The Spitfire of Fouencamps and the BF 109 of Boves

Spare parts found at the Thézy-Glimont castle

Ramrod 36 mission, September 6, 1943

Three simultaneous phases

Attacks of the railway centers of Longueau, Abbeville and Serqueux

SPITFIRE MK.IX MH442 OF 129 SQUADRON

BF 109 G 6 R 6 OF 11/JG2

The story begins like this. The tailplane of a Spitfire with its tailwheel as well as a Messerschmitt 109 G fixed-wing plane had been found in the castle of Thézy-Glimont and had been offered to the association in 2017 by Mr. Henri de Thézy, current owner of the castle. His uncle, the Marquis Jean de Thézy, had found, in 1943, the tailplane of the Spitfire in the park of the castle and, at the same time, in a more distant part of the property, the fixed plane of the Me 109. Mr. Marquis Jean de Thézy, a great enthusiast of the history of the last two wars, whom we had met several times in the previous years, unfortunately could not give us more precision as for the time of the year 1943. We did not know at all the origin of these pieces at that time nor during the 4 years which followed !!!!!!!

Following the testimony of Amédée de Francqueville who lived in the castle of Remiencourt, a village near Fouencamps where he had seen the wreckage of a Spitfire, Alain Boutté decided to reopen the file of the pilot F/O J.O. Mackay (Australian pilot at 129 SQ) buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Amiens, whose crash site was totally unknown.

Alain found, in the Australian archives, an investigation of the crash location made in November 1944 by the RAF. It stated that Spitfire MH 442 had crashed in the village of Fouencamps (see report below).

Alain also found the detailed report of the loss of the pilot written by his leader relating the mission and, the ORB (Operation Record Book) of Squadron 129, to which belonged the F/O Mackay, was transmitted to us by Alexis Brument. (See doc ORB MISSION 17H17 air n° 51)

On January 18, 2022, we met Mr. Jean Foy, a witness who arrived on the spot the day of the crash. He specified us the precise place of the Spitfire, place from which he had seen very well, further on the hill, the grouping around the crash of the Messerschmitt 109 G6 of the Ofw Laufenberg. These testimonies were confirmed by Mrs Miniesky and Mr Leverve. Unfortunately, the MH 442 had little buried and today 4 houses are built on the site. This Spitfire was coded DV-W and entered new at Squadron 129 on August 14, 1943. It will have flown for 3 weeks.

When we analyze the situation well, we see that the fight that took place over Amiens is complex. Many victories were claimed by both sides (3 Spitfires claimed by the Luftwaffe and 2 German fighters by the Allies). However, there were only two crashes for this mission of bombing the Longueau train station, a Spitfire IX and a Bf 109 G 6.

DETAIL OF THE MISSION

Attack on the Longueau train station

Excerpts from JP Ducellier's book

Target: Amiens Longueau railway center Target: Z 446. Somme.

Forces used:

36 B26 "Marauder" of the 323rd BG of the 8th US Air Support Command. 3 CBW.

36 B26 "Marauder" of the 322nd BG of the 8th US Air Support Command. 3 CBW.

The route: Bury St Edmunds- Dungeness - Cayeux - 13 km North of Poix - Amiens-Longueau - left turn 13km South of Abbeville - Cayeux- Dungeness.- Bury St Edmunds

7 B26s aborted - 3 of the 323rd BG + 4 of the 322nd BG - for formation and engine problems.

17h55". 65 B26 will attack this RIyC of Amiens-Longueau by dropping 384 bombs of 500 lb GB

17h55. 323rd BG: Box 1: Heading 69°, 3.300 m. 312 km/h.

Box 2: Heading 54°, 3450 m. 312 km/h.

17h56. 322nd BG: Box 1: Heading 39°. 3150 m. 304 km/h.

Box 2: Heading 54°. 3000 m 304 km/h.

4 B26 could not bomb because of a problem with the bomb bay.

Estimated result: Fair to Good.

An enemy aircraft made an attack from 9 o'clock on the leading B26 of Box I of the 323rd BG before fleeing backwards. No damage. The senior gunner of this B26 will return fire without success.

Protection: 16 RAF Spitfire Squadrons. 186 Spitfires in operation.

- Close Escort: 58 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 401 +411 + 412 + 66 + 165 of the RAF.

- Escort Cover: 50 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 302 + 317 + 64 + 313 of the RAF.

- High Cover: 26 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrons 129 + 222 of the RAF.

- Top Cover : 28 "Spitfire" IX + VII of Squadrons 303 + 316 + 124 of the RAF.

- Fighter Sweep : 24 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrons 331 +332 of the RAF. North Weald.

15 to 20 FW 190+ BF109 will be seen diving in front of the B26s and Squadron 317 will claim 1 BF 109 destroyed. The High Cover Wing saw 10 to 12 FW 190s over the Amiens area and one of the Spitfires IXs appeared to be hit by an FW 190, both aircraft being destroyed. The F/0 J.D Mackay who died will be buried in the cemetery Sain-Pierre of Amiens.

- The 28 Spitfires IX and VII of Squadron 303 + 316 + 124 orbited Amiens at 5100 m altitude, spotting 12 FW 190s diving towards the Spitfires of the High Cover below, and shortly afterwards another formation of FW 190s appeared and a dogfight ensued.

The "Spitfire" IX of Squadron 129 + 303 claimed 2 FW 190 and one BF 109 destroyed. Only one loss for the RAF.

