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* Report: July 15th, 2023: The Belgians Parade to the London Cenotaph *

RAF aircraft's crash sites in Province of Oost-Vlanderen:
Crash arisen outside of borders: Breskens (NL)

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Last update: 25/06/23


Elegy to
the Heroes of Silence


* To the 349 Squadron *
* To the crew of PT841 *
* To the monument erected in remembrance *
* Cemetery where rest the crew *

Crash site of Spitfire PT841
19/10/1944

aircraft
crest raf squadron
Unit: 349 Squadron
Aircraft: Spitfire
Code: PT841
Base:
Mission: Bresken
Crew officer: DE SAINT AUBAIN, CAMILLE ALBERT JOSEPH
Incident: Shot down by Flak

Location: (Prov. Oost Vlanderen)

crash

Facts

Camille de Saint-Aubin was born in Croydon, British at the end of World War I, the son of refugees from Deinze, and the family returned to the liberated country shortly after his birth.
He started a career as an officer at the Military School, and thus ended up in the First Regiment of Jagers on Foot.
At that time the mobilization was in full swing, and he then took part in the Eighteen Day Campaign, until he was taken prisoner of war at Vijvekapelle during the surrender. The 22-year-old officer was already released during December of the same year.
He stayed in occupied Belgium for exactly one year. Via Nancy, Montpellier, Toulouse, Barcelona and Lisbon he arrived in Gibralter, British, from where he arrived in Glasgow in July 1942. His escape had lasted six months.
Camille de Saint Aubin immediately chose a new career in the Air Force and was sent to Canada for training.
On August 8, 1944 he was included in the number of 349 Squadron, which, like the 350th, flew Spitfires.
During the month of October 1944 they assisted in the relief of Walcheren and Zeeland. They started on the 19th in the morning to support the operation at Breskens.
On the return flight, they heard Pilot Officer de Saint Aubin report over the radio that the oil pressure was at zero - probably flak or gunfire above Retranchement.
He tried to reach the Allied lines - if he slowed down, he should succeed. But it still flew at only 500 meters. A few meters within the boundary of his country, he crashed his Spitfire PT841 on a field on the Zandstraat.
Camille de Saint Aubin was first buried there, later his grave was transferred to the family cellar in the Deinze cemetery.

crash

The grave of Camille de Saint-Aubin

Sources:
De Vrijheid in Zicht
The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
Aircrew Remembered
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