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Re: Dave R en Ross McN on the hunt

Posted by Dave Robinson on Mon Jul 29, 2002 10:30:58 AM

In reply top Dave R en Ross McN on the hunt posted by Cees on Mon Jul 29, 2002 08:53:43 AM

Cees,

Thanks for the link....I had all but given up on a reply as it had been so long.

Anyway....as far as I can tell I have this information so far

JP653 (F/LT Brayshaw) did indeed ditch a dymchurch but it was recovered by the RAF at the time. There is a great picture of it in Chris Thomas' and Chris Shore' book deeming it 'Subphoon'.

R7708 was recovered during the mid nineties from Pegwell Bay. I spoke with the pilots son when I was helping him locate his fathers plane and after he spoke to his father (still very much alive) it turned out that he baled out at 600ft. Only one book got this right. The parts have now been 'collected' by Peter Smith.

The only other that I knew about in the Deal area is JP390. I spoke to Jim Earnshaw at 609 Squadron and he gave me the details of this aircraft. It was the only aircraft in the squadron that had LR tanks on and it was the first Typhoon to venture over Germany. The pilot went out on his own to see what he could find and after a frustrating sortie he decided to turn back. He got hit by flak on the return and tried to make it back to the UK. An engine fire meant that he had to ditch. He suffered small burns. He passed away in the 80s and as with quite a few veterans he was not interested in the association or anything to do with the RAF. He became a taxi driver in Edinburgh. According to Peter Smith he dived JP390 in the late 70s and it was rough then....after this he said it was deemed in the way and was dragged further out and now there is something on top of it!!! Not sure about this info though.

Ross, do you know any others around the coast?

Hope this helps Cees!!!

Dave

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