Dear Sir. An old friend of mine, a Mr.L.Davis, has given me details of his experiences of this incident. His late father, a Mr. Edwin George Davis, rented North Holton Farm ( O.S.Map Ref. 958 927 ) from the Lees' Estate during the WW 2 years. His Sons, Leslie and Arthur were also there, and it was onto this farmland that the aircraft came down. North Holton Farmhouse was situated on the same side of the, then, main road A35 ( Now the B3067 ), as the Baker's Arms pub, about 300 Yards to the East. The rear of the property,which is still extant looks out on what is still known as 'Runway Field'. Leslie tells me that, he, and his Brother, were the first to reach the aircraft, and, in fact, Leslie was the first to speak to the radio operator, telling him where they had landed. He also remembers that the turrets' guns were still covered in protective oiled / waxed tape or cloth. To add to this, he tells me that the crew were billeted within the Baker's Arms while the 'plane was being repaired, and they were more than generous in keeping him, his Brother and their mates with the biggest supply of 'candy' he has ever seen. Further to the above, Leslie has discovered that the same radio operator he spoke to, all that time ago, re-visited the U.K. about 4 years ago, whereupon the Veteran aviator paid a special visit to the Baker's Arms to which he donated copies of the details his wartime exploits via the Landlord. Leslie and I are hoping to pay the pub a visit ourselves, sometime soon. Yours sincerely, F. Robertson. ( Frank )
The field refered to is shown below - first as it was in the 1940s shortly after the war , and below the area as it is now. The red X marks the approx location of North Holton Farmhouse.
