- 8th USAF Aircraft Downed in France 1942/1945: http://www.b17-france.org/
- Accident-Report.com, Military Aviation Incident Reports:http://accident-report.com/
- ACIA (Air Crash Investigation and Archeology) (northern England and southern Scotland): http://www.acia.co.uk/
- Aircraft Accidents in Yorkshire: http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/
- Aircraft Wrecks in the UK and Ireland: http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/index.html
- Aircrew Remembrance Society: http://www.aircrewremembrancesociety.com/
- American Memorial Association of Saint-Nazaire, 8th USAF Aircraft Downed in France, 1942-1945 (Association du Memorial Américain de Saint Nazaire, Avions de la 8ème Air Force Tombés en France, 1942/1945): http://www.b17-france.org/ . According to this website, it contains an inventory of 800 aircraft and 6500 airmen for crashes throughout France.
- Association Forced Landing (France) :http://forcedlanding.pagesperso-orange.fr/8.htm
- Aterrem em Land in Portugal (About planes forced down in Portugal. In English and Portuguese.): http://www.landinportugal.org/ . English: http://www.landinportugal.org/main+i.htm
- Aviation Archeology: http://www.redkitebooks.co.uk/aa/
- Belgian Aviation History Association (BAHA): http://www.baha.be/
- Belgian Aviation History Association Archeology Team (BAHAAT):http://users.telenet.be/airwareurope/index.htm
- Crash ’40-’45 (Aalsmeer): http://www.crash40-45.nl/
- Crashplace: http://www.crashplace.de/. Their database (datenbank) is in German and English.
- Dutch Federation for Aviation Archeology (Nederlandse Federatie voor Luchtvaart Archeologie): http://www.nfla.nl/
- Foreign Aircraft Landings in Ireland, 1939-1946: http://www.skynet.ie/~dan/war/crashes.htm
- France Crashes 39-45: http://francecrashes39-45.net/
- Grevenbroekmuseum, Het Streekmuseum van Hamont-Achel, Vickers Wellington N2849, Hamont, 16/17 June 1941: http://www.grevenbroekmuseum.be/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=105&lang=en
- Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command: http://www.jpac.pacom.mil/
- Land in Portugal. (About planes forced down in Portugal. In English and Portuguese.): http://www.landinportugal.org/ . English: http://www.landinportugal.org/main+i.htm
- Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces (by Stan D. Bishop and John A Hey, MBE): http://losses8.webplus.net/
- Lostaircraft.com: http://www.lostaircraft.com/
- Luchtoorlog Friesland 1940-1945: http://www.luchtoorlogfriesland.nl/
- Malaya Historical Group: http://mhg.mymalaya.com/
- Military Aircraft Losses in and Around the Isle of Wight: http://www.gdtp.freeserve.co.uk/
- Netherlands Institute for Military History (Ministry of Defence): http://www.defensie.nl/nimh
- RLV Jägergradnetzkarte (Luftwaffe Map Reference System): http://don-caldwell.we.bs/jg26/gradnetz.htm . See also http://www.stormbirds.com/eagles/research/gradnetz/gradnetz.html
- Stichting Aircraft Recovery Group 1940-1945 – by Jan Nieuwenhuis:http://www.arg1940-1945.nl/
- Studiegroep Luchtoorlog (SGLO) 1939-1945 (Study Group Air War 1939-1945): http://www.airwar39-45.nl/pages/welkom.php?lang=EN . The Loss Register, or Verliesregister, listing 6000 military aircraft crashes in The Netherlands, is available on the SGLO website at: http://www.airwar39-45.nl/pages/verliesregister.php .
- Tony Wood’s Combat Claims & Casualties Lists: http://don-caldwell.we.bs/claims/tonywood.htm
- U.S. Aircraft Serial Numbers:http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.htm
- War Over Holland, May 1940, the Dutch Struggle: http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=registered-allied-german-aircraft-losses-over-holland
- Wings of Memory (salvage of crashed war planes and creation of memorials to their crews in Belgium): French: http://www.wingsofmemory.be/Fr.htm, Dutch: http://www.wingsofmemory.be/Ndl.htm, English: http://www.wingsofmemory.be/Eng.htm
- World War II Lost Bombers Database: http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/ (This link was not working when I checked it in December 2010.)
