Model memories of air battle
Title
Model memories of air battle
Description
Account of two 10 Squadron airmen being reunited with their aircraft after 54 years. Kevin Murphy and Philip Jenkinson met to admire a model of their Halifax made from wreckage of their aircraft. Gives account of their bail out and evading. Notes they they tried to find crash site previously but failed due to un-cooperative locals. Model was made from melted down pieces of their Halifax.
Language
Type
Format
One page printed document
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SJenkinsonLP1316403v10060
Transcription
MODEL MEMORIES OF AIR BATTLE
Two Number 10 Squadron Second World War airman have been reunited with their aircraft - 54 years after it was shot down over Germany.
Pilot Officer Kevin Murphy of St. Albans, and Seargent [sic] Philip Jenkinson of Shebbear, Devon, met up recently to admire a unique model of their Halifax bomber made from the wreckage of their aircraft, shot down by a night fighter during a raid on Munich on 6/7 September 1943.
Kevin Murphy the navigator and Philip Jenkinson the mid upper gunner were among the five survivors who managed to parachute from the burning plane.
Kevin was first to bail out and landed between a barbed wire fence and a house. He could not bury his parachute as instructed because it was snagged on the fence. Suddenly someone appeared and said “for you the war is over!”
Philip escaped capture a little longer and made his way towards the Swiss border but he was caught nine days later at Immenstadt.
Philip returned home shortly before victory after being released by the Desert Rats. Kevin followed after the Germans capitulated.
In 1951, the two friends returned to Germany to search for their aircraft’s crash place, but were unsuccessful, due mainly to un co-operative locals! After contacting German Air Historian, Hans Grimminger of Augsberg in 1983, Philip was introduced to the site of the crash and to very friendly local people. During numerous holidays in the area he collected many small pieces of his aircraft and earlier this year decided to melt down some of these pieces, make a mould of a Halifax and have a replica cast. As far as Philip knows, this is unique, and he just had to visit Kevin to show him the aircraft and reminisce about their experiences.
Two Number 10 Squadron Second World War airman have been reunited with their aircraft - 54 years after it was shot down over Germany.
Pilot Officer Kevin Murphy of St. Albans, and Seargent [sic] Philip Jenkinson of Shebbear, Devon, met up recently to admire a unique model of their Halifax bomber made from the wreckage of their aircraft, shot down by a night fighter during a raid on Munich on 6/7 September 1943.
Kevin Murphy the navigator and Philip Jenkinson the mid upper gunner were among the five survivors who managed to parachute from the burning plane.
Kevin was first to bail out and landed between a barbed wire fence and a house. He could not bury his parachute as instructed because it was snagged on the fence. Suddenly someone appeared and said “for you the war is over!”
Philip escaped capture a little longer and made his way towards the Swiss border but he was caught nine days later at Immenstadt.
Philip returned home shortly before victory after being released by the Desert Rats. Kevin followed after the Germans capitulated.
In 1951, the two friends returned to Germany to search for their aircraft’s crash place, but were unsuccessful, due mainly to un co-operative locals! After contacting German Air Historian, Hans Grimminger of Augsberg in 1983, Philip was introduced to the site of the crash and to very friendly local people. During numerous holidays in the area he collected many small pieces of his aircraft and earlier this year decided to melt down some of these pieces, make a mould of a Halifax and have a replica cast. As far as Philip knows, this is unique, and he just had to visit Kevin to show him the aircraft and reminisce about their experiences.
Citation
“Model memories of air battle,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30641.
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