Missing Pilots

Missing Pilots

Although the vast majority of pilots and aircrew who gave their lives for their countries in WWII received decent burials, some remained trapped in the tangled wreckage of their 'planes. It is only now, fifty or more years on, that a few are being found by dedicated researchers. These are the stories of some men who are no longer Missing in Action.

Bf109G-5 Wn. 27107 4/(F)123 Ecretteville-les-Baons, France

Uffz Herbert Blockberger

Presumably shot down by fighters, this aircraft dived steeply into the ground in the path of the Allied invasion of France. Not surprisingly it was not recovered and neither was the body of the pilot. A small group of British enthusiasts were helped by a Frenchman, who knew of the wreck, to locate and recover the complete airframe and the remains of the pilot who’s identity was at first unknown. Fortunately sufficient evidence was found to identify him as Uffz Herbert Blockberger. The body was passed to the French authorities and subsequently to the German War Graves Commission. Uffz Herbert Blockberger will at last find a final resting place and burial with full militia honours. The relatives have been contacted and sent a note thanking the recovery team for their efforts in locating Herbert after 50 years.

Sergeant Dennis Noble. Hurricane P3179, 43 Squadron

This Hurricane was shot down during the Battle of Britain on 30 August 1940 and crashed in a street in Hove, Sussex. As essential services were severed at the time great importance was placed on repairing the road so a very perfunctory recovery of the body was made and sadly little of *Dennis Noble's body was buried in the coffin. In a radio interview a relative said that the coffin was rumoured to be full of bricks to make up the weight. Local legend also had it that the majority of the body remained under the pavement. Perhaps this was one reason that the wreck had not been recovered earlier as it would cause much embarrassment and distress if further remains of an already buried airman were to be recovered. Eventually, however, one of the new enthusiasts gained permission from the local for the excavation and, amongst much publicity, attempted the excavation. A short while into the dig the pilot’s parachute was unearthed followed by what the coroner described as ‘a substantial portion’ of the body. An inquest concluded that the further remains were of those of Sergeant D. Noble His relatives are now demanding that his original grave be exhumed and its contents be examined.

Sergeant J. S. Gilders, Spitfire P7816, 41 Squadron

Sergeant Gilders died in his Spitfire on 21 February 1941. The crash site at Chilham in Kent had been known of for many years, but the land owner knew that the remains of its pilot were still buried with the wreck and refused anyone permission excavate it. It was believed to have been the aircraft of Sergeant Gilders, who has no known grave and is listed as missing believed killed.

Recently the farm had been sold and with the consent of the relatives of Sergeant Gilders, Mark Kirby, a Kent based historian, approached the new owner with a view identifying the pilot. The new farmer had a fresh outlook on the possibility of there being a body in an unmarked grave, in a field that he ploughed twice a year, and wanted the matter investigated. An approach was therefore made to the MoD asking them to send and RAF recovery team to investigate the site. This was refused as there was no evidence that this was the grave of Sergeant Gilders, or that remains would be found. Permission for a recovery attempt by anyone else was also denied as there was a possibility that human remains could be found! Mark Kirby therefore carried out the excavation in the full knowledge that he was in breach of Protection of Military Remains Act, which had, until then, never been used.

When, as predicted, human remains were unearthed the local Police were informed and attended the site, taking possession of the pilot's remains. Mark Kirby was charged under the Protection of Military Remains Act. In court he pleaded guilty, but was given an absolute discharge by the court as he was carrying out the wishes of the pilot's family.

Sergeant Stanislaw Duszynski. Hurricane R2682, 238 Squadron

Hurricane R2682 was shot down and crashed near Lydd in Kent on 11 September 1940. The pilot's was not recovered at the time. This crash site had been excavated in the late 1973 and it was rumoured that significant human remains had been discovered before the recovery stopped as the wreckage was too deeply buried in the soft ground. Mark Kirby, was able to trace Duszynski's relatives in Poland and asked their permission for him to attempt to recover his body as he was still listed as having no known grave. Armed with this and the land owner’s consent the dig took place without MoD knowledge or permission. Despite the rumours that there had been a body in the wreck no human remains were found and very little of the aircraft. The wreck had clearly been fully excavated at some time in the past. Immediately following the excavation Mark Kirby was charged under the Protection of Military Remains Act. During the preparation of his defence case it became clear that a team from RAF had excavated the site shortly after the original excavation. Human remains had been found together with the wreck of the aircraft, but they were unable to identify the remains which were buried as those of unknown airman. Following the disclosure of these facts to the prosecution the MoD decided to drop the charges brought against Mr Kirby.

