the spitfire of fouencamps and the bf 109 of boves partsof the aircrafts found at the castle of thezy glimont
Ramrod 36 mission of September 6, 1943 Three simultaneous phases Attacks of the railway centersof Longueau, Abbeville and Serqueux SPITFIRE MK.IX MH442 OF 129 SQUADRON BF 109 G 6 R 6 OF 11/JG2
The story begins like this. The tailplane of a Spitfire with its tailwheel as well as a Messerschmitt 109 G fixed-wing plane had been found in the castle of Thézy-Glimont and had been offered to the association in 2017 by Mr. Henri de Thézy, current owner of the castle. His uncle, the Marquis Jean de Thézy, had found, in 1943, the tailplane of the Spitfire in the park of the castle and, at the same time, in a more distant part of the property, the fixed plane of the Me 109. Mr. Marquis Jean de Thézy, a great enthusiast of the history of the last two wars, whom we had met several times in the previous years, unfortunately could not give us more precision as for the time of the year 1943. We did not know at all the origin of these pieces at that time nor during the 4 years which followed !!!!!!! Following the testimony of Amédée de Francqueville who lived in the castle of Remiencourt, a village close to the territory of Fouencamps where he had seen the wreckage of a Spitfire, Alain Boutté decided to reopen the file of the pilot F/O J.O. Mackay (Australian pilot at 129 SQ) buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Amiens, whose crash site was totally unknown. Alain found, in the Australian archives, an investigation of the crash location made in November 1944 by the RAF. It stated that Spitfire MH 442 had crashed in the village of Fouencamps (see report below).
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Alain also found the detailed report of the loss of the pilot written by his leader relating the mission and, the ORB (Operation Record Book) of Squadron 129, to which belonged the F/O Mackay, was transmitted to us by Alexis Brument. (See doc ORB MISSION 17H17 air n° 51)
On January 18, 2022, we met Mr. Jean Foy, a witness who arrived on the spot the day of the crash. He specified us the precise place of the Spitfire, place from which he had seen very well, further on the hill, the grouping around the crash of the Messerschmitt 109 G6 of the Ofw Laufenberg. These testimonies were confirmed by Mrs Miniesky and Mr Leverve. Unfortunately, the MH 442 had little buried and today 4 houses are built on the site. This Spitfire was coded DV-W and entered new at Squadron 129 on August 14, 1943. It will have flown for 3 weeks.
When we analyze the situation well, we see that the fight that took place over Amiens is complex. Many victories were claimed by both sides (3 Spitfires claimed by the Luftwaffe and 2 German fighters by the Allies). However, there were only two crashes for this mission of bombing the Longueau train station, a Spitfire IX and a Bf 109 G 6.
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DETAILS OFTHE MISSION
Attack on the Longueau trainstation Excerpts from JP Ducellier's book
Target: Amiens Longueau railway center Target: Z 446. Somme.
Forces used:
36 B26 "Marauder" of the 323rd BG of the 8th US Air Support Command. 3 CBW.
36 B26 "Marauder" of the 322nd BG of the 8th US Air Support Command. 3 CBW.
The route: Bury St Edmunds- Dungeness - Cayeux - 13 km North of Poix - Amiens-Longueau - left turn 13km South of Abbeville - Cayeux- Dungeness.- Bury St Edmunds
7 B26s aborted - 3 of the 323rd BG + 4 of the 322nd BG - for formation and engine problems.
17h55". 65 B26 will attack this RIyC of Amiens-Longueau by dropping 384 bombs of 500 lb GB
17h55. 323rd BG: Box 1: Heading 69°, 3.300 m. 312 km/h.
Box 2: Heading 54°, 3450 m. 312 km/h.
17h56. 322nd BG: Box 1: Heading 39°. 3150 m. 304 km/h.
Box 2: Heading 54°. 3000 m 304 km/h.
4 B26 could not bomb because of a problem with the bomb bay.
Estimated result: Fair to Good.
An enemy aircraft made an attack from 9 o'clock on the leading B26 of Box I of the 323rd BG before fleeing backwards. No damage. The senior gunner of this B26 will return fire without success.
Protection: 16 RAF Spitfire Squadrons. 186 Spitfires in operation.
- Close Escort: 58 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 401 +411 + 412 + 66 + 165 of the RAF.
- Escort Cover: 50 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 302 + 317 + 64 + 313 of the RAF.
- High Cover: 26 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrons 129 + 222 of the RAF.
- Top Cover : 28 "Spitfire" IX + VII of Squadrons 303 + 316 + 124 of the RAF.
- Fighter Sweep : 24 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrons 331 +332 of the RAF. North Weald.
15 to 20 FW 190+ BF109 will be seen diving in front of the B26s and Squadron 317 will claim 1 BF 109 destroyed. The High Cover Wing saw 10 to 12 FW 190s over the Amiens area and one of the Spitfires IXs appeared to be hit by an FW 190, both aircraft being destroyed. The F/0 J.D Mackay who died will be buried in the cemetery Sain-Pierre of Amiens.
- The 28 Spitfires IX and VII of Squadron 303 + 316 + 124 orbited Amiens at 5100 m altitude, spotting 12 FW 190s diving towards the Spitfires of the High Cover below, and shortly afterwards another formation of FW 190s appeared and a dogfight ensued.
