
Peoples Stories - Bevendean History Project

Kelvin Young re Aircraft landing near Cambridgeshire Farm

Kelvin Young has provided the following information on the crash landing of a Hurricane aircraft near Cambridgeshire Farm in 1940.

Kelvin Young has provided the following information on the crash landing of a Hurricane aircraft near Cambridgeshire Farm in 1940.
Josef Frantisek was a World War 2 Pilot in 303 Squadron (Polish) based at RAF Northolt in 1940.
Josef had a reputation for being somewhat ill-disciplined in terms of adhering to orders to stay with the squadron, preferring to go off on lone sorties after the initial opening phase of an attack on German formations.
But there is no escaping the fact that this Czech pilot, attached to a Polish squadron, was the highest scoring ace (total - 17) of the Battle of Britain.
On the 9th September 1940 during action with Bf109’s over Beachy Head he crash landed in a cabbage field at Cambridgeshire Farm (Now on the estate of Bevendean Farm) near Falmer at 18.00 hrs. Aircraft, Hurricane I P3975 RF-U, damaged but later repaired. During this day he was credited with 1 x Bf109 and a He111.
Photograph of Sergeant Josef Frantisek and information courtesy of the Aircrew Remembered website.
See more at: http://www.aircrewremembered.com/frantisek-josef.html
29 September 2015

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