Unfortunately, the intervention of the RAF and the destruction of the remains means that Stanislaw Duszynski will now never have a marked grave.

Lancaster ME473, 207 Squadron RAF, 2 March 1945

Flight Lieutenant Edward McMaster was piloting his Lancaster on a night-fighter affiliation exercise over Lincolnshire, but as he began his first manoeuvre his bomber collided in the darkness with another aircraft. Two Lancasters and sixteen men crashed into the fenland near Ruskington, nobody had time to parachute and all were killed. The RAF recovery team began their task of recovering and identifying the bodies of the airmen over the next few days, but they were unable to identify two of the crew of ME473. Sergeant Banks, the gunner and Flight Sergeant Henderson, the bomb aimer, were unaccounted for and were listed as ‘missing, believed killed’. The Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group obtained a Licence from the MoD to recover the other Lancaster involved in the incident (ND572 of 57 Squadron) and began their excavation in August 1995. When five feet down human remains and clothing were found among the wreckage and the police were called. A wallet was among the items found with the name Robert Banks, the rear gunner of ME473. It was clear that due to an error in records the two crash sites had become confused. More significantly there was a possibility that the body of Arthur Henderson could still be buried on the site as he to was listed as missing. After much negotiation with the MoD the excavation was allowed to continue, but no sign of Henderson could be found. The question now was, ‘what happened to Henderson?’

Further research revealed that 7 out of the 8 men on board the plane had been buried after the crash, but one grave was marked simply as ‘an unknown airman’. If Banks had now been identified, it could only mean that the body in the unknown grave was that that of Flight Sergeant Henderson.

Sergeant Banks was buried with full military honours in October 1996 and the headstone on the unknown airman will be amended.

Spitfire MKIX MK453, 91 Squadron RAF, 28 October 1944

The remains of an RAF Squadron Leader have been unearthed from with the wreckage of his Spitfire near Maldegem, Belgium. He has been identified as Squadron Leader George Reid, a Canadian flying with 91 Squadron from Biggin Hill. He was last seen flying at 200 feet in cloud and is believed to have crashed into a bank of a ditch.

P-51B, 43-7157, 435th FS, 479th FG, 12 December 1944

The body of Second Lieutenant Robert B Hymans has been recovered from mud flats off the Essex coast, England. The dig was carried out with the assistance of the American authorities. Initial identification came from serial numbers on the machineguns. Hymans had been flying from Wattisham on a training flight to 21,000 feet when he went missing at 12.00 hours. During the course of the recovery an excavator on hire from the British Army became stuck in the mud and was abandoned to the incoming tide. It is believed that the digger will be blown up as a hazard to shipping!!

Hudson, 161 Squadron RAF, 6 July 1944

On 21 July 1997 a Hudson was excavated at Kornwerderzand (Friesland), Holland, near the IJsselmeer. The Hudson, from 161 Squadron took off on 6 July 1944 at 0150 from Tempsford, and crashed at Kornwerderzand, it is not known why the aircraft crashed. The crew was:

F/L J.W. Menzies, Pilot, missing
F/O K.R. Bunney, Navigator, killed
Sgt E.R. Elliot, Airgunner, killed
Sgt D.J. Withers, W/T, killed

Also on board were four Dutch passengers presumed to be agents, who probably had to set up a Dutch resistance group in the Friesland area:

Kwint
Verhoef
Walter
Bockma

The remains of the crew and the Dutch “agents” where found, as they excavated a large part of the aircraft in the autumn of 1945. This year they located the cockpit part of the aircraft, with what is believed to be the remains of Flight Lieutenant Menzies in it.

Nothing unusually about this crash this far, but the strange thing is that one of the passengers had a gun shot wound in his head. What happened during that flight before the aircraft crashed? Was
he executed by one of his passengers?

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