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Posts: 525
By: xtangomike - 29th October 2012 at 15:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Will it all be in the bo.............k then?
Posts: 258
By: pat1968 - 29th October 2012 at 19:32 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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.
By: Anonymous - 30th October 2012 at 10:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If a book were ever written, I suspect that much of it would be quite hard to believe!
Posts: 9,780
By: David Burke - 30th October 2012 at 12:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
A work of fact that reads like fiction! Sounds like a best seller to me!
Posts: 722
By: Flying_Pencil - 1st November 2012 at 23:03 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Quite shameful.
Might as well be 400 year ago the way many thing of how "distant" WW2 is
Posts: 258
By: pat1968 - 2nd November 2012 at 17:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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."
Posts: 8,976
By: TonyT - 2nd November 2012 at 18:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
My reply
Posts: 5,196
By: Rocketeer - 2nd November 2012 at 18:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
nothing heard from my MP or the PM
Posts: 1,020
By: PeterVerney - 2nd November 2012 at 20:19 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Ditto
Posts: 83
By: Steve Newman - 5th November 2012 at 13:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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
By: Anonymous - 5th November 2012 at 17:13 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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.
Posts: 254
By: waghorn41 - 5th November 2012 at 19:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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
Posts: 8,976
By: TonyT - 5th November 2012 at 20:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Well he seems concerned and not a straight forward standard response, good on him and I hope he can help.
By: Anonymous - 5th November 2012 at 21:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The first sentence is puzzling, if not a little ambiguous.
Posts: 2,982
By: Mark V - 5th November 2012 at 22:20 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Andy - that is rather wonderful I must say.Posts: 8,976
By: TonyT - 6th November 2012 at 01:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thank you for your email?
By: Anonymous - 6th November 2012 at 07:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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.
Posts: 2,122
By: l.garey - 6th November 2012 at 10:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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?
Posts: 52
By: qattara - 12th November 2012 at 12:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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
Posts: 10,029
By: Mark12 - 12th November 2012 at 13:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
That appears to be the main Sutton Harness rather than the parachute.
Image- Historicflyingclothing
Mark