Replica Spitfire installation at site of war crash
A REPLICA Spitfire is set to be installed on part of what was a Northumberland airfield to commemorate the 80th anniversary of an air crash.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk IA R6762 was part of 57 Operational Training Unit at Eshott, training pilots during World War Two. The aircraft was being flown by Norwegian pilot, Sergeant Kai Arthur Knagenhjelm, on April 12, 1944 when it collided with an American Thunderbolt.
Sergeant Knagenhjelm, 19, had been carrying out practice attacks with a fellow Spitfire pilot above 5,000 feet for 30 minutes, then completing further acrobatics above 8,000 feet.
On returning to RAF Eshott, he was in a circuit awaiting instructions to land.
However, First Lieutenant Anthony Serapiglia from the Air Force, based at RAF Milfield, had disobeyed orders and was flying in the opposite direction, colliding head-on with the Spitfire.
Entering a flat spin, the Spitfire was
ablaze and crashed at Blawearie Field at Eshott Home Farm.
The Thunderbolt lost a wing, burst into flames and spun to the ground south of Eshott Airfield. Both pilots lost their lives in the collision.
On the 80th anniversary of the crash yesterday on Friday, a replica of the Spitfire was unveiled in its new home at
Northumberland Woodland Burials and Crematorium.
The site is part of what was once RAF Eshott, with the replica being placed on one of the former Spitfire concrete tie-downs. During the unveiling ceremony, Durham Northumberland Wing RAF Cadets performed a commemorative parade, followed by words from Sarah Price and Margaret Weaver,