In the late afternoon of September 6, 1943, the Spitfire of Squadron Leader Johnny Checketts (EN572) crashed into flames before the eyes of André Bonvarlet who was working with horses in his field at Aigneville.
He saw the pilot bail-out and open his parachute. He landed in the open plain near Tours-en-Vimeu, near the Feuquières road, leading to a place called Le Gros Borne. The open location offers no hiding place and, nearby, farm workers watched as they loaded a cart with hay. They saw a cyclist, 19-year-old Robert Desgardin, approaching the pilot.
Desgardin said they must act very quickly because German soldiers were stationed in the vicinity. Indeed, a Commandant had his headquarters at the Mabille Castle in Aigneville, and a garrison of soldiers was located at the nearby village of Acheux-en-Vimeu, just four kilometres from where the pilot had landed.
Robert Desgardin did not hesitate, with the wounded and burnt pilot sat precariously upon the luggage carrier of Desgardin’s bicycle, they set off downhill towards Tours en Vimeu, looking for a hiding place. Initially, to keep the pilot from German eyes, he took Checketts to Corroy Wood on the right of the road from Feuquières to Tours en Vimeu. Although the hiding place was a simple bush, it was unlikely to be discovered. The heroic cyclist then continued on alone to find his uncle, Edouard Deloziere, and told him what had happened.