SPITFIRE Mk Vb EN 908 OF LUCHEUX

On November 26, 1943, between 11:45 and 12:45, during the Ramrod 336/II mission, 12 Spitfire Mk Vb of 402 Squadron and 11 Spitfire Mk Vb of 416 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) escorted B-26s on a bombing operation over Cambrai-Epinoy airfield. 

On return from the mission, following a mechanical incident resulting from the fight with FW190s during which the glycol tank was probably hit by a bullet and started to leak, F/Sgt Harry Dubnick, pilot of Spitfire EN908 of 416 Squadron RCAF, warned his teammates that he was going to try to crash-land.

Unfortunately, the Spitfire, which still had too much speed or was still a bit high, did not manage to land before the 220-hectare Watron Wood, but crashed at the entrance to the wood, which is located between Mondicourt and Lucheux, east of Doullens. The pilot jumped too low and killed himself, he was found 100m from the crash. Pierre Lefèvre was the witness.

The pilot :

This Spitfire Supermarine was built at the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory (CBAF) near Birmingham in 1942.

The Spitfire LF Mk Vb was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 engine with an anti-G carburetor for low-level flying. Its armament consisted of two 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannons and four 7.7 mm machine guns.

It was delivered on May 13th 1942 to the 340 French Squadron "Ile de France" of the Free French Air Force.

Accidentally damaged at the beginning of 1943, repaired at Supermarine in Castle Bromwich, it was transferred on March 14, 1943 to the 411 Canadian Squadron (RCAF), then transferred again on June 12, 1943 to the 416 Squadron (RCAF).

June 12, 1943 to the Canadian 416 Squadron (RCAF), destroyed on November 26, 1943 and unearthed on April 5, 2014.

The Spitfire LF Mk lib (EN 908) has a great history. It is a veteran of the Dieppe Landing. It was coded: GW-Y. It was the plane of Captain François de Labouchère who obtained, on this one, two homologated victories on August 19, 1942, during the "Operation Jubilee".

During our research, we found the following parts: The three-blade hub in good condition with the propeller pitch control; The glycol tank (crushed) and the thermostatic valve and shielding plate protecting the tank (still attached to the hub); Pieces of the armored windshield; An engine mount bracket; Some pieces of plexiglass from the canopy; Four identification plates in good condition: A repair plate from the Castle Bromwich workshops, a plate from the compressor, a plate from the glycol tank, and the small plate from the front crankcase indicating the type "Merlin 45".

Thanks to a friend of Pierre BEN, Erin Napier, curator of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Canada, we have found the family of F/Sgt Dubnick. We are still in contact with his sister Phyllis who lives in Kamloops, British Columbia and his nieces and nephews Rod and Caron Dubnick who live in La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Harry was the second of 8 children, his father Mac and mother Ann were farmers at Lake Winnipegosis in the Great Plains of Manitoba. Parts of the Spitfire were sent to Rod and Caron, which caused great excitement in their family.

Missions of the Spitfire EN 908 at the Squadron FAFL 340 "Île de France

Information provided by M J.P. Touzeau