On the 3rd of December 1944, Flight Officer William Warfield returns to his base, the RCAF 421 (Red Indian) Sqn near Brussels. Warfield is piloting a Spitfire IX (serial MK232) and runs out of fuel shortly before arriving at his destination. His airplane crashes on a field south of Nivelles. The 21 year old pilot doesn’t survive the crash and today rests at Evere cemetery.
Almost 76 years later, the crash site is once more uncovered by Nicolas Clinaz with the approval of the Agence Wallone du Patrimoine. It’s hard to catch the spirit of the day in words. As Nicolas rightly puts it: it is like opening a time capsule and travelling back for a couple of hours. To end the day, Belgium’s last flying Spitfire passed over the site to honour the late F/O Warfield.
We were thrilled to support Nicolas in his search and to be part of this remarkable experience. The remains of the Spitfire will be displayed in a local museum.
The discovery attracted the national press, the article as well as the video can be found on the RTBF site (in French).
