Embedded Files
THE MACHINE
The Spitfire Mk IXc was a single-engine aircraft powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin 61, 12-cylinder V-engine rated at 1,650 hp.
It was equipped with a universal wing (F).
The Mk IX was produced in a hurry to keep up with the FW 190. A new, more powerful engine was mounted on a reinforced Spitfire Mk V fuselage.
Although built as a transitional version, the Spitfire Mk IX was the best-built version (5665 units). The BS 410 was the 3559th in the series.
It was armed with :
2 x 20 mm Hispano suiza cannons
4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns
Specifications:
Type: Single-engine propeller plane
Aircraft assembled at : Chattis Hill
1st flight : 28/10/1942
Assigned to Squadron 315 : 06/11/1942
Air service training : 03/15/1943
Lost in France : 13/05/1943
Length: 9.47 m
Wingspan: 11.22 m
Height: 3.48 m
Take-off weight: 3,326 kg
Maximum speed: 656 km/h at 7,600 m
Maximum range: 700 km
Practical ceiling: 13,400 m
THE PILOT
F/O (Flight Lieutenant) Piotr KURYLLOWICZ served with RAF (Royal Air Force) Squadron 315 from July 1942 to May 1943. After the war, he became a dentist and settled in Ontario, Canada, where Pierre Ben found him.
Piotr Kuryllowicz at differents step of his life, right in 2006
Piotr Kuryllowicz demobilization form
THE MISSION : Ramrod 71 – Opération 55 8th U.S.Air.Force May 13th 1943
Narration (Jean-Pierre Ducellier)
169 B17 "Fortress" of the 8th US Air Force planned for this operation.
Planned target: Potez aircraft depot and repair workshops at Méaulte
But two other objectives - the Fort Rouge and Longuenesse airfields near St-Omer - were to serve as a diversion during the main attack on Méaulte.
The main objective: Méaulte.
97 B17s planned:
24 B17 / 306th BG
25 B17 / 91st BG
21 B17 / 303rd BG
27 B17 / 305th BG
Flight in 5 successive formations of 18 to 20 bombers.
In order: 306th BG - 91st BG - 303rd BG - 305th BG - Composite group made up of the Lead Squadron: 305th BG + High Squadron: 306th BG + Low Squadron: 91st BG.
This main force also carried out a diversionary maneuver over the English Channel before entering France. Escort planned by 13 Squadrons of RAF Spitfire Mk IXs (147 fighters).
Planned route :
Base ... Beachy Head - 50°15'N / 01°10'E - 50°10'N / 00°20'E - Beachy Head - Dungeness -Berck (RV with escort) - Initial Point (Junction of railroad and road south of Flesselles) - Méaulte - Left turn - Berck - Hastings ... base.
The course of the raid :
Accidental loss of a B17. Accidental machine-gun burst in the rear wing, causing the bomber to fall into the English Channel.
Entry over Cayeux, some twenty kilometers south of the planned point at 16h11 / 16h12.
RV with Spitfire just before this point.
Initial Point: South of Flesselles: 16:23.
Méaulte: Bombardment from 16h28 to 16h30.
88 B17s dropped :
863 500-pound GP bombs
16 300 lb GP bombs
At altitudes ranging from 6,450 to 7,620 meters.
Excellent concentration of bombs on and around the target.
Return over the Doullens region around 4.38 / 4.40 pm.
Berck-sur-Mer: 4.50pm.
Hastings: 17:06.
Base: 17:45.
The raid was not without difficulties, however.
16h20: South-west of the Abbeville area, the B17 F "Forteresse "# 42-29642 of the 91st BG was hit by Lt Hoppe of Grupe II of JG26. 7 crew members were killed and 3 taken prisoner.
16h25 :Arriving in the vicinity of Initial Point (south of Flesselles), the B17 F "Forteresse"# 42-5406 of the 91st will be damaged and make an evasive action towards the North.
A man parachuted near Naours (staying in this village), and another wounded parachutist was taken prisoner at La Vicogne.
