Hijack by RAF personnel

[ShotOne]

I've read of an Italian seaplane hijacked by British (RAF ?) escaping POW's during WWII and flown to Malta. Did this actually happen and anyone have more details?

[ian16th]

I have vague memories of reading about it. There must be some truth, no doubt some Prune type will know all.

[goudie]

All is revealed here

BBC - WW2 People's War - The World's First Air Hijack! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/43/a2040643.shtml)

[Sun Who]

CANT Z.506 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANT_Z.506)

A Cant 506 became famous, among the Allies, because it was the only plane hijacked by prisoners of war on the Western Front (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_%28World_War_II%29) (it was then used by the RAF from Malta).Sun.

[uncle peter]

My mistake, I thought this was a thread about the fast jet wg cdr who ordered his ground crew to stage a sit in on our tanker to stop us leaving his jets to stage through the US.

Quick call from the arc to aoc2 and us threatening to take the ground crew with us remedied the situation.

[OldAgeandTreachery]

Uncle Peter

Do tell us more. If you can or are allowed.

[racedo]

So wasn't about person who alledgedly removed an aircraft to Israel.....

[ShotOne]

Great link, thanks. So it did happen, and almost shot down by spitfires to round off a perfect day!

I've since found some more; some impatient demobbed French servicemen nicked one to get back home to Algeria and a Russian POW pilot led an escape and stole a German heinkel to return to the Soviet Union. Where he was of course imprisoned as a traitor for surrendering in the first place. He was eventually released about seven years after the war finished. Only the commies!

[N2erk]

I'm sure I read the seaplane story in RAF Flying Review in the 60's. Found the story of the He111 flying Soviet pilot, Michael Devyatayev in Flying Review March '61- BTW after jail, he was awarded medals in 1957 or so for the exploit!
Still combing the archives for the seaplane story.

[Agaricus bisporus]

From Wiki, of course. World's first hijack eh? Well, the BBC never was one to let facts get in the way of a good headline...

The first recorded aircraft hijack took place on February 21, 1931, in Arequipa, Peru. Byron Rickards, flying a Ford Tri-Motor, was approached on the ground by armed revolutionaries. He refused to fly them anywhere and after a 10-day standoff Rickards was informed that the revolution was successful and he could go in return for giving one group member a lift to Lima. [3]
In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram daily newspaper (morning edition) 19 September 1970, J. Howard "Doc" DeCelles states that he was actually the victim of the first skyjacking in December 1929. He was flying a postal route for the Mexican company Transportes Aeras Transcontinentales, ferrying mail from San Luis Potosí to Toreon and then on to Guadalajara. "Doc" was approached by Gen. Saturnino Cedillo, governor of the state of San Luis Potosí and one of the last remaining lieutenants of Pancho Villa. Cedillo was accompanied by several other men. He was told through an interpreter he had no choice in the matter. "Doc" stalled long enough to convey the information to his boss, who told him to cooperate. He had no maps, but was guided by the men as he flew above Mexican mountains. He landed on a road as directed, and was held captive for several hours under armed guard. He eventually was released with a "Buenos" from Cedillo and his staff. DeCelles kept his flight log, according to the article, but he did not file a report with authorities. "Doc" went on to work for the FAA in Fort Worth after his flying career.[citation needed]
The world's first fatal hijacking occurred on 28 October 1939. Earnest P. “Larry” Pletch shot Carl Bivens, 39, a flight instructor who was offering Pletch lessons in a yellow Taylor Cub monoplane with tandem controls in the air after taking off in Brookfield, Missouri. Bivens, instructing from the front seat, was shot in the back of the head twice. “Carl was telling me I had a natural ability and I should follow that line,” Pletch later confessed to prosecutors in Missouri. "I had a revolver in my pocket and without saying a word to him, I took it out of my overalls and I fired a bullet into the back of his head. He never knew what struck him." The Chicago Daily Tribune called it “One of the most spectacular crimes of the 20th century, and what is believed to be the first airplane kidnap murder on record.”

[Ivor Fynn]

Shot one,

The Rad Op/Nav on the Malta hijack was a gentleman called Sqn Ldr Bill Dunsmore, he was a friend of my fathers after the war. I met him as a child on several occasions and he was a top bloke, I can't remember wether he was awarded his first DFC for the Malta event or wether it was a Bar to his DFC. Bill died a good few years ago. He was well known within the Merseyside Wing, Air Training Corps, where he would regularly pitch up to talk to the cadets with one or other of his 'chums' including on one occasion Bader. I only really became aware of the whole story when I was in the RAF, I think the best account of the story was in the Readers Digest. He also did a bit of time as a POW but escaped on at least one occasion.

He was a real character and as usual I didn't really comprehend his stories until I was older. I would love to have sat down with him and talked when I was in the RAF but sadly I missed the opportunity.

Ivor

[SPIT]

Hi
I was in M/Side Wing of the ATC as an Adult WO and I spoke to Bill Dunsmore about this and I can assure it is true and when he was live he had some photo's of the A/c he hijacked band his crew, but since he passed away I don't know what happened to them ??? :ok::ok: