80 years ago today, on Saturday 17th April 1943, the residents of Guildford witnessed an unfortunate collision between two RAF Mustangs, an incident that caused the deaths of the two pilots, Dirk De Kretser and Philip Price.

First thing this morning I met with historian and writer, David Rose, who you may recall I also spoke to a few years ago on the 75th anniversary of another crash in the Guildford area, that of Lilly Bell II.

After a short walk visiting some of the remaining Dragon’s Teeth anti-tank defences, and an air raid shelter on the edge of a recreation ground, David and I turned towards Stoke Park….

Grave of D B De Kretser
Brookwood Military Cemetery

Many thanks to David Rose, who tells me that the book that we mentioned, Guildford the War Years 1939-45, is sadly no longer ‘in print’, but copies can occasionally be found on ebay. I have to say that it really does give a good snapshot of the town at the time, lots of great photographs and many personal recollections of places and events. I’m glad I already have my copy!

[Our recording session has now also featured on the Guildford Dragon website.]

If you’d like to hear the rest of our walk, it is now on the Walks Through Time podcast at https://cyclops.info/blog/2023/04/wtt-podcast-wartime-guildford-80-years-since-mustangs-collide/.

Now, at the Wings Museum we are always keen to point out that it is important to remember the peoples of all the nations that were involved in the Second World War, not just the British, not just the Allies, but also the Germans… We talk to author Chris Goss.

Chris’s many books, often focussing on Luftwaffe aircraft and pilots, are available from all of the usual places, published by Pen and Sword.

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