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it immediately burst into flames. I saw this
FW 190 go straight into the ground and burn.
Several minutes later while attempting to
form my section up again spotted an Fw 190
from 4,000 feet, he was at about 2,000 feet.
I dived down on him and he turned in to me from
the right. Then he flipped around in a left hand
turn and attempted a head-on attack. I slowed
down to wait for the 190 to fly in range. At about
200 yards and 20 degrees I gave a very short
burst, but couldn’t see any strikes. This a/c
flicked violently, and continued to do so until
he crashed into the ground. The remainder of
my section saw this encounter, and Yellow 4
(F/O McCracken) saw it crash in flames.”
The opponents of No. 411 Squadron were
most likely Fw 190D-9 aircraft from 9./JG 54.
Twelve "Doras" had taken off on a mission to
patrol the Rheine area, but the mission ended
in a "bloodbath." Six pilots were killed, and
two other aircraft were damaged, including
the plane of the 9th Staffel commander,
Oblt. Willi Heilmann. These losses correspond
to the claims made by the Canadian pilots.
This Staffel was part of III./JG 54 "Grünherz,"
which operated under the command of JG 26
and was redesignated IV./JG 26 in February
1945. On December 29, this experienced
Jagdgruppe suffered severe losses across
several engagements, losing at least
17 aircraft, with 13 pilots killed and two injured.
Audet proved it was no fluke during
the following month. On New Year's Day,
he contributed to the Luftwaffe's defeat
during Operation Bodenplatte with two aerial
victories, and by the end of January, he had
added six more to his tally. His final victory
came on January 23, 1945, when he achieved
a prized kill: a jet-powered Me 262. On that
day, Audet led an armed reconnaissance
mission in the Münster area, again flying the
RR201 DB
-
G. First, he destroyed an Me 262
(post-war research identifies it as an Arado
Ar 234, T9+KH, WNr. 140349) parked at an
airfield near Rheine. Five minutes later, near
Osnabrück, he encountered a lone Me 262.
It was likely WNr. 170295, piloted by Hptm.
Hans Holzwarth of 12./KG 51, and Audet
decisively sent it down in flames. The next day,
he damaged another Me 262 on the ground.
In February 1945, Audet was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his actions
on December 29, 1944, and he became the
commander of A Flight. In the following days,
No. 411 Squadron’s primary missions involved
attacking ground targets, which were heavily
defended by flak. By that time, flak had become
far more dangerous than Luftwaffe fighters,
with whom Audet no longer encountered
combat in the air. F/Lt Audet’s fate was
sealed on March 3, 1945. After returning from
a week-long leave, he took off in his Spitfire
MK950 DB
-
G with his section on an armed
reconnaissance mission in the Dinslaken-
Emmerich area. Near Coesfeld, Audet’s section
attacked an armed train, but unfortunately,
the flak crews were highly accurate, and
Audet’s Spitfire was hit. According to No. 411
Squadron’s report, his Spitfire caught fire and
crashed into a forest. F/Lt Audet is still listed
as missing in action (MIA).
An official post-war investigation was led
by Major H. Cleaver, who conducted a thorough
and comprehensive study spanning 120 pages
of evidence and notes. This investigation
managed to identify the crew of the anti-aircraft
battery that shot down Audet on March 3, 1945.
During their interviews, the flak battery’s
leader confirmed that Audet managed to make
a forced landing with his damaged Spitfire,
set it on fire, and was subsequently captured.
He was then transported to Gelsenkirchen-
Buer, where he was interrogated. As Audet
revealed only basic identification information
during his interrogation, he was scheduled to
be transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in
Dortmund. Unfortunately, Audet’s trail ends
there, and his ultimate fate remains unknown.
HISTORY
Photo from December 25, 1944, showing intelligence officer P/O Gordon Pancuk being “briefed”
by No. 411 Squadron pilots Flt/Lt J. Boyle, Sqn/Ldr J. Newell, and Flt/Lt E. Ireland about Boyle’s successful
attack on a German jet Me 262. (www.spitfiresite.com, courtesy of Harry van Grinsven)
Color profile of Spitfire RR201 DB
-
G "Sweet Sue V" as it appeared on December 29, 1944, when F/Lt Richard Audet shot
down five German fighters in a single engagement. The aircraft features rapid identification markings used from early
September to late December 1944, with remnants of invasion stripes still visible on the underside of the fuselage.
INFO Eduard
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December 2024