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Sound of Spit-fire after 70 years
in bog
11.11.11
by Linda McGrory
DEFENCE Force weapons personnel at Athlone have
managed to preserve a WWII Spitfire machine gun so
expertly it has fired after 70 years buried in an
Inishowen bog.
It was one of six Browning guns excavated from the
hillside in Gleneely in June and taken to Irish Army
HQ to be made safe.
Lt Colonel Dave Sexton and his ordnance team
painstakingly cleaned the weapons and repaired
pieces that were damaged when the RAF fighter plane
crashed at 350mph into Glenshinney Bog, Moneydarragh,
in November, 1941
Its US pilot, Roland 'Bud' Wolfe managed to eject
from the plane but parachuted into a diplomatic
storm in neutral Irish territory. |
Earlier this week,
aviation historian, Jonny McNee, who discovered the
wreck on the Inishowen peninsula, travelled with
historian, Dan Snow, and a BBC television crew to Co
Westmeath for the test firing. Mr McNee said it was
a “momentous” day for everyone involved. The gun
successfully fired both modern ammunition as well as
rounds of original bullets excavated with the plane
on the day.
"When I heard the burst of gunfire, the hairs stood
on the back of my neck.
"We don't know of any other guns from an aircraft
involved in such a high-speed crash that were made
to fire again. I was privileged to fire the last
shots that will ever come out of the gun,” said Mr
McNee.
The Spitfire, paid for by wealthy Canadian
industrialist, Garfield Weston, during the Battle of
Britain, was remarkably well preserved in the
oxygen-free Donegal peat. |
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Aviation historian, Jonny McNee and
his son Dylan (9), during the test firing of the
WWII Spitfire machine gun at Irish Army HQ in
Athlone, Co Westmeath, on November 8. |
Lt Colonel Sexton
yesterday praised his munitions specialists for
their expert restoration of the historic weapons.
They have now been made safe for display.
"It was amazing to see how well the gun fired. I
thought we might get a round off and have to adjust
it again, but at one stage it fired 47 rounds in a
single burst," he told Inishowen News.
"The guns had survived remarkably intact. People
will now be able to see them in a museum as part of
the plane's overall story." |
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Irish Defence Force personnel who
worked on the preservation of the World War II
Spitfire machine guns. |
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Mr McNee donated two of
the six machine guns to the officers' mess in
Athlone as a mark of appreciation for the Defence
Forces’ work. It is hoped the other four will be
displayed shortly in Derry. |
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