The "Spitfire" IX of Squadron 129 + 303 claimed 2 FW 190 and one BF 109 destroyed. Only one loss for the RAF.
The 24 "Spitfire" IX of the Norwegian Squadrons 331 +332 will carry out a Sweep on Lille - Amiens
8 to 12 e/a will be seen in the area of Saint-Omer but will be out of range.
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the origins of theconfusion fw/190 - BF 109
In his report, the leader clearly explains that a German fighter collided with the Spitfire of the F/O Mackay, MH 442, presumed to be for him a FW 190 (See the report of the leader below). However, this is a mistake which is quite understandable since there were more than 300 aircraft in an estimated 15km long cube. There were 186 Spitfires, 65 B26 Marauders, as well as the Luftwaffe with a large number of FW 190 A and Me 109 G fighters.
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In fact, the Messerschmitt 109 G 6 of OFw J. Laufenberg of JG 2 certainly entered in collision with the Spitfire MH 442. The Ofw Laufenberg was previously hit by the Spitfires of squadron 303 and Squadron 317. The latter claimed a victory each over a Me 109 in this "Dogfight" but in reality only one Me 109 G was shot down. The Me 109 G6 of the Ofw Laufenberg crashed on the territory of Boves near the wood of Gentelle at approximately 2 km from the Spitfire MH 442. The empennage found at Thézy-Glimont was at a distance of barely 2 km from the Spitfire and the Me109, which remains quite logical. (See map )
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MR JEAN FOY WITNESS ON SEPTEMBER 6TH 1943
Mr. Jean Foy indicating the crashsite of the spitfire he witnessed
ESTIMATED LOCATION OFTHE MH 442' S CRASH SITE
m. fOY INDICATING THE LOCATIONOF THE bf 109'S CRASH SITE
F.O J.D. MACKAY'S GRAVE inamiens (original cross)
tOMB OF OFELDW. LAUFENBERGIN BOURDON (80)
As for the two other Allied victories over FW 190s, we have also elucidated them. The fight took place between Abbeville and Amiens, still during this Ramrod 36, but this time the Allied fighters were protecting the 18 B25 "Mitchell II" that were attacking the Abbeville train station. Both victories were claimed by the Canadian pilots of Squadron 403 and 421. The two missions of this Ramrod were simultaneous, 72 Spitfires participated in the protection of the B25s. This represents a total of 341 Allied aircraft, plus the Luftwaffe fighters !!!!!!! for these two phases of the Ramrod 36 mission.
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Attack of theAbbeville station
Target: Abbeville railroad center. Target: Z 440. Somme.
Forces used : 18 B25 "Mitchell" II of Squadron 98 and 180 of Group 2 of the RAF.
The route : Dunsfold - Hastings - Abbeville - left turn - Hastings - Dunsfold.
18h 00 : release of 144 bombs of 500 pounds MC by these 18 B25 towards the railway center of Abbeville. Impacts will be observed towards the South and in the center of the railroads.
Protection : 6 Squadrons of *Spitfire" of the RAF. 72 "Spitfire" in operation.
- Close Escort : 24 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 130+234 of the RAF. West Mailing
- Escort Cover : 24 "Spitfire" XII of Squadrons 41 + 91 of the RAF. Tangmere.
- High Cover : 24 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrom 403 + 421 of the RCAF 127th airfield.
The pilots of the Close Escort report having seen a particularly successful bombing.
3 enemy planes were seen at 4800 meters altitude before entering France.
Escort Cover : According to the plan.
High Cover : 6 FW 190 will be attacked by Squadrons 403 and 421 in the region between Abbeville and Amiens
Allied claims :
2 FW 190 destroyed by F/0 Dowding and F/Lt Southwood of Squadron 403.
1FW 190 damaged by Squadron 403 and another by Squadron 421.
- FW 190 A5 Wnr 7306 - 8 brown of 6 JG26 crashed at Montagne Fayel, 12 km N-E of Poix. Its pilot, I' Uffz, Walter Berger was killed.
- FW 190 A5 Wnr 7300 - 3 brown of 6JG26 crashed near Molliens-Vidame. Its pilot Fw Adolf Jörg was killed.
About this last crash, a witness, Mr Claude Montigny, contacted Pierre BEN. He was 15 years old in 1943 and saw the FW 190 of the Uffz Walter Berger crash on the territory of Molliens Vidame, now Molliens Dreuil. The FW190 A5 crashed between Molliens Vidame and the village of Montagne Fayel.
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parts of the devicesfound AT THEzY's CASTLE
TAIL OF THE SPITFIREON thezy's castle wall
Mobile part rear tailof spitfire mh 442
SPITFIRE MH442 TAILPLANE
tailwheel "brandnew tire!!!"
INSCRIPTIONBACK PART
repair plate cbaf RIB SERIALNUMBER (movable part of the tail)
repairplate cbaf
Front view of thespitfire mh 442 tail
FIXED PLAN bf 109 ON THEWALL OF thezy'S CASTLE
bf 109's fixed plan
BF 109 tailplane and spitfiretailwheel now in the museum.
72 Marauders of the 386th and 387th BG + 12 Squadrons of Spitfire, that is 134 Spitfire V and IX.
