ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220167
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| Date: | Wednesday 2 August 1944 |
| Time: | 17:30 |
| Type: |  Hawker Typhoon Mk IB |
| Owner/operator: | 181 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | JP430 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Ménil-Hubert-sur-Orne, Orne -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 2 August 1944 the Typhoon Ib JP430 EL-E of 181 Sqn RAF was shot down Flak at around 1730 hrs at Ménil-Hubert-sur-Orne, south of Pont d’Ouilly, during an armed reconnaissance in the Falaise area. The pilot, Flg Off Roy A Crane, was ejected, opened his parachute and was captured by German soldiers.
The crash site was unearthed in 1995. On 15 September 2000, a stela was inaugurated at Mesnil-Hubert in honour of F/L Roy Crane, during which he gave the following speech:
"Let me first say that it is a great honour to be here with you all today as I am sure that you will understand that my aircraft was part of me. It was a great friend for many operations, a plane of great power, well equipped for flying. I am very proud of the great honour that has been accorded to my Typhoon today, and of the fact that it has become an integral part of your history.
How did it all happen? My plane was one of twelve Typhoons which flew in platoons of four. Each of them was armed with eight rockets and four guns. We left our base, B6 Coulombs in Calvados, at 17h05 on the 2nd August 1944, for an armed reconnaissance flight at low altitude to destroy German armoured convoys and tanks in the Falaise-Condé-Flers et Putanges sectors.
My platoon was led by Commandant Kit North Lewis. We attacked vehicles with guns in the west of the valley then continued to fly low over the valley towards Pont-d’Ouilly, then climbed over the hill towards Fourneaux and Mesnil-Hubert. My aircraft was hit on the left wing by anti-aircraft fire then it caught fire. They continued to fire even after we had passed. I therefore turned to fly back across the valley towards my own lines, all the time smoke and flames were coming from my wing.
I had almost crossed the valley heading north when my aircraft began to dive to the ground. The joystick no longer worked and I realised quickly that the plane had been hit in the tail as it started looping backwards. I was suspended by my harness. I heard a voice say "For the love of God, Roy, get out before it’s too late!" I ejected the canopy, disconnected the radio, detached my harness, and was ejected from the cockpit like a rocket. I began to spin but despite everything I managed to find the rip-cord. When my parachute opened I saw and heard my aircraft and the eight rockets on board explode in the neighbouring field. I crashed into several poplars, the parachute shredded, and I fell quickly to the ground in an area now known as Le Caprice. This was a stroke of bad luck as I was bound to become a target; I was actually surrounded immediately by about twenty SS soldiers. I had landed right in the middle of their camp. I won’t go into the details of what happened after that but it finished in the following way: they took me by force to a tree then a soldier pointed his machine gun at me. Suddenly they all turned towards an approaching SS officer accompanied by two German pilots. One of them was an Oberfeldwebel. There followed a very heated discussion. The two pilots finally succeeded in taking me as their prisoner. It turned out that it was they who had shot me down and they took me to the top of the hill where their 37mm gun battery was located. The 36 year old Oberfeldwebel had saved my life and would do so again later, but that is another story. I was only twenty-two years old."
Later that evening I was taken in an open German staff car by the Oberfeldwebel from the gun crew, a driver and an armed motorcycle escort in the direction of Falaise. We had only travelled a short distance, when about to pass a column of German tanks, they were attacked by six Typhoons firing rockets and cannon. They came round again and again, leaving terrible carnage. This was an ordeal that has to be experienced to be truly appreciated. They finally got me out of the Falaise pocket to Alencon, after which I was eventually taken after intensive interrogation at Oberursal, to Stalag Luft III at Sagan."
Sources:
http://www.asavn.net/historiqueGB.htm
http://www.military-art.com/mall/profiles.php?SigID=117
http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1616
http://www.aerosteles.net/fiche.php?code=menil-roycrane&lang=fr
http://www.aerosteles.net/cartes/cartegm-v3.php?code=menil-roycrane&lang=fr
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Dec-2018 21:32 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
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