Summary
Record of a Supermarine Mk2 Spitfire plane crash on Lewesdon hill on March 15th 1942. No finds from the site are known though a propeller from the crash is on display in Beaminster Museum. The precise location of the crash is unknown, though on the north side of Lewesdon Hill.
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- SPITFIRE (1942, Mid 20th C - 1932 AD to 1966 AD)
Description
Information from Mr Andrew Frampton farmer on the north side of Lewesdon Hill, concerning his late grandfather who told him about a spitfire plane crash on Lewesdon hill on March 15th 1942.
'Grandfather was in the home guard and on duty with Jack Wakely and John Studley on that fateful Sunday night.A supermarine Mk 2 spitfire was being flown from RAF Burtonwood nr Warrington to 317 squadron near Exeter by Pilot Officer Jean Verdon Marie Aime Decloedt of the RAF Belgium volunteer reserves core.It was a windy and foggy night and he crashed his plane in the trees on the north side.Part of the propellor was recovered by farmer Dudley Tolley at Wantsly Farm Stoke Abbott and now hangs in Beaminster Museum.'
Mr Frampton thought that a comemorative marker of some kind had been placed somewhere at Lewesdon but further details are unknown. Below is a more detailed account by Mr Frampton from his research.
Sunday March 15h 1942 was a very foggy day in West Dorset. On Home guard duty that day were farmers Jack Frampton and John Studley and funeral director (Jacks brother in law )Jack Wakely . Some 222 miles away at RAF Burtonwood near Warrington ,early afternoon Belgium Pilot Jean Verdon Marie Aime Decloedt was climbing into his Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb BL463 named Berar 1 which had been part donated by an Indian Organisation as part of the war effort and manufactured at Castle Bromwich aircraft factory.Jean was born in the St Giles district of London on May 31st 1916 to Belgium parents whom worked at the Belgium Embassy.
In 1940 Jean was an engineer with the Belgium regiment Aeronatique in Ostend and he left them to come to England to join the RAF Volunteer reserves with the Belgium section.He trained at RAF Sealand near Chester with no.5 flying school but for some medical reason he was not able to join operational squadrons and ended up at 37 maintenance unit Burtonwood delivering new and repaired Spitfires as replacements around the country.
Unbeknown to him as he took off from Burtonwood that day the Polish 317 squadron in Exeter had lost 20 planes that day mostly due to being unable to find their temporary mobile airfield which was bathed like most of the South West in thick fog.
At 18:15 above the village of Broadwindsor in West Dorset a planes engine was heard spluttering and shortly afterwards crashed into the wooded north facing hillside of Lewesdon Hill killing the pilot on impact .Armed with only sticks Jack,John and Jack made their way up to the hill to investigate not knowing if they would find German airman on the run .John's cap kept blowing off as it was a very windy evening much to the amusement of the others. When they reached the hill they found the body of Jean Decloedt. The report of the crash was kept very much under wraps as not to damage local morale. His body was taken to Bridport hospital mortuary and later buried at Brookwood cemetery Surrey ,before being repatriated to Brussels on October 20th 1949.
The day after the crash Broadwindsor school children skipped off school to visit the site and one young farmer and home guard Dudley Tolley from Stoke Knapp farm managed to find one of the three Jablo propellers which he kept under his bed for 75 years and now hangs in the Beaminster Museum.
Jean's story had been forgotten until this year and his name was read out on Remembrance Sunday in Broadwindsor Church .
Designations
None Recorded
Other Statuses and References
- Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Associated Events
None Recorded
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded