Flight of Spitfire IX NH452 and Flight Sergeant P Carbutts on 1944-08-18
On 1944-08-18, Pilot P Carbutts (Flight Sergeant, RAF) with an unknown servicenumber, flew a Spitfire IX with serial NH452 for this duty: Recce. His mission was not completed. Circumstances of the aircraft loss are unknown. This aircraft was a part of squadron no. 132. The location for the map is the English Channel. Circumstances at the end of this mission for Carbutts: he died, but circumstances of death are unknown. There is no commemoration location known.
Tony Corbett: Peter Carbutt died 9 Apr 2015. From Peter's Obiuary: Peter was in the air cadets at school. He joined the RAF at the start the start of World War II. After the D-day landings he was flying Spitfires on 132 (Bombay) Squadron, based in Northern France. It was a ‘seek and attack’ squadron which meant that, quite literally, the pilots went out looking for the enemy. His aircraft was hit by ground fire, causing severe damage. He managed to fly back towards allied lines and crash land. The entry in his log book simply states – “Shot down by enemy”. Peter
suffered a broken back, but eventually made a full recovery. The RAF’s own record reports that Flt Sgt Carbutt was flying Spitfire NH452 on an armed recce mission in the Fleury Harcourt area, when he was brought down by enemy fire and was seen to crash land and the aircraft burst into flames. He was initially posted as missing but eventually returned to the UK in Nov 44.
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