Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIA P7295 of No.61 OTU RAF, crashed on Cadair Berwyn on the 14th December 1942

 

Pierre Louis Rene Degail (Free French AF) Sergeant Pilot Died

 

Sergeant Degail took off from RAF Rednal near Oswestry on a local training flight, at some point in the flight his aircraft struck the very top of Cadair Berwyn. He survived the crash but had broken both legs and was unable to exit the aircraft, died of exposure before help arrived. When the aircraft failed to return to Rednal a search was started, but poor weather prevented aircraft from searching most of the high ground. The following day after the weather had cleared a bit aircraft began an aerial search of the high ground, one of them a No.61 OTU Lysander was destroyed on Cadair Bronwen after flying into a strong down draught on the leeward side of the mountain.

Crash site of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIA P7295 on Cadair Berwyn
A photo showing the area in which the aircraft crashed, Alan is stood where we found some very small fragments of wreckage.
Rolls Royce Merlin engine recovered from the crash site of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIA P7295 on Cadair Berwyn, displayed at the Wartime Aircraft Recovery Group museum at Sleap, Wem, Shropshire
The aircraft’s Rolls Royce Merlin engine lay on the hill for around 40 years before it was recovered by the Wartime Aircraft Recovery Group, and it was subsequently put on display at their museum at Sleap aerodrome near Wem in Shropshire.