The damaged B17 then moved on to the Orville area... However, Major Priller of the JG26 Stab based at Lille/Vendeville pursued and attacked the four-engine aircraft to the south-east of the Doullens area... A 360° turn over Sarton... a final burst of machine-gun fire from the German fighter, and the B17 of the 91st BG exploded in the air and scattered over the village of Amplier. Tail on the football field with one machine-gunner still at his fighting post, another airman falling nearby, leaving his mark on the ground ... The engines and wings crashed on the banks of the Authie a few hundred meters to the west. In all, 7 were killed and 3 taken prisoner. One of the airmen was found dead in the Huleux area.
16h35 / 16h40 : A third B17, this time from the 305th BG, attacked on its way back by other German fighters (most probably from JG2), crashes near the Calimont farm in the Lucheux area.
It was B17 # 42-29647 of the 305th BG.
Officially 5 killed and 5 taken prisoner.
Sgt Vertefeuille, who was wounded when he fell on the edge of the Watron wood, was helped by Lucienne Houllier from Lucheux before being taken prisoner.
Sgt Brandt was hidden by Lucheux road-mender Jules Viez, and after being hidden in the ditches of the wood, was transferred to Brévillers and then to Frévent.
In addition to these 3 B17s shot down by German fighters, 11 other B17s were damaged (9 slightly and 2 seriously).
To sum up, the German fighter attacks began quickly to the south-west of Abbeville and continued to the west of Amiens, before resuming over the Méaulte region and intensifying during the return of the American four-engine fortresses between Méaulte - Doullens - Auxi.
In all, the American gunners aboard the B17 "Fortress" claimed the following scores:
7 enemy aircraft destroyed (3 FW 190 + 4 Me 109)
3 enemy aircraft probably destroyed (2 FW 190 + 1 Me 109)
1 enemy aircraft damaged (1 Me 109)
A few rounds of heavy flak were fired along the way, but not very intensely.
The fighter escort :
British RAF Spitfire Mk IXs.
3 close escorts and 3 high-altitude escorts.
1st Fighter Cover
Composed of 20 Spitfire Mk IXs from Squadrons 315 and 316 (Polish RAF Squadrons).
This is the escort for the lead formation of American bombers.
The B17s enter Cayeux at 4.10pm.
These two Squadrons will be heavily engaged in the Abbeville area up to the objective, and up to 30 kilometers west of the objective on the way back.
Attacked in particular by 2 groups of 20 Me 109s each, by a group of 20 FW 190s and by other small groups of 2, 3 or 4 enemy aircraft.
Exit from France at 4:45 p.m.
During the fights:
Victories claimed
1 FW 190 claimed destroyed by P/O Gora of Squadron 316
1 Me 109 destroyed by W/Cdr Kolaczkowski
2 FW 190 damaged
Losses
1 Spitfire # BS 410 of Squadron 315: P/O Kuryllowicz
"P/O Kuryllowicz reported cooling trouble and was last seen going down"
We found the serial BS 410 of this British fighter in the Occoches marshes when Pierre Ben and his small team extracted it on Sunday December 11, 2005.
To date, another Spitfire Mk IX shot down in the Doullens area at the same time (Sqd/Ldr Boulton of Sqd 416 - RCAF) has not been found. The testimony of P/O Kuryllowicz, who now lives in Canada, corresponds perfectly with that of Occoches residents living in the village at the time (in particular that of Jean Brasseur, who went to join him in the Bouloies woods between Occoches and Neuvillette, where he had just fallen. The inhabitants of Occoches point out that, at the time, the aviator was said to be a Pole. So there's no longer any doubt that this is the Spitfire Mk IX from Squadron 315 that crashed in the Occoches marshes.
It should be noted that Hptm Naumann of Staffel 6 of Grupe II of JG 26 claimed responsibility for the destruction of a Spitfire on May 13, 1943, 20 kilometers northwest of Albert at 4:35 pm. It may well have been this aircraft, but this cannot be certified.
2nd Fighter Cover
11 Spitfires Mk IX from Squadron 331 and 12 Spitfires Mk IX from RAF Squadron 332 (Norwegian Squadrons).
Similar course, but escorting the central bomber formation.
