Flt Sgt Copping's P-40 From The Egyptian Desert

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Member for

17 years 10 months

Posts: 525

Perhaps so.

doubtless will be revealed when the full story of the actual P40 and its recovery is told.

.

Will it all be in the bo.............k then?

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 258

Will we actually ever know the true story of the aircraft ? The details are going to be a degree of guesswork as to why the aircraft ended up where it is and the sad fate of the pilot unless there is any kind of documentation found written by him at the time.

I think this is a very good point. It very much depends on the work carried out prior and during the recovery. Unfortunately some well meaning individuals moved some of the components nearer to the main body of the aircraft in an effort to keep them together. I know that quattara and his team took GPS co-ordinates of the crash site prior to the recovery. What other information has been gathered remains to be seen. But as you say much will be guesswork and conjecture. One thing that interested me was to know if the compass was indicating correctly, if it was indicating incorrectly it may explain the error in course. It may have been a simple error compounded by the damage to the aircraft. Fatigue and combat stress there was an awful lot going on at the time. Hopefully some of those questions will be answered in due course. I suspect we will never have a full picture of exactly what happened.

Will it all be in the bo.............k then?

If a book were ever written, I suspect that much of it would be quite hard to believe!

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 9,780

A work of fact that reads like fiction! Sounds like a best seller to me!

Member for

13 years 6 months

Posts: 722

Quite shameful.

Might as well be 400 year ago the way many thing of how "distant" WW2 is

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 258

Quite shameful.

Might as well be 400 year ago the way many thing of how "distant" WW2 is

I think for me the logic is fairly simple. This is within living memory. There are members of the Copping family who are still alive, who met him and remember him. Also a number of his squadron mates are still alive and remember him and the incident. I don't think i would be remiss by saying that they would all very much like to see his remains recovered and given a decent burial. Servicemen are all very much aware that 'it could have been you!' It also serves as timely reminder that many of us still feel, very much that we owe them a great deal for the sacrifices that were made on our behalf. Don't forget that the survivors paid a heavy price too. As Plato said "only the dead see the end of the war."

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

My reply

> Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 13:19:19 +0000
Dear Mr T,

Thank you for your e-mail. I will contact the Veterans Minister and
ask him to respond to the points that you raise.

Kind Regards,

Andrew Bridgen

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

nothing heard from my MP or the PM

Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 1,020

nothing heard from my MP or the PM

Ditto

Member for

13 years 7 months

Posts: 83

I have a meeting with a very sympathetic and reliable minister very shortly and will add this on to the agenda.

I spend many hours of my own time, raising funds, restoring war memorials and visiting schools teaching about the importance of remembrance and if the very people who are employed to do this and look after such cases cannot be bothered, what hope for those we try to teach its importance?

Disgraceful

Steve

Thank you, Steve.

I look after our village war memorial and after re-planting the flower beds for Remembrance Week I today planted a poppy cross for Flt Sgt Dennis Copping.

Interestingly, a local stopped by and read the name. Straight away, he knew that he was "...the pilot of the P40 in the desert".

At least he isn't forgotten.

Member for

13 years

Posts: 255

After a couple of emails to my MP, Michael Ellis, and pointing him to this thread I received this:
Dear Ian,

Thank you for your email.

It was my understanding that the Ministry of Defence do not believe it to be Flight Sergeant Copping due to several factors including the locations of the bones, the aircraft and the parachute. If they have not made this determination, I believe they should.

I know the MoD are in touch with the family and if anything happens they will be notified immediately. The MoD treats lost servicemen and women very seriously and I have every faith they will handle this specific matter with the family with the utmost respect it deserves.

I am a proud advocate and passionate defender of HM Armed Forces and was in fact at an RAF event in Parliament last night. However I intend to make some enquiries about this matter with a Defence Minister and will pass on your concerns regarding Flt. Sgt. Copping.

If I can be of assistance in any further matter please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Yours sincerely,

Michael

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

Well he seems concerned and not a straight forward standard response, good on him and I hope he can help.

The first sentence is puzzling, if not a little ambiguous.

Member for

20 years 9 months

Posts: 2,982

Interestingly, a local stopped by and read the name. Straight away, he knew that he was "...the pilot of the P40 in the desert".

At least he isn't forgotten.

Andy - that is rather wonderful I must say.

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

The first sentence is puzzling, if not a little ambiguous.

Thank you for your email?

No. Obviously not, Tony. I meant this:

"It was my understanding that the Ministry of Defence do not believe it to be Flight Sergeant Copping due to several factors including the locations of the bones, the aircraft and the parachute."

Is he making a statement based on his own assessment of the situation, or is it based on information he has been furnished by the MOD?

I am not quite sure which way to read it.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,123

I agree Andy. Is the MOD in the 19th century? How can they say that without microscopy and DNA, as we have said so often?

Member for

11 years 10 months

Posts: 52

hello all
say that the compass did not indicate exactly the bow, maybe it was blocked or broken by the impact of violence.
we found the remains of safety belts (or parachute) Cut and the report of Qattara are obvious.
I repeat, was not undertaken any excavation in the vicinity of the bones.
has not been touched or changed anything.
in the hope of an honest and honorable outcome of the story greeting.
us, however, we

Attachments

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 10,029

That appears to be the main Sutton Harness rather than the parachute.

Image- Historicflyingclothing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/SuttonHarnessHistoricflyingclothing.jpg

Mark