Operation: Training

Date: 22nd January 1942 (Thursday)

Unit No: 609 Squadron

Type: Spitfire VB

Serial: AB188

Code: PR:Y

Base: RAF Digby, Lincolnshire

Location: Over Blankney, Lincolnshire

Pilot: Flt Lt. Jean ‘Pyker’ Henri Marie Offenberg DFC 82517 RAFVR Age 26. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

During training over Lincolnshire the squadron were subjected to mock attacks from pilots of 92 Squadron.

In a mock attack a 92 Sqn Spitfire, AD229, flown by FFAF pilot Sgt. de Renzi collided with Flt Lt. Offenberg's Spitfire cutting off its tail which then out of control, crashed in the village of Blankey, killing the pilot.

Sgt. Godfrey de Renzi 1295396 RAFVR aged 18 was killed in the crash of his aircraft. He is buried at the Hampstead Cemetery Section M.6, Grave 95. Son of Leonard and Ann de Renzi, of St. John's Wood.

During his service he kept a diary of his life which, later in 1956 was published as ’Lonely Warrior’ - still available today. Edited by Victor Houart. "The Few: no words of praise can ever be too high for them. Jean Offenberg was one of their number, and his own brilliant story is a searing record of how it felt to be a pilot in those dangerous days. He left his native Belgium in 1940 to join the RAF - a handful of Hurricanes and Spitfires endlessly hurling themselves against a relentless enemy. The grim task of holding off the invader affected him deeply.

With hands calloused by the controls of the Spitfire, he scribbled down his eye-witness accounts of the day's battles. This is the story he wrote - the story of a lone fighter living out his brief life in the certain knowledge that the scales of death were loaded against him..." The diary of a Belgian DFC winner and Squadron Leader serving in the RAF, whose diary was published when it was found after his death in the war.

Flt Lt. Offenberg was the first Belgian pilot to be awarded the DFC for his service.

During his service in the Aerornautique Militaire, 4/II/2 Sqn (Fiat GR42) and RAF Sqns 145 (Hurricane I/Spitfire IIB) and 609 (Spitfire VB) he was credited with 5 enemy aircraft destroyed with 2 shared, a further 5 probables and 5 damaged with 2 shared. (Credit: ACES HIGH, Volume 1 – Christopher Shores)

Flt Lt. Frank H. Ziegler, the intelligence officer of 609 Squadron, wrote a poem for Jeans epitaph.

Burial details

There is a memorial in Brussels to Belgian pilots lost in the Battle of Britain. It is placed in a square named for Jean Offenberg.

Flt Lt. Jean Henri Marie Offenberg DFC. Initially buried at Scopwick Cemetery on the 26th January 1942 - reinterred after war end at the Brussels town cemetery Belgian Airmen's Field of Honour. Grave 25. Born in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium on the 3rd July 1916. Next of Kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Josette Bens and Mr. Alain Rosseels for further information and photographs. Also to Jack Brook for detailed information. With many thanks to Jack Brook (RAF historian) (Aug 2015). Thanks to Dirk Broer for the information about the fate of Sgt. de Renzi. Further updates by Aircrew Remembered (Aug 2024)

Other sources listed below:

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