Airman hanging from a tree

SummaryJim Walsh remembers as a child during WW2 discovering a dead airman. Main BodyJim Walsh while interviewing Tauranga Resident Group Captain John R Gard'ner, recalled the following memory of his own.

"
Did you have any lucky charms on your plane? Or anything? You know, some people have a red handkerchief…I recall as a boy, coming across a crash site in England and they'd landed in, er this a Messerschmitt landed in a churchyard.
I remember seeing the pilot hanging from the er… all burnt on er… members of his body hanging from the trees.
Before the police cordoned off we as young fellas, I was only say about 8, 9 or 10 at the time fossicked around and we picked up a shell, a canon shell. The head of the canon shell had been fired and it was just empty and inside it was rosary beads. So obviously the pilot was … Ah "

"no I had nothing like that" (John R Gard'ner replies)

This page archived in September of 2016:
https://perma.cc/A2D8-3FJM

Usage

AcknowledgementTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries

Relates To

EventsTauranga Memories (2011-2021) - Events

Admin

AuthorTauranga City Libraries Staff - Harley CouperArchived Kete Linkhttps://perma.cc/A2D8-3FJMType of ContributionCommunity storyTaxonomyStories | Events

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Airman hanging from a tree