- WWII Allied Aircraft Crashes in The Netherlands – by Jan Nieuwenhuis: http://airwar.texlaweb.nl/.
Iam searching for any information on my half brother F/Sgt. B.J. Profit A/Gnr. RCAF. He was serving on a Stirling bomber LJ 850 RAF 620 squadron home base Fairford England. On June 17 1944 @2320 hrs. they left Fairford with 15 paratroops & towing a glider with an unknown number of personel. The drop zone target was near LaCharitee France coordinates 47:13N-04:07E which appears to be near the Morven mountains, there was no further contact after leaving England. It would be comforting to know what happened to the plane & crew or the glider. Other crew members were- W/O R.W. Crane Capt. RAAF. F/Sgt.F,N.Johnston RAF. W/O2 J.P.Clasper RCAF. Sgt. D.W.Evans RAF. F/Sgt. G.W.Stopford RAF. F/Sgt. B.J.Profit RCAF. After so many years have passed Iam hoping something may have turned up, any info. would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Mr. Pelkey,
I posted your comment on my website. I tried searching for the LJ850 on the http://www.lostbombers.co.uk website but without any success. I also checked Oliver Clutton-Brock’s RAF Evaders, Appendix I, List of RAF Evaders, 1940-1945, in case any of the members of the crew survived and evaded, but again without any luck. Do you have access to W.R. Chorley’s RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, or have you already checked it? I don’t have volume 5, 1944.
Best wishes, Bruce Bolinger
Reply of Mr. Pelkey:
Thank you for posting my request & responding. As yet I have not found W.R.Chorley’s vol.5 I plan on checking with our local library. I have also searched a few other web sites also to no avail, I have also sent a request to The Air Historical Branch RAF. It is almost like they just vanished into thin air thanks again for your help, I will keep searching.
Sincerely Al Pelkey
Dear Mr. Pelkey,
Anticipating other requests for such information, I went ahead and ordered the other volumes of Mr. Chorley’s work, including vol. 5. I will let you know what, if anything, I find. I don’t know how complete the listing is of planes on the Lost Bombers website and the absence of the LJ 850 might simply be because the list is incomplete. But I began to wonder if the plane’s mission might have been so secret that the RAF never acknowledged it as one of its regular missions. If, for example, it was an SOE mission, maybe you would need to search the records of that agency. Have you contacted the British National Archives and the Imperial War Museum? Maybe they can be of help.
Best wishes,
Bruce
Dear Mr. Pelkey,
I received Vol. 5 of Chorley’s Bomber Command Losses and checked the period of 11-12 June through 22-23 June 1944 for any listing of any of the airmen you mentioned but found none. I also checked the website http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2Losses/ for any additions or corrections referring to them but found nothing. Maybe your best bet is the British National Archives and the Imperial War Museum as I suggested.
Best wishes,
Bruce Bolinger
Hello Bruce, Once more I want to thank you for all your efforts, I have since got some more info from the Stirling Aircraft Society. It appears it was an SOE operation as you suggested in an earlier Email. I have also learned that the pilot of another aircraft on the same operation reported seeing LJ850 crash on approach to the drop zone and there was no fire. If this were true I would think they would have been able to pinpoint the crash site, it also appears the 15 paratroops were also killed in the crash. Their names are on the Bayeux Memorial Calvados France. I have not contacted the British National Archives or the Imperial War Museum but I will do so. However in light of the information I now have I don’t expect I will learn much more. Thanks again for your help.
Regards Al Pelkey
—– Original Message —–
A heart-warming story from Mr. Pelkey, especially to see that some light was shed on the the last mission of his brother’s plane.
My request is the following ,
I have always listened to my father tell the story of a downed plane in a small beach town in Algarve Portugal called Quarteira. My father says he was @ 8 years old (circa 1944) when him and his grandfather witnessed this downed plane. The pilot was english speaking , and was able to walk . A translator was found in town. The plane was removed in 2 days. Can you shed any light on this incident ?
Regards
J Filipe
Dear Mr. Filipe,
You probably will want to contact Carlos Guerreiro, who may be able to help you. See his website at http://www.landinportugal.org/main+i.htm.
Best wishes,
Bruce Bolinger