Victories claimed
Squadron 331: 1 FW 190 probably destroyed
1 FW 190 damaged
Squadron 332: 1 FW 190 shot down
1 FW 190 damaged
1 Me 109 damaged
Casualties
A Spitfire Mk IX # LZ 948 of Squadron 332: 2nd Lt B. Raeder.
This pilot parachuted to the east of Bray and managed to escape the German search.
Lt Leuschel of Staffel 8 of Gruppe II of JG 26 claims responsibility for the destruction of a Spitfire west of Bray at 4:32 pm.
3rd Fighter Cover
10 Spitfires Mk IX from Squadron 403, including W/Cdr Johnson + 12 Spitfires Mk IX from Squadron 416.
Escorting the rear formation of the American four-engined aircraft.
Identical routes and identical battles, particularly in the Doullens region.
Victories claimed
2 FW 190s and 1 Me 109 destroyed
1 FW 190 and 2 Me 109 damaged
Losses
3 Spitfire Mk IX from the RCAF
1 Spitfire Mk IX of Squadron 403 # BS 104 lost: F/Sgt W.G. Uttley.
Crash near Pys.
2 Spitfire Mk IX of Squadron 416:
Spitfire # BS 430. S/Ldr F.H Boulton: "Possibly hit by flak, jumped by parachute. Taken prisoner and seriously wounded, he was repatriated to England in October 1943".
Spitfire Mk IX # BR 626. Sgt FW McKim :Fallen in the English Channel, 30 miles west of Le Touquet. Not found.
"It is believed this section of S/Ldr Boulton and Sgt Mc Kim were bounced at about Doullens approx. 16h40".
Major Priller of the JG 26 Stab claims victory over a Spitfire Mk IX,
8 kilometers northwest of Etaples.
High protection
1st High Cover
23 Spitfire Mk IXs from Squadrons 122 and 453 fly at 9,000 meters above the B17s from Berck to Méaulte, Doullens and Berck.
Victories claimed
1 FW 190 and 1 Me 109 damaged.
2nd High Cover
13 Spitfire Mk IX from Squadron 611 + 10 Spitfire Mk IX from Squadron 341 (including Cdt Mouchotte).
Bomber coverage at 8,100 meters all along the route.
Withdrawal Cover
36 Spitfire Mk IX VBs from RAF Squadrons 485 + 501 + 222.
Coverage of the B17s on their return from Berck to Hastings.
In all, RAF fighters claimed :
6 enemy aircraft destroyed (4 FW 190 + 2 Me 109)
1 FW 190 probably destroyed
10 German fighters damaged (6 FW 190 + 4 Me 109)
Among these downed German fighters, it should be noted that the one that crashed at Petit-Occoches (Outrebois commune) was presumably a Me 109 G6 - 12 of JG 2 (# 15239) piloted by Lt Christoph Ruscher, who was killed in the crash.
The cumulative claims of the American and British airmen will be as follows (probable duplications):
17 aircraft destroyed 11 FW 190 + 6 Me 109
4 aircraft probably shot down 3 FW 190 + 1 Me 109
20 aircraft damaged 13 FW 190 + 7 Me 109
Meanwhile, 72 B17s of the 94th BG, 95th BG and 351st BG carried out a diversion from Orford Ness to the Dutch coast, before returning to North Foreland and entering France over Le Touquet to bomb Le Fort Rouge and Longuenesse airfields in the St-Omer region.
This force was protected by 3 groups of P47s from the 8th Air Force.
PHOTOS OF THE EXCAVATION
Meeting with Piotr Kuryllowicz - May 2006
Pierre Ben had managed to schedule this Polish pilot's visit to France for May 20 2006.
Thursday May 19th
Three Polish cameramen arrive around 8.30pm. Two of them have driven 20 hours directly from Poland, while the third has just arrived in London. All three are passionate and enthusiastic.
Friday May 20th
Piotr Kuryllowicz and his daughter Kara arrive around 6pm. Pierre Ben welcomes them and presents them with the small parts from Piotr's plane, which he has placed in a prominent position in his home.
As Piotr Kuryllowicz picked up the trigger for the machine-gun fire and the landing gear selector, he was overcome with emotion, which only intensified at the sight of his Spitfire's serial number, the roundel and the Polish emblem of Squadron 315.
