VfrpilotPB/2
28th Oct 2008, 19:51
I dont know if anyone will be interested in this little story but... On the 17th of October 1941 my Uncle ( my fathers brother) was killed flying a Curtiss P41 Tomahawk, the aircraft crashed into the end of a terrace of houses in Bolton Lancashire, my uncle was pulled alive from the wreck by some very brave people and two or three teenage boys, he was taken to the Bolton Royal infirmary where sadly he died that same day from his injuries, apart from shock and the loss of the 5 houses that were wrecked during the crash no other injuries were caused.
My Uncle was a Serjeant Pilot operating from RAF Sealand, where I am told they received the lend lease A/C from the USA via Liverpool docks , put them together and after an air test the A/C were flown out to whatever theatre they would be operating from, my Uncle was testing one on the day of his crash, he had flown out over Liverpool bay seemingly as far as the preston area, then turned inland flew over Bolton and was heading back when he had his incident, now at this point it seems just one of those things, but after my father died I was left with loads of family papers and amongst them were letters written by my Uncle, and it seems that he was due to start ferrying A/C overseas to any destination that the Allies were operating from, in fact as a pilot I can feel exactly what he is trying to say in his letters to my father writing about the exilleration he felt at flying all these "Modern Fighters" and how they will turn on a "Sixpence", it was said at an inquiry later that he was Flying to low, and was getting involved in manouveres that he should not have been doing, well quite possibly he did, however what is very sad though is the fact that wife of only a few months was within two miles of his place of death.
It took me nearly 20 years to locate his place of burial, his grave was unmarked and very overgrown, but after spending many hours on the telephone and writing letters, the Commonwealth War Grave Commision has finally supplied and erected a headstone with my Uncles details on, I never knew my Uncle, but after laying the poppies at his headstone this year for the first time, I promised he would not be forgotten, our family are indebted to the good people from the War Graves Commision, thank you!
Peter R-B
Vfr
My Uncle was a Serjeant Pilot operating from RAF Sealand, where I am told they received the lend lease A/C from the USA via Liverpool docks , put them together and after an air test the A/C were flown out to whatever theatre they would be operating from, my Uncle was testing one on the day of his crash, he had flown out over Liverpool bay seemingly as far as the preston area, then turned inland flew over Bolton and was heading back when he had his incident, now at this point it seems just one of those things, but after my father died I was left with loads of family papers and amongst them were letters written by my Uncle, and it seems that he was due to start ferrying A/C overseas to any destination that the Allies were operating from, in fact as a pilot I can feel exactly what he is trying to say in his letters to my father writing about the exilleration he felt at flying all these "Modern Fighters" and how they will turn on a "Sixpence", it was said at an inquiry later that he was Flying to low, and was getting involved in manouveres that he should not have been doing, well quite possibly he did, however what is very sad though is the fact that wife of only a few months was within two miles of his place of death.
It took me nearly 20 years to locate his place of burial, his grave was unmarked and very overgrown, but after spending many hours on the telephone and writing letters, the Commonwealth War Grave Commision has finally supplied and erected a headstone with my Uncles details on, I never knew my Uncle, but after laying the poppies at his headstone this year for the first time, I promised he would not be forgotten, our family are indebted to the good people from the War Graves Commision, thank you!
Peter R-B
Vfr