Spitfire crash landing in Scotland WW11
Thread Starter
No, definitley very wordly !
During my conversation with the newspaper guy today this name came up as a side issue.
Can you give me more info on that please ?
We now have a 90 yr old who remembers an aircraft, not a wreck being removed from the exact location. It was transported by a large RAF truck.
Further enquiries are being made to establish if he can remember the type
Thanks
El G
During my conversation with the newspaper guy today this name came up as a side issue.
Can you give me more info on that please ?
We now have a 90 yr old who remembers an aircraft, not a wreck being removed from the exact location. It was transported by a large RAF truck.
Further enquiries are being made to establish if he can remember the type
Thanks
El G
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Read the thread with interest and fascination as a Northumbrian not too far away...
Is this your man? Had a scan of my US Genealogical records and find only one match (with middle initial) in California although a couple of much earlier with same name but obviously not him due to dates of death....
Name: Harold A. Raasch SSN: 398-14-7517 Last Residence: 95472 Sebastopol, Sonoma, California, United States of America Born: 21 Feb 1924 Died: 20 Feb 2000 State (Year) SSN issued: Wisconsin (Before 1951)
I have PM'd you some further corroborative information and think he has a son in California if this is yer man. PM me if you need any data or US records....
Is this your man? Had a scan of my US Genealogical records and find only one match (with middle initial) in California although a couple of much earlier with same name but obviously not him due to dates of death....
Name: Harold A. Raasch SSN: 398-14-7517 Last Residence: 95472 Sebastopol, Sonoma, California, United States of America Born: 21 Feb 1924 Died: 20 Feb 2000 State (Year) SSN issued: Wisconsin (Before 1951)
I have PM'd you some further corroborative information and think he has a son in California if this is yer man. PM me if you need any data or US records....
Last edited by andrewmcharlton; 23rd Jan 2012 at 23:09.
Thread Starter
Thanks for your efforts amc.
The lady at the B+B received notification of his death in 1990 however.
Although he signed into the B+B in 1948 with this address :-
834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California.
He did say to me that he was Canadian.
Please keep digging if you can !
Thanks
El Grifo
The lady at the B+B received notification of his death in 1990 however.
Although he signed into the B+B in 1948 with this address :-
834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California.
He did say to me that he was Canadian.
Please keep digging if you can !
Thanks
El Grifo
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El Grifo,
I read it as "in the 90's" which might have been a close match especially as this guys matching military enlistment papers show him as joining the air corps, check your pm's.
Wisconsin also is bang on the Canadian border, no other obvious birth death or marriage hits thus far but I will keep checking.
Good hunting
AMC
I read it as "in the 90's" which might have been a close match especially as this guys matching military enlistment papers show him as joining the air corps, check your pm's.
Wisconsin also is bang on the Canadian border, no other obvious birth death or marriage hits thus far but I will keep checking.
Good hunting
AMC
Thread Starter
Just received this from Selkirk.
It relates to the 90 year old who knew about the 2 local crashes :-
Bugger !
Hurricane flown by a Norwegian vs a Spitfire flown by a tall Canadian !
Both supposed to have happened in the same location.
One wonders if memories are playing tricks on whatever side !
It relates to the 90 year old who knew about the 2 local crashes :-
He witnessed both the Beaufighter crash which he says was at Dryden and what he said was a Hurricane flown by a Norwegian that crashed at Headshaw.
At this rate half the RAF's wartime losses are going to be listed as happening in the Selkirk area!!!
At this rate half the RAF's wartime losses are going to be listed as happening in the Selkirk area!!!
Hurricane flown by a Norwegian vs a Spitfire flown by a tall Canadian !
Both supposed to have happened in the same location.
One wonders if memories are playing tricks on whatever side !
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I think that Harold A Raasch was groundcrew for 40 squadron, 6th bomber group and spent some time in a POW camp.
At this POW camp he met the pilot of the crash landed aircraft. They developed a lasting friendship due to some act of kindess or life saving action.
The pilot relates the crashlanding to Raasch and some significance to this event is implied.
After the war, the pilot died and Raasch travels annually to the crash site in remembrance of the pilot and their war experience.
Raasch found it easier to say that he was the pilot and thus not have a long emotional story to tell. On his visit to El Grifo he finds out that the whole town is abuzz with his story and would rather discretely withdraw.
At this POW camp he met the pilot of the crash landed aircraft. They developed a lasting friendship due to some act of kindess or life saving action.
The pilot relates the crashlanding to Raasch and some significance to this event is implied.
After the war, the pilot died and Raasch travels annually to the crash site in remembrance of the pilot and their war experience.
Raasch found it easier to say that he was the pilot and thus not have a long emotional story to tell. On his visit to El Grifo he finds out that the whole town is abuzz with his story and would rather discretely withdraw.
Thread Starter
I think we may be getting somewhere nearer the truth.
I never said before, but the firm impression I got was that there was an element of deceit or shame involved.
I have expressed this to one or two in pm's, not really wanting to air it publically.
