Allied – Lockheed P – 38 Lightning 2

At the end of December 1943, a second Lockheed Lightning belonging to the 20th Fighter Group was involved in an accident while trying to land at Somerton.After completing one of the longest bomber escort missions of the war, the P38 was down to its last few drops of gasoline. After taking off from Kingscliffe, which is located in Northants, it had been on a mission over Bordeaux during a journey that covered a total of 1300 miles round trip. The mission’s aeroplanes were all in the same boat: they were running short on fuel and needed to arrive as soon as possible. As a result, several of the planes were now rerouting their flights to land at alternate runways.

Captain Richard C. Garrett, the pilot, was making an approach when he took the split-second decision to overshoot the target and do a U-turn. As he was drawing up, his run of good luck came to an end, and the engines died. This indicated that he was rapidly approaching the surface of the earth.

The aircraft came to a stop in the wooded area known as Ruffins Copse, which is located to the west of the airstrip. The workers raced to the site of the accident and assisted the unharmed Garrett in exiting the aircraft in a secure manner prior to the aircraft bursting into flames.

It is said that after this occurrence, an aircraft from the 20th Fighter Group flew low over the field and dropped packages of cigarettes as a thank you gesture to the soldiers who aided Captain Garrett. This was done as a result of the incident.

Note: All images are merely representative of the aircraft and not specific.

• All images are of similar aircraft and not the specific plane in question
• Wight Air Wrecks – A T Gilliam ISBN 0-7524-2376-2
• Battle in the Skies – H J Leal (IWCP)