ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 194035
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| Date: | Thursday 23 September 1943 |
| Time: | 12:00 |
| Type: | Westland Whirlwind Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P7113 |
| MSN: | HE-A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Morlaix airfield, Finistère département -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Warmwell, Dorset |
Sergeant George Wood, was shot down on September 23rd, 1943, by 12:00 am, over the airfield of Ploujean (LFRU).
Georges Wood tells : "I was at the controls of Whirlwing (twin-engine, single fighter-bomber) of the 263rd squadron of Royal air forces (RAF). Our objective was to bombard the deposits of fuel of the airport of Ploujean-Morlaix.
At noon approximately, having released my bombs, my device was affected by the AA (antiaircraft guns)."
At the last minute, the young pilot succeeds to land with difficulty his twin-engine plane in a woody area " very close to a German position ". After the crash landing, " my aircraft was destroyed. Only the cockpit was intact but I was stuck inside ", he tells with phlegm. (Note - in his evader report to MI9, when back in England, George Wood states that he baled out at a very low altitude and landed in a small wood a short distance away from his airplane!!)
Prisoner of the cockpit and suffering shootings, the pilot asks. " It is from there that came to me the vocation, he specifies not without humor. If I get out of it, I become a reverend. " By magic, Georges Wood succeeds in extricating himself from the smoking cabin and run to put itself under cover.
At night, Wood begins " to cross the river of Morlaix, to ask for the hospitality to the monastery (of Saint François, to Saint-Martin-des-Champs) ". Fallen behind the enemy lines, the English pilots had for instruction to look of the help " with the prostitutes or the members of a religious order ", he has fun. To the monastery, he finds the door closed.
Collected in a farm to Ploujean, the lieutenant is then presented to the doctor Le Duc, who will become mayor of Morlaix. He get him false papers. And to avoid that he is discovered because of his accent, we make her a past of deaf and dumb student.
In October, 43, his escape is scheduled within the network "Sibiril", to Carantec. Thanks to the courage of Ernest Sibiril, Carantec, and Jacques Gueguen, the Bridge of the Rope, it is not less than 200 peoples who were so able to join England.
George Wood pursues: " on October 30th, 1943, with eight escapees, we embark aboard the "Shark": a small boat! " New mockery to the german occupant, the young airman embarks " with a panel of Feldgendarmerie ".
Aboard the sailing boat of 5,80 m, the crossing is a new adventure: " we arrived at Plymouth after 21 hours of navigation". Before becoming a reverend, Georges Wood will pursue the war and will overfly, again, the french Breton coast aboard Typhoon 1B, always with the squadron 263.
At 93 years old, George wood received the french highest honour of "Légion d'honneur" at Carantec, the 30 november 2015.
Sources:
1. http://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/morlaix/george-wood-le-retour-du-guerrier-01-11-2015-10833467.php
2. https://www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk/news/reunion-tells-the-extraordinary-tale-of-one-rustington-man-s-stand-against-the-nazis-1-3487420
3. Evaded capture official report:
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/878032GW1.jpg
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/841157GW2.jpg
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/993575GW3.jpg
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/391359GW4.jpg
4. http://ww2.dk/Airfields%20-%20France.pdf
Images:
George Wood - Carantec near Ploujean - France - Nov 2015
Media:
par Letelegramme .
par Letelegramme
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Mar-2017 11:12 | Iceman 29 | Added |
| 08-Mar-2017 11:15 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code, Photo, ] |
| 08-Mar-2017 11:19 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 08-Mar-2017 11:21 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 25-Nov-2017 18:00 | paddy | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Phase] |
| 19-Oct-2018 13:24 | paddy | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Nov-2018 12:52 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 23-May-2019 22:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Cn, Departure airport, Source] |
| 23-May-2019 22:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 26-Jun-2021 14:57 | TigerTimon | Updated [Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Plane category] |
| 07-Aug-2021 21:56 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator] |
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