News Archive for June 1943

On the 4th June 1943 a Spitfire (serial AR512) took off from RAF Culmhead in Taunton the pilot was Jaroslav Cermak, the flight included several other aircraft their instructions were to practice mock attack on trains passing the Taunton area.

Around 10:15 train carrying passengers and Wrens was heading from Plymouth towards Taunton when Cermak approached the train from the air he dived to practice the mock attack when his right wing clipped one of the carriages injuring serval passengers and Wrens, his aircraft rolled into the field beyond killing the pilot instantly.

The crash site of the spitfire was near Bradford on Tone on the outskirts of Taunton, and is located on private land. The Great Western Railway have no record of an accident on that date (as wartime incidents were often not recorded). Reference has been made to a book from an author called L T C Rolt who wrote ‘Red for danger’ which has provided no information on the incident, and the Somerset Records Office holds no newspaper clippings from this date. Railway Forms have also not provided any leads. As was the case in wartime Britian the incident may not have been recorded, or documents destroyed.

The identity of the steam locomotive hauling the train is also a mystery. There is a report that one of the Wrens who was injured was taken to the Hospital in East Reach but efforts to tract further information through the Wrens records office in Liverpool confirmed that the records from that period were destroyed.

Research of a railway timetable from the year does show a train service from Plymouth which matched the time of the accident, evidence from the 67th Maintenance unit based at Culmhead do have records to show the RAF were at the crash site, and the pilot ROB (Operation Records Book) from his squadron states Jaroslav Cermak was killed in an accident involving a train.