Hopes are rising that the riddle surrounding a Castle Douglas wartime flier killed in action
over Belgium is closer to being solved.
Squadron Leader Patrick Gifford was shot down over Hamme-Mille by a German fighter plane on May 16, 1940 and died when his Hurricane crash-landed in a field.
It’s thought Royal Engineers retreating to Dunkirk recovered the 30-year-old’s body from the wreckage – but the whereabouts of his grave remains unconfirmed.
Untangling the puzzle has been complicated by the distance between where the Hurricane was reported being hit mid-air and the crash site.
But now investigator Gordon MacKerracher believes there’s been a breakthrough after a Belgian archaeologists he’s working with discovered multiple wreckage fragments in a field.
Gordon, who has spent 24 years trying to prove an unmarked and unnamed memorial stone in a Belgian cemetery marks Pat Gifford’s final resting place, now has military historians examining the evidence.
He told the News: “The archeological team in Belgium, Bombe, has discovered remains of what we believe is Pat Gifford’s Hurricane.
“There are a couple of hundred artefacts retrieved which are being cleaned and examined.
“All the research over the last 24 years is now with Air Historical Branch (AHB) at RAF Northolt and they are investigating our findings.”
The search has caught the attention of the media and archaeological team leader Dirk van Melkebecke was interviewed on Belgian national radio on Tuesday, a week after the 83rd anniversary of the Galloway pilot’s death.
Gordon, 67, from Ratho, said: “There were bits of wreckage spread all over the field. Most of it was one to two feet down and they know it’s the Hurricane – the problem is matching it up with Pat.
“Things are gathering pace but it’s slow.
“I’m glad the AHB has picked up the story because they have direct access to all the archives.”
Gordon’s research shows that Pat Gifford’s plane was shot down over Hamme-Mille, around 45 kilometres from Brussels.
The aircraft’s speed and momentum carried it some miles to Ressegem, where it hit the ground and broke up.
“We have researched every Hurricane that crashed in the area on that day,” Gordon said.
“And everything points to that plane being Pat Gifford’s.
“It is the only one that is not accounted for – it’s the last crash site and has never had a name put on it.”
He added: “We believe Royal Engineers who were part of the British Expeditionary Force trying to get to Dunkirk retrieved his body from the plane.
“They carried him half a mile to the churchyard at Ressegem where it was handed over to the parish priest for burial.
“The stone was removed from the graveside and laid against a wall – it is still there to this day.
“The body was exhumed and re-interred at the British War Cemetery at Heverlee, near Brussels, in 1954.
“But the inscription on the cross there only states ‘An airman of the 1939-1945 war. Royal Air Force May 16th, 1940.’”
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) after becoming the first pilot to shoot down a German bomber over Scotland.