Albert Berthet has worked miracles in straightening the piece of aluminum on which the serial number of this Spitfire Mk IX (BS410) appears, and in reconstructing the Polish Squadron 315 crest (representing a rooster) and part of the British fuselage roundel from the recovered fragments.
This will be followed by a meal at Pierre Ben's, during which Piotr will present him with a Spitfire artificial horizon in perfect condition, as well as two radio helmets he used in his personal aircraft.
Saturday May 21st
Part of the morning will be devoted to showing Piotr around a number of private museums, where he will leave impressed by the quantity of objects found.
The morning was rounded off by a visit to the commemorative plaques in Couin dedicated to the animals that served in the First World War.
After lunch, at around 2 p.m., Pierre Ben showed Piotr the remains of his Spitfire and presented an emotional Kara with a piece of the wooden propeller from her father's Spitfire.
The highlight of the day will be the ceremony during which Pierre Ben will present the Polish pilot with the famous crowbar that saved his life and was found during the excavation. Emotions ran high. Before coming to France, Piotr had told the story to Pierre Ben, who was careful not to tell him that he had found his crowbar.
A reception and a photo session rounded off the day's activities, which ended with a fine meal in Authuille.
Sunday May 22nd
Pierre Ben and his friends will accompany Piotr and his daughter to Méaulte. After a stop in front of the Airbus factory (the target of the US 8th Air Force B17 mission on May 13, 1943), they'll show them around the flying club and the AAAA (Association des Anciens Avions d'Albert) collection. This is followed by a visit to Marc Bétrancourt's museum of aeronautical heritage in Albert.
In the afternoon, the small team will visit the Warloy-Baillon stele and the graves of the British cemetery. The day continues with a visit to the Newfoundland camp at Auchonvillers and the British monument at Thiepval. Finally, everyone will go to Naours to lay an RAF wreath on the stele of pilot Prochnicki, who was killed on August 19, 1943 in his Spitfire as a result of aerial combat.
The day ended with a visit to St Victor's Hospital in Amiens, where Piotr had been hospitalized.
Then, finally, it was time for the emotional departure.
The research undertaken into the crash of this Spitfire on May 13, 1943 at Occoches will undoubtedly remain unforgettable for all of us, as it will have served history and enabled us to experience an exceptional human adventure by getting to know Piotr Kuryllowicz and his daughter Kara.
THE VISIT IN PICTURES
Piotr, Kara (his daughter), and the members of the association
Kara Pierre and Thérése Ben, Piotr Kuryllowicz
In front on the engine discovered by the association
An emotional moment, when Piotr Kurilowicz was presented with the "crowbar", the tool he found during the excavation that enabled him to unlock the cockpit of his Spitfire to save his life on May 13, 1943.
Visit of the Bétrancourt museum and signing the Golden Book
Beaumont Hamel and Méaulte Aéroclub visits
Hospital where Piotr Kurillowikcz was treated after the crash
Back to the crash site
Piotr Kurillowicz found himself at the foot of this tree on May 13th, 1943.
Piotr and Monsieur Brasseur met in 1943
Wreath laying at Prochnicki stele
ISLE OF WIGHT
Rebearth of Spitfire BS 410 – Sixty six years after the crash
Rebearth of Spitfire BS 410 – Sixty six years after the crash
On May 27, 2009, Piotr Kuryllowicz, Polish pilot with Squadron 315 of the RAF (Royal Air Force) from July 1942 to May 1943, was able to take his place, with great emotion, in the cockpit of a Spitfire rebuilt in the identity of the one at the controls of which he had been shot down on May 13, 1943, managing to eject in extremis using his Crowbar (a kind of small crowbar located inside the side door).
This adventure was made possible thanks to the combined efforts of passionate members of the Somme-Aviation 39-45 association and aeronautical technicians from Airframe Assemblies Ltd, based in Sandown on the Isle of Wight (Great Britain).
In February 2006, some structural parts (mainly the fuselage) of Piotr Kurylowicz's Spitfire BS 410 were donated to Steve Vizard, CEO of Airframe Assemblies Ltd, via Jean Michel Goyat, who has since become a member of our association.
