Dakota Mk III KG429
On the 5th June 1944, Dakota MkIII KG429 left the main runway at Blakehill, bound for Normandy, flown by Warrant Officer M. M. McCannell (Captain) Flight Sergeant A. R. Porter (2nd Pilot), Flight Sergeant A T Downing (Navigator) and Warrant Officer N I Berger (Wireless Operator). The aircraft left ground at 23:16 - the crew never returned.
Source material - www.ww2talk.com "The Douglas DC-3 struck by flak from guns in the Canal shipyard crashed close by Saint-Martin Church in Colombelles. Except for the one survivor (CSM [Company Sergeant Major] Jones) all on board were killed and buried in a communal grave near the church. In 1952 their remains were moved to the military cemetery at Ranville."
This source is backed up by an entry in the logs of 233 Squadron from the pilot of KG448 Captain F/L Cody;
The loss of Dakota Mk III KG429 and NEW INFORMATION on the only survivor
One man did survive - Sqt Leslie Jones. I have been contacted by his great grandson Blaine Dohertry who was able to send me photos with the help of his nan and whose story we can publish for the first time here.
"From what my nan recalls he was standing at the door of the plane ready to send the troops out of the plane when it was hit and it catapulted him out of the plane" he explains.
Sergeant major Jones of the 8th battalion parachute regiment was indeed the only survivor, and he joined up with another Dakota crew and having been captured and then escaping from enemy hands, served with the marquis (The Maquis French pronunciation: [maki] which were rural guerrilla bands of French and Belgian Resistance fighters, called maquisards, during World War II) for several months, where he was finally channelled through an escape route to England.
He later married Violet Jeanette Hammond, they had 3 children Roger Paul and Maureen he sadly passed away in 1988. Blaine goes on to explain "Nan had seen the 20 franc note that was signed by all of the French resistance men who shielded him. Her brother had the note but he passed away quite young but she said his widow would still have the note somewhere. It transpires that he and his wife actually lived a few doors down from where me and my partner bought our first house and currently live. Very small world indeed.""My nan still has his airborne badge she always wore with so much pride........"
My thanks to Blaine for sharing this information, and contributing to the RAF Blakehill Farm story