirmed two unidentified tracks in the area (possibly the two Bf109s from 1.Erg/JG2).

In view of the ditching it's fair to say they two men later drowned or died of exposure, and I bet they were washed up somewhere in France and buried as unknown.

As for the aircraft the CHL tracking of the aircraft for test purposes gave a fairly accurate position for it but nothing has ever been found or a search contemplated.

[VoyTech]

There were certainly cases of aircrew bodies being found (and identified) after 6 months in the Channel.

As regards the RAF style dog-tags I don't think they were invariably worn attached to the body by aircrew. I recall a memoir of a Wellington navigator who said he never put them on, and they spent his entire career safely in his wallet. I guess if he ended up in the drink (which he, fortunately, didn't) they were quite likely to land at the bottom of the sea, still in the safety of his wallet.