These parts, useful for rebuilding the Spitfire BS 410, were of no conservation interest to our association, which has instead restored and carefully preserved the aircraft's components, enabling us to contribute to the duty of remembrance, to share this human adventure and to illustrate the work and historical research of our association's members. According to Steve Vizard, such is the demand for an aircraft as mythical as the Spitfire, that the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority - the British civil aviation administration) now accepts that aircraft whose identity is perfectly documented and which, in all transparency, incorporate elements of the original aircraft, can be rebuilt.
And so, sixty-six years after its crash and four years after the recovery of its components, the Spitfire BS 410, which took shape again in the workshops of Airframe Assemblies Ltd (in the modified two-seater configuration of a TR 9 at its owner's request), received a visit from its last pilot, in the presence of Pierre Ben, Jean Michel Goyat, Martin Phillips, the aircraft's owner, and Peter Arnold, one of the world's leading Spitfire historians.
Piotr Kuryllowicz's Spitfire will now be registered G-TCHI in the English Civil Register. It will be repainted in the colors it wore at the time of its crash, coded PK-A, and will of course retain its Serial Number BS 410. This same aircraft was also the mount of the famous Polish-born pilot Francis Gabreski, when he was temporarily assigned to Squadron 315 in 1943. His plane was coded PK-E.
During the trip to the Isle of Wight, Pierre BEN took with him a number of items, which remain the property of the association, to attest to the identity of the aircraft found: "Serial Number" BS 410, Squadron 315 emblem, landing gear selector, landing gear strut, control stick, firing switch, various instrument parts, etc. Peter Arnold, as representative of the CAA, was able to certify its authenticity.
Article published in the Magazine “AVIONS” N° 170 (July-August 2009)
Information published in the "DAILY MIRROR " May 29 2009
Information published in the "DAILY MIRROR " May 29 2009
Courrier Picard publication (May 13 2013)
Courrier Picard publication (May 13 2013)
The Isle of Wight visit to the Spitfire rebuilding factory, in photos.
A FRIENDSHIP BORN OF A PASSION FOR HISTORY AND AVIATION
A FRIENDSHIP BORN OF A PASSION FOR HISTORY AND AVIATION
This wonderful story was born of the passion of Pierre Ben (President of the Somme-Aviation 39-45 association) and the members of his association for the aviation history of the Second World War, and the immense generosity of Piotr Kurylowicz, a Polish pilot whom we tracked down and who invited us to meet him in Canada, where he lives.
The adventure began on Sunday December 11, 2005, when the remains of Piotr Kuryllowicz's Spitfire MK IX BS 410, which fell on May 13, 1943 in the Occoches marshes, were exhumed by members of the association.
Pierre Ben then scheduled the visit of this pilot and his daughter Kara to France in May 2006. The three days will be highly emotional, particularly when Piotr Kuryllowicz is presented with a piece of the "Crowbar" which saved his life in 1943 and which was found on December 11, 2005 at Occoches.
Piotr Kuryllowicz, very touched by the welcome he received in the Somme, invited Pierre Ben and his wife Thérèse Ben and two other members of the Somme-Aviation 39-45 association to visit him in Canada, near Toronto.
So off we flew to Toronto on June 21, 2007, for ten days that our host, Piotr Kuryllowicz, made unforgettable.
Thanks to the generosity of Piotr, his daughter Kara and his collaborator Karen, these few days enabled us to sample the charms of Canada, meet some wonderful people, visit the Hamilton Aviation Museum, enjoy some flying experiences, and meet another pilot, Raymond Sherk, whose Spitfire Mk IX MJ 126 had fallen on the Somme on March 15, 1944. Pierre Ben got in touch with this pilot after finding some of the parts of his plane.
A few photos illustrate these unforgettable, emotionally-charged moments and encounters, which will remain engraved in our memories.
Aerial view of Toronto
Photo in front of Piotr office
Ray Sherk's Hydroplane Piper PA 12, Ray et Pierre
Piotr Kuryllowicz and Pierre Ben
Photo album of the Canadian Gateway
Karen Therese Pierre Betina Kara
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