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Sgt H. J. Fitz 564624
H. J. Fitz 564624 January 1931 arrived at RAF Cranwell as the 3D (23rd) Entry to train as Instrument Makers or Wireless Operator Mechanics.
Pass Out in December 1933. Force landing of Whitley P4971 23 June 1940 Shire Bridge Farm NG23 5EA Long Bennington. The Pilot was Sgt H. J. Fitz 564624. The official cause was engine failure and unable to reach aerodrome due to low clouds & inability to climb on one engine. Sgt H. J. Fitz was uninjured. Those 2 entries are the same service number but when I did a google search of his name this also came up. 12th March 1953 two routine NATO liaison sorties Lincoln ‘C’ (RF531) captained by FS TJ Dunnell with Sqn Ldr H J Fitz, the new CO of 3 Sqn along for a familiarisation sortie as co-pilot. At 13.20hrs, as the aircraft was entering the 20-mile wide air corridor from Hamburg to Berlin, it was attacked by 2 MIG 15’s that opened fire without warning. The Lincoln went down in a steep dive, followed by the MIG’s who continued to pour fire into the crippled aircraft. The aircraft’s starboard wing caught fire and it began to break up in mid-air. The main body of the aircraft crashed into a wood near Bolzenburg, 3 miles inside the Russian Zone, with 4 of the crew still in the wreckage. The remainder of the aircraft fell to ground near Bleckede, on the edge of Luneburg Heath 15 miles SE of Hamburg, inside the British Zone. Three of the crew managed to bail out of the doomed plane, but one of the parachutes failed to open. The 2 other crewmembers landed (one in the British Zone) but both died of their wounds and other injuries. A number of German eyewitnesses confirmed that MIG’s had been responsible for the attack on the aircraft and suggested that one of the fighters had also attacked the descending parachutists – this would explain certain features of the medical reports on the deceased. Can anybody confirm if this is the same man ?
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2nd July 2015, 11:38
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