The Packard Merlin engine and propeller from a P-51D Mustang have been donated to Sywell Aviation Museum for restoration and display
On November 16, members of the Northamptonshire attraction visited the Fenland and West Norfolk Aviation Museum to collect these significant exhibits.
North American P-51D 44-13992 Olivia De was assigned on July 11, 1944 to the 77th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, based at RAF Kings Cliffe, Northants. Her original pilot Capt Joseph McKeon was a close friend of actress Olivia de Havilland and named his aircraft after her.
1st Lt Harry Knapp joined the 77th on September 18, 1944. Nine days later he was flying ‘992’ as part of a four-aircraft formation on a local training flight – while diving the aircraft lost a wing and crashed at 1646hrs one mile south-east of Yaxley, near Peterborough, then in Northamptonshire. Knapp unfortunately suffered fatal injuries. After the war Knapp's remains were returned to the US and he is buried in Fort Gibson Cemetery, Oklahoma.
What survived of the aircraft were recovered by the Fenland Aviation Museum in the 1980s. Sadly, Fenland closed at the end of October 2022 but it has donated the Mustang’s engine, propeller and associated items to Sywell. It means that the Mustang – or what remains of it – has returned to Northamptonshire, some 78 years after it took off from there for the last time. WITH THANKS TO BEN BROWN
