P-38 Mustang 44-13338 near Thixendale.
On 13th January 1945 the pilot of this Mustang based at the Air Gunnery School (/No.3 Gunnery Training Flight, USAAF) at Catfoss was undertaking a training flight and was making a series of passes on a Wellington as part of a fighter affiliation exercise when the engine of the Mustang cut out at 1000ft. The pilot attempted to re-start the engine but this failed so he baled out at a low height. The aircraft had entered thick cloud by the time he left the aircraft and the height he left the aircraft is recorded as being at only 250 feet in the USAAF accident records. He struck the tail-plane of the Mustang sustaining a broken femur and was probably luck to survive given the height he left the aircraft. The aircraft crashed close to Fotherdale Farm, Thixendale at 14.10hrs and some of the farm buildings were slightly damaged as a result of this incident. The pilot landed a short distance away from his wrecked aircraft in snow but survived, he was taken into the farmhouse to await rescue.
Pilot - 1Lt Raymond Joseph Kensik USAAF (O-721425). Injured.
Searching the internet for the pilot's name, it is likely that he was born in March 1923 and died in Clermont, Lake County, Floirda in November 1999. He is buried in the Florida National Cemetery, Sumter South, Florida. I thank his grand-daughter for contacting me in the early days of this website.