WIX Archives
Re: "Czech Defector and The Berlin Hurricane"
Posted by Paul McMillan on Sat Jan 05, 2002 08:14:33 AM
In reply top "Czech Defector and The Berlin Hurricane" posted by Mick on Fri Jan 04, 2002 02:33:54 PM
Mick Thanks
I will be posting on TOCH and Czech RAF pages
http://cz-raf.hyperlink.cz/index.html (very good site!")
Paul
: 'Ere Ya Go Paul....letter from Flypast.
:
: A photo in the Dec 2001 Flypast has prompted me to write t
: o you as it seems to answer a long-time question of mine.
: Many years ago when I was chairman of the North East Aircr
: aft Museum, I was told by a member of the Sunderland Flyin
: g Club that he had been researching the history of Usworth
: Airfield. The story goes the Hurricane pilot, who was a C
: zech, defected in his aircraft to Germany.
: The Germans put him to work as a mole inside a POW camp to
: inform on any escape attempts. It seems that he was found
: out and the Germans had to get him out quickly before he
: was lynched. After the war ended, the story went on, he wa
: s arrested and tried by his own countrymen, found guilty a
: nd executed.
: For a long time now I have been researching aircrashes in
: the north of England, and in that process 55 OTU's tenure
: at Usworth was part of this. An entry in 55 OTU's log was
: as follows "Hurricane W9147 crashed in the sea off Sunderl
: and on Sept 18th, 1941, the pilot 787344 Sgt A. Preucil (C
: zech) missing." This seemed to tie in with the story I had
: been told.
: I tried to find out if the story was true, but had been un
: successful - until the photo in Flypast poops up showing W
: 9147 in the Berlin Museum, obviously having suffered a cra
: sh landing.
: Preucil was involved in a previous incident when flying Hu
: rricane V7608. He mis-handled the fuel system, causing the
: engine to cut, and crash landed the aircraft at Houghton-
: le-Spring, Durham, on July 27th 1941.
: Now whether he got what in RAF parlance is a "good bollock
: ing", I do not know, but perhaps this is part of the reaso
: n he became bitter and decided to defect.
: I would be grateful to know if anyone knows anything that
: may prove or dis-prove the story.
:
: Jim Rutland
: Houghton-le Spring, Durham.
:
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
:
: Interesting story.
: I wonder if Our Man In Germany would know anything Tony ?
:
: Cheers
: Mick
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