The 24 "Spitfire" IX of the Norwegian Squadrons 331 +332 will carry out a Sweep on Lille - Amiens

8 to 12 e/a will be seen in the area of Saint-Omer but will be out of range.

The origins of the confusion FW/190 - BF 109

In his report, the leader clearly explains that a German fighter collided with the Spitfire of F/O Mackay, MH 442, presumed to be for him a FW 190 (See the report of the leader below). However, this is a mistake which is quite understandable since there were more than 300 aircraft in an estimated 15km long cube. There were 186 Spitfires, 65 B26 Marauders, as well as the Luftwaffe with a large number of FW 190 A and Me 109 G fighters.

In fact, the Messerschmitt 109 G 6 of OFw J. Laufenberg of JG 2 certainly entered in collision with the Spitfire MH 442. The Ofw Laufenberg was previously hit by the Spitfires of squadron 303 and Squadron 317. The latter claimed a victory each over an Me 109 in this "Dogfight" but in reality only one Me 109 G was shot down. The Me 109 G6 of the Ofw Laufenberg crashed on the territory of Bove near the wood of Gentelle at approximately 2 km from the Spitfire MH 442. The empennage found at Thézy-Glimont was at a distance of only 2 km from the Spitfire and the Me109, which is quite logical (See map).

OFw J. Laufenberg pilot of the Messerschmitt 109 G 6 Wnr 18804 fallen on September 6, 1943 (buried at Bourdon Cemetery 80)

MR. JEAN FOY WITNESS OF SEPTEMBER 6, 1943

Mr JEAN FOY INDICATING THE PLACE OF FALL OF THE APPARATUS FROM 2 POINTS OF VIEW.

F.O J.D. MACKAY GRAVE in Amiens (Original cross)

OFELDW. LAUFENBERG GRAVE AT BOURDON (80)

As for the two other Allied victories over FW 190s, we have also elucidated them. The fight took place between Abbeville and Amiens, still during this Ramrod 36, but this time the Allied fighters were protecting the 18 B25 "Mitchell II" that were attacking the Abbeville train station. Both victories were claimed by the Canadian pilots of Squadron 403 and 421. The two missions of this Ramrod were simultaneous, 72 Spitfires participated in the protection of the B25s. This represents a total of 341 Allied aircraft, plus the Luftwaffe fighters !!!!!!! for these two phases of the Ramrod 36 mission.

Attack of the Abbeville train station

Objective: Abbeville railroad center. Objective : Z 440. Somme.

Forces used : 18 B25 "Mitchell" II of Squadron 98 and 180 of Group 2 of the RAF.

The route : Dunsfold - Hastings - Abbeville - left turn - Hastings - Dunsfold.

18h 00 : release of 144 bombs of 500 pounds MC by these 18 B25 towards the railway center of Abbeville. Impacts will be observed towards the South and in the center of the railroads.

Protection : 6 Squadrons of *Spitfire" of the RAF. 72 "Spitfire" in operation.

- Close Escort : 24 "Spitfire" V of Squadrons 130+234 of the RAF. West Mailing

- Escort Cover : 24 "Spitfire" XII of Squadrons 41 + 91 of the RAF. Tangmere.

- High Cover : 24 "Spitfire" IX of Squadrom 403 + 421 of the RCAF 127th airfield.

The pilots of the Close Escort report to have seen a particularly successful bombing.

3 enemy planes were seen at 4800 meters altitude before entering France.

Escort Cover : According to the plan.

High Cover : 6 FW 190 will be attacked by Squadrons 403 and 421 in the region between Abbeville and Amiens

Allied claims :

2 FW 190 destroyed by F/0 Dowding and F/Lt Southwood of Squadron 403.

1FW 190 damaged by Squadron 403 and another by Squadron 421.

- FW 190 A5 Wnr 7306 - 8 brown of 6 JG26 crashed on the right side of the road leading to Montagne Fayel, 12 km N-E of Poix. Its pilot, I' Uffz, Walter Berger was killed.

- FW 190 A5 Wnr 7300 - 3 brown of 6JG26 crashed near Molliens-Vidame, left of the road leading to Camps en Amiénois. Its pilot Fw Adolf Jörg was killed.

Alain Boutté met several years ago Mr. Morichon, inhabitant of Molliens Vidame who had witnessed the crash of the Fw Adolph Jörg on the road to the left in the direction of Camps en Amiénois, just before the wood where blockhouses had been built. Mr. Morichon told us that the German fighter was pursued by Spitifre at very low altitude "at the height of the church tower".

Concerning the second crash, a witness, Mr Claude Montigny, contacted Pierre BEN.

He was 15 years old in 1943 and saw the FW 190 of the Uffz Walter Berger crash on the territory of Molliens Vidame, now Molliens Dreuil. The FW190 A5 crashed between Molliens Vidame and the hamlet of Fayel.

The Uffz Walter Berger pilot of the FW 190 A5 Wnr 7306 crashed on the right of the road of Montagne Fayel, territory of Molliens-Vidame on September 6, 1943, buried in the cemetery of Bourdon (80)

The Fw Adolf Jörg pilot of the FW 190 A5 Wnr 7300 crashed near the wood on the left of the road of Camps en Amiénois, territory of Molliens-Vidame on September 6, 1943, buried in the cemetery of Bourdon (80)