[2006] Wartime relics come to light

Kyt · Feb 12, 2008

An old story:

Wartime relics come to light - Driffield Today

Spitfire pilot Tadeuz Orzechowski was just 21 when he died in an horrific mid air collision while defending England from the threat of Nazi occupation.
His body was laid to rest in the cemetery on Driffield's Bridlington Road alongside other servicemen who gave their lives so that the people of East Yorkshire could live in freedom.

Now, more than 60 years later, substantial remains of the aircraft in which he died while flying for 316 Squadron from RAF Hutton Cranswick have been recovered by a small team of archaeology enthusiasts.

And the engine is in such good condition that they hope to be able to restore it once again to working order.

The engine was unearthed after a painstaking excavation by Mr Bernard Jordan, 66, of Beeford, and his colleagues Max Elliott and Martin Thompson.

Mr Jordan said that research had revealed that the Spitfire had been downed as the result of a mid-air collision with a Beaufighter on November 22, 1942.

The Beaufighter, flying out of Catfoss with 20-year-old Canadian pilot sergeant Robert Andrew Patterson at the helm, was apparently practising 'bumps' at Lissett - taking off and landing on a circuit - when the Polish pilot possibly mistook it for a German Heinkel.

At that point in the war, the Lissett airfield runway had been built but was not in full use.

Mr Jordan said that he thought the Polish pilot 'went for' the other aircraft.

"Whether he meant to hit it I do not know", but there was a collision which resulte
d in the deaths of both men.

The bodies of the men were removed from the crash site shortly after the collision.

Royal Canadian Air Force Sgt Patterson, the son of Walter and Agnes Bernice Patterson, of Mossbank, Saskatchewan, Canada, is buried in the churchyard at Brandesburton.

Time has not been kind to the remains of the Beaufighter. Mr Jordan and his colleagues have recovered some pieces from the crash sight near Barmston, but most of what was left was scrap.
However, the Spitfire has fared much better, with the complete engine still pretty much intact.

Also recovered were pieces of cockpit, instrumentation, frame, and windscreen.

The Ministry of Defence has been informed of the situation and Mr Jordan said: "We are going to strip the engine and hopefully put it back together and get it running once again."
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Kyt · Feb 12, 2008

Wreath laid in memory of Polish Spitfire pilot, 21 - Driffield Today

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[2006] Wartime relics come to light

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