RN WW2 Hellcat wreckage found by grandson on Norwegian mountainside
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Rockytop, Tennessee, USA
Posts: 5,898
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
RN WW2 Hellcat wreckage found by grandson on Norwegian mountainside
WW2 wreckage found by grandson on Norwegian mountainside
The grandson of a World War Two fighter pilot has journeyed to the wreckage of the plane in which his grandfather died.
Royal Navy Commander Phil Richardson, from Hampshire, found the plane in Norway after footage of the site was posted on YouTube.
His grandfather Lt Cdr Ron Richardson died in a crash after his plane was hit during a daring raid on a German warship.
Flying his Grumman Hellcat Fighter Bomber, Lt Cdr Richardson's mission was to attack the battleship Tirpitz, the pride of the German Navy, that was mounting attacks on the Arctic convoys.
Royal Navy Commander Phil Richardson, from Hampshire, found the plane in Norway after footage of the site was posted on YouTube.
His grandfather Lt Cdr Ron Richardson died in a crash after his plane was hit during a daring raid on a German warship.
Flying his Grumman Hellcat Fighter Bomber, Lt Cdr Richardson's mission was to attack the battleship Tirpitz, the pride of the German Navy, that was mounting attacks on the Arctic convoys.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-46922010/ww2-wreckage-found-by-grandson-on-norwegian-mountainside
Naval officer spots crash site of grandfather's missing Second World War plane on YouTube
The grandson of a British Second World War pilot has tracked down the wreckage of his grandfather’s plane on the Norwegian mountainside after footage of the crash site emerged on YouTube.
The grandson of a British Second World War pilot has tracked down the wreckage of his grandfather’s plane on the Norwegian mountainside after footage of the crash site emerged on YouTube.
Royal Navy Commander Phil Richardson, from Hampshire, journeyed to Norway to locate the remains of the Flying Grumman Hellcat Fighter Bomber, which was hit during a daring raid on a German warship.
His grandfather Lt Cdr Ron Richardson was 27-years-old when he was sent on a mission to attack the battleship Tirpitz, the pride of the German Navy, that was mounting attacks on the Arctic convoys.
Although he was pronounced dead during the war, the wreckage of his hellcat fighter remained unknown up until now.
It was only after footage which identified a crash site 3,000ft up a remote mountain appeared on YouTube that Mr Richardson was able to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the aircraft's landing point.
A spell of warm weather also helped to expose the site, situated in a secluded area 500km inside the Arctic Circle.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/21/grandson-british-ww2-pilot-tracks-wreckage-grandfathers-plane/
Shame they didn't identify the date Lt.Cdr Richardson was KIA, and whether it was the single Hellcat lost during Op Tungsten in April '44, or one of the ones lost during one of the 3 x Op Goodwood attacks in August '44?
When a school boy, our next door neighbour had served in the RN all through the war on MTB's, and went with them when they moved from the Med up to Norway at the end of the war, and he had a photo of himself taken standing on the upturned hull of the mighty Tirpitz, and for years he had a small piece of it sitting on a shelf in his garage!
When a school boy, our next door neighbour had served in the RN all through the war on MTB's, and went with them when they moved from the Med up to Norway at the end of the war, and he had a photo of himself taken standing on the upturned hull of the mighty Tirpitz, and for years he had a small piece of it sitting on a shelf in his garage!
.......and if you go to Tromso you can go to the site of the Tirpitz sinking. ( or rather the capsizing) There is a small private museum and at the site you can still see some craters left by the Tallboys and the remains of the staging used during the dismantling of the wreck.
The site is just a couple of miles from Tromso.
The site is just a couple of miles from Tromso.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Somewhere flat
Age: 68
Posts: 5,560
Likes: 0
Received 45 Likes
on
30 Posts
Shame they didn't identify the date Lt.Cdr Richardson was KIA.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,891
Received 2,829 Likes
on
1,207 Posts
.......and if you go to Tromso you can go to the site of the Tirpitz sinking. ( or rather the capsizing) There is a small private museum and at the site you can still see some craters left by the Tallboys and the remains of the staging used during the dismantling of the wreck.
The site is just a couple of miles from Tromso.
The site is just a couple of miles from Tromso.
https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/201...ncaster-nf920/
