ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 140793
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 December 1943 |
| Time: | 11:00 |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR Mk IX |
| Owner/operator: | 60 Sqn SAAF |
| Registration: | LR438 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Corbesassi, Brallo di Pregol, Prodongo Lombardy. -
 Italy
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Alghero airfield, Sassari (I) |
Mosquito LR438: Takeoff at 08:45 hrs for PR mission to Turin area. Missing. 01/12/1943
After takeoff the mission proceeds quietly up to the Northern Apeniny, but arrived in the upper Trebbia Valley, it is about eleven in the morning, they are intercepted by ObLt. Johannes Steinhoff (Stab JG-77) in Bf109, identifies the hostile aircraft and begins to machine gun, they are about 10000 meters high. The pilots of the Mosquito immediately realize that the only salvation for them is escape, in fact their aircraft is set up for strategic reconnaissance, with many photographic cameras but the absence of suitable weapons to support a confrontation with an enemy fighter. West begins maneuvers of escape, trusting the speed of his Mosquito to escape the looming threat, but ignores that above the interceptor lies one of the best fighter pilots in the world. Steinhoff pursues West and does not give up, there is no evasive maneuver that he does not know, to his credit he already has over a hundred kills on the various fronts of the conflict. For the Mosquito there is no escape: it will be shot to death and will fall a mile north-northeast of the summit of Mount Lesima. Before the impact West manages to jump with the parachute, while Larter, perhaps injured or already dead by Steinhoff's shots, follows the fate of his plane and they go to disintegrate to the ground in Prodongo, in the municipality of Brallo di Pregola. After the impact, a furious fire develops, fueled by the a lot of fuel on board and the wood that mainly constitutes the structure of the Mosquito; fire that devours the entire aircraft in a short time. at 11:00hrs
Crew:
Lt. (P7041V) E.K. WEST (pilot) SAAF - POW
Lt. (38232V) Douglas Hamiton LARTER (nav.) SAAF - killed
Sources:
1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt.
2.ORB 60 Sqdn SAAF
3,Air Britain: RAF Aircraft LA100 - LZ999.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Dec-2011 10:04 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 30-Dec-2011 01:05 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Narrative] |
| 25-Feb-2012 12:56 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Source] |
| 29-Jun-2014 20:19 | MiG21 | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Narrative] |
| 23-May-2015 19:36 | King T. | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Damage, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2015 19:07 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Sep-2018 19:00 | Nepa | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
| 20-Sep-2018 19:27 | Nepa | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
| 03-Feb-2019 16:46 | Nepa | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Operator] |
| 01-Sep-2021 10:37 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
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