ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 302644
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| Date: | Saturday 29 April 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Vb |
| Owner/operator: | 345 (GC II/2) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | EN865 |
| MSN: | CBAF. |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Shoreham, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Shoreham, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex |
| RAF Shoreham, West Sussex |
EN865 Spitfire Vb: Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factroy) with Merlin 45M engine.Delivered to the RAF at 37 MU 9-5-42. Issued to 302 (Polish) Squadron 2-6-42 as 'WX-L'. To 132 Squadron 28-6-43, To 130 Squadron 14-3-44. To 222 Squadron 31-3-44. To 345 (Free French) Squadron 25-4-44. Written off (destroyed) in a FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E) 29-4-44. Pilot killed.
Crew of Spitfire EN865
Sergeant Jean Jospeh Ernest Sente,
On 26 April 1944 345 Squadron (Free French) RAF arrived at Shoreham Airfield. Three days later Luxembourgeoise Sergent Ernest Jean Joseph SENTE, flying Spitfire Vb EN865 aborted a landing and attempted to go round but crashed into a gun post on the airfield. He was seriously injured and died later that same day. He is buried in Bettembourg in Luxembourg.
During a flight over the channel, Ernest's spitfire was hit by enemy fire. By radio, Ernest declared the satisfactory operation of his aircraft despite obvious damage. He said he could not objectively judge the damage suffered. He was then ordered to return immediately, being advised him to abandon the plane by parachuting as soon as he reached the English mainland. The lives of the few pilots were priceless; one could not replace them like mass-produced machines.
The will and the courage of Ernest caused him to try to save his invaluable Spitfire. He attempted the landing despite the fears of his superiors. The manoeuvre succeeded but Ernest spun on the grass. The hydraulic brakes, however, damaged during the attack, failed and Ernest overran the end of the runway and hits a broken wall. He broke his neck and died as a result of the accident a few days later.
Ernest Sente was born on September 22, 1922. Barely 18 years old, he escaped from France on May 12, 1941 with two of his comrades. Arrested by the Spanish police, he was taken back to France and imprisoned in the prison of Perpignan, from where he ended up in the concentration camp of Argilles. Not at all intimidated by this misfortune, he prepared his escape from this harmful camp and succeeded in crossing the Pyrenees in the company of an Englishman. Again the police arrested him and this time it was imprisonment in Zaragoza, ending up in the sinister camp of Miranda and then to be guided to Gibraltar and to reach Great Britain by sea. Driven by true patriotism, he did not hesitate to volunteer for a squadron of the "French Air Force" in Great Britain. His training in Canada completed, he returned to England to be assigned to the "Berry" fighter squadron, stationed on the south coast of Great Britain. On April 29, 1944 Ernest Sente fell in the field of honour during a fighter flight in commissioned service.
Sources:
1. Operations Record Book for No. 345 Squadron (AIR 27/1741 at the National Archives).
2. http://www.francaislibres.net/liste/fiche.php?index=96128
3. https://www.air-britain.com/members/mo-pdfs/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
4. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/EN865
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p037.html
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=EN865
7. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/spitfire-vb-identification
8. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=37037
9. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19768.0
Revision history:
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