first time & a little over excited

[H.Johnson]

Dit,

Go on - tell 'em the Rednal story about the WAAF a/m and the escaping German POW in the Spitfire!

Or I will...

 

[dit dah]

You do it H, I only know the barest bones of the tail.

Quite please ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Mr H. Johnson and the incredible tale of the German Spitfire pilot..............

 

[H.Johnson]

And so, here it is.

This story was told to me by people who were there at the time. I have since checked the substantive details with accurate sources and have no reason to doubt it, other than the official base journal reports the plane in question to be a Mustang III and the a/c to be a man. As both types of aircraft were present at the base when the incident took place, both are possible.

The tale was first told to me by an old lady in the snug (a small cosy room) of a pub in Hereford one Winter evening, with the crackle of a log fire, the thud of darts and the muffled click of a cribbage board for background. I'm not sure I can do it justice on the Interweb (or whatever it's called), but here goes...

RAF Rednal was not far from a POW camp at Oswestry (where I believe Dit lives). On February 19th 1945 a number of German POWs escaped and that night one of them managed to get into the nearby RAF base. He conceived a plan to steal a plane and fly home, got into the cockpit of a single seat fighter, was unable to start the engine and, probably exhausted, fell asleep. At about 06.30 the next morning Aircraftswoman Margery Lamb* was detailed to refuel and prepare the 'plane (whatever it was) for a training operation. It was a cold, misty morning and the wing of the 'plane was covered in ice. As she pushed back the canopy the sleeping German airman awoke suddenly.

There then followed an international contest to see who could be the most startled. Young Margery was a clear winner, screaming loudly, losing her footing and sliding down the wing onto the ground. Her screams brought her colleagues running and the young LW officer made no attempt to escape, appearing most concerned for the welfare of the young WAAF. As Margery was taken to off to the sick bay, there was a lot of clicking of heels and saluting of various kinds between the German and his captors. The Group Captain commanding the base subsequently invited him to the officers mess, where he was given breakfast to await the arrival of the MP guard.

Although the LW flier couldn't speak English and no-one on the base could speak German, he made it clear that he was concerned about the welfare of the young WAAF and that he would like to apologise to her. Margery was duly brought forward and 'feeling very stupid and out of place' joined him at breakfast (it would have been quite a priviledge for an OR to be in the officers' mess). Although in later life she described him as, 'gorgeous...very tall and blond' and mentioned that he kept jumping up and bowing to her and clicking his heels, she was only too glad to finish her cocoa and rejoin her mates.

She was, by the way, adamant that the 'plane was a Spitfire and, as an aircraftswoman, she would know. As all of this was witnessed by a number of people (with the exception of the two 'meeting' in the 'plane) I am reasonably confident that the facts are as described. I feel that the official base record was probably based on some unchecked assumptions and, if it is wrong about the 'plane, I think it can be wrong about the gender of one of the main protagonists. Maybe there's a lesson there for researchers into archives...


* As she subequently married and acquired another name I feel I am not giving away her identify.

 

[dit dah]

That's pretty much how I heard it from the folks around here.

RAF Rednal was not far from a POW camp at Oswestry (where I believe Dit lives).

Actually I escaped from there, dressed in a shell suit and training shoes lol

I live in Rednal, more or less opposite the old base.