Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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Operation: Training formation practice.
Date: 11th December 1941
Unit: No. 412 Squadron (Canadian)
Type: Spitfire VB
Serial: AD291
Code: VZ-H
Location: Roxholme Hall, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Pilot: P/O. John Gillespie Magee J/5823 RCAF Age 19. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
On the way back to RAF Wellingore, P/O. Magee’s Spitfire came out of the mist at about 400 feet and collided in mid-air with an RAF Cranwell based, Oxford trainer.
Both aircraft crashed near to Roxholme Hall just outside Seaford.
Back at base that evening the station commander ordered all pilots to attend a lecture on flight safety and watch a film entitled 'Caution in flying'.
His poem (shown right) is also written in our Poetry section.
Left: Grave at Scopwick Church.
Burial Details:P/O. John Gillespie Magee. Scopwick Church Burial Ground. Row. 3. Grave 33. Son of John Gillespie Magee and Faith Backhouse Magee, of Washington, D.C., USA.
With thanks to the following: The C.W.G.C. 'Fighter Command Losses' - Norman Franks.
His gravestone reads some words from his now famous poem:
'Oh, I have slipped
the surly bonds of earth
put out my hand
and touched the face of God'.
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Last Modified: 09 March 2017, 17:29