At the time, without any knowledge on anything which has turned up here. I reckoned he had panicked and run from a fight, flown North till his fuel ran out.
Why would I think this ? Hard to tell, just an impression that is all.Something did not sit right
Now we can find no records. We have a Mosquito, a Beaufighter and maybe a Hurricane all coming down within a very few miles of each other, but no Spitfire and no Canadian.
Having got that out in the open can anyone guide us on a clearer track.
Here are a couple of quotes from people who have contacted the newspapers :-
And unrelated to this incident probably:-
I never said before, but the firm impression I got was that there was an element of deceit or shame involved.
I have expressed this to one or two in pm's, not really wanting to air it publically.
At the time, without any knowledge on anything which has turned up here. I reckoned he had panicked and run from a fight, flown North till his fuel ran out.
Why would I think this ? Hard to tell, just an impression that is all.Something did not sit right
Now we can find no records. We have a Mosquito, a Beaufighter and maybe a Hurricane all coming down within a very few miles of each other, but no Spitfire and no Canadian.
Having got that out in the open can anyone guide us on a clearer track.
Here are a couple of quotes from people who have contacted the newspapers :-
Interesting side point is that the RCAF's 404 Sqn was equipped with Beaufighters and was still based in Morayshire in 1945
read with interest your article dated 19 January which brought to mind an incident which occurred in the area in 1940/41.
My family was evacuated from Edinburgh to stay in Kirklea and one afternoon whilst returning there from Ashkirk school my younger brother and
I heard the sound of a low flying aircraft followed by a loud explosion and flames which
shot up over the crest of the hill lying north of the road near to Aleneuk poultry farm.
Being curious 8 and 10 year olds we ran over the hill until we reached the site.This was
more a crash than a crash landing.There was smoking, burning debris spread over a wide area. No -one could have stepped out alive.
Our intention to investigate further and to collect a memento was foiled by a local worker
who chased us away.
Later news confirmed that it was a british plane and that the pilot was unhurt.
In that case he must have baled out earlier.
My family was evacuated from Edinburgh to stay in Kirklea and one afternoon whilst returning there from Ashkirk school my younger brother and
I heard the sound of a low flying aircraft followed by a loud explosion and flames which
shot up over the crest of the hill lying north of the road near to Aleneuk poultry farm.
Being curious 8 and 10 year olds we ran over the hill until we reached the site.This was
more a crash than a crash landing.There was smoking, burning debris spread over a wide area. No -one could have stepped out alive.
Our intention to investigate further and to collect a memento was foiled by a local worker
who chased us away.
Later news confirmed that it was a british plane and that the pilot was unhurt.
In that case he must have baled out earlier.
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I'd suggest that he'd be far more familiar with the aircraft type he was flying than any other detail if he were "kosher"... Since there is no record of a crash and making the assumption for the moment that he's telling the truth, (since that's been deemed possible), he'd have to have "landed" the airframe such that it wasn't badly enough damaged for it to be called a crash. That's a tall order unless he did it wheels down in a field.
Does the terrain in the vicinity he claims to have come down in allow for such an "arrival"?
Does the terrain in the vicinity he claims to have come down in allow for such an "arrival"?
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So... For the engineers here...
Assuming a near perfect belly landing on soft, slippery ground, what Cat could you expect to get away with on a Spitfire?
The reason for the question is that if the Cat were low enough it might not be reported as a crash.
Assuming a near perfect belly landing on soft, slippery ground, what Cat could you expect to get away with on a Spitfire?
The reason for the question is that if the Cat were low enough it might not be reported as a crash.
Thread Starter
Suspicions notwithstanding, it has to be remembered that his daughter in the US (or Canada) was well aware of his visits and the reason for these visits.
She was the one who called the landlady of the B+B in 1990 to advise of the death of Harold A Raasch.
We have written to the address in the US supplied by the fellow on his original visit in 1984. Whether we will get any form of reply is anyones guess.
Can anyone out there help to check 834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California ?
She was the one who called the landlady of the B+B in 1990 to advise of the death of Harold A Raasch.
We have written to the address in the US supplied by the fellow on his original visit in 1984. Whether we will get any form of reply is anyones guess.
Can anyone out there help to check 834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California ?
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And putting it into Reverse Address finder shows that it is the Griffiths that live there now.
Free People Search | WhitePages
People Finder shows a Harold A Raasch still living in Sunnyvale - with a 61 year old relative (could this be a Grandson?)
Search Results - PeopleFinders.com
Free People Search | WhitePages
People Finder shows a Harold A Raasch still living in Sunnyvale - with a 61 year old relative (could this be a Grandson?)
Search Results - PeopleFinders.com
Last edited by footpad6; 25th Jan 2012 at 20:04. Reason: Additional info
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Google Maps
Sorry, I tried to make a fancy one-word hyperlink and I think I failed but this should be the address:
834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California, United States - Google Maps
Edited: It worked!!!
834 Dartshire Way, Sunnyvale, California, United States - Google Maps
Edited: It worked!!!
Last edited by Aerials; 25th Jan 2012 at 20:13. Reason: Glee!