The Czech Fighter Wing, comprising of the three Czechoslovak fighter squadrons, 310 Sqn, 312 Sqn and 313 Sqn and lead by W/Cmdr Tomas Vybiral, were escorting a formation of 72 USAAF B-26 Marauder light bombers, on Ramrod 753; a raid to the railway station at Malines (Mechelen), north of Brussels.

The Wing took-off from Manston at 1800hrs. No.313 Sqn were presumable using Manston as a forward operating base as they were officially based at the Advanced Landing Ground at RAF Appledram in West Sussex. At 1830hrs, the B-26 Marauders were to pass over North Foreland after Sheerness on their way from

On the way to the target the Czechoslovak Wing were attacked by 20 Bf 109's but no losses or victories were achieved. Over the target the Czechoslovak Wing was attacked by Fw 190's from I./JG 26. W/O Arnošt Mrtvý flying Spitfire LF Mk IXc MJ558, RY-B was attacked, at about 1853hrs around 10 miles north of Brussels, by a Fw 190 flown by Oblt Wolfgang Neu. Mrtvý's aircraft was hit and he bailed out. Whilst descending in his parachute, he was shot at by a German flak unit and killed. He was 28 years old.

Arnošt Mrtvý was buried at Fort 3 Deurne and later reburied in grave IVa. C. 7 at the Schoonselhof Cemetery close to Antwerp were he still rests today.

Crash report W/O Arnošt Mrtvý, 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron:

April 19th 1944, the "Transport Campaign" is well on its way. Railway yards in France and Belgium were one of the many targets to disrupt the transportation of German troops and material to the D-Day landing zone.

On the 19th of April the USAAF send a large formation of B-26 Marauders to the railway station of Mechelen in Belgium. The RAF would send 312 Sqn. and 313 Sqn. as their escort.

It was about 18:40 hrs that the first bombs were falling on Mechelen station. By this time the Focke-Wulfs from Jagdgeschwader 26 were patrolling the sky searching for the bomber formations. 312 Sqn lost the Spitfire of Fl/Lt Budil (Spit. MK248) above Mechelen. It was about 19.00 hrs that eyewitnesses saw a Spitfire being attacked by two German Fighters above Herentals. The Spitfire tried to get away, but it was to late. The eyewitnesses saw black smoke coming from the engine. At first the witnesses were looking at the "Dog fight", now they had to run for their lives because the smoking Spitfire was coming straight to the potato field were they were working on. The father pulled his sons into a ditch behind a barn, he just saw the pilot jumping out. A few seconds later the Spitfire crashed in the field making a big crater, one of the wings broke of and slammed into the farmhouse. No civilians were injured.

At the same time some 400 metres away another eyewitness saw the parachute coming down. The German Flak (12 SS. Pz. Div. 'Hitler Jugend') unit that was stationed in Herentals shot down the parachute. The eyewitness told me he can still remember the sound of the silk flapping in the wind, the parachute was torn to shreds. The pilot had no chance and crashed in a field some 400 metres away from his plane.

ENDS

Three days later Oblt Wolfgang Neu was himself killed in combat with American fighter aircraft over the 'Eifel' region of Germany. His Fw 190A crashed near Katenborn-Eifel.

On 19 April 2007, the Planehunters Recovery Team located the crash site of Arnost Mrtvy's Spitfire, 63 years after it had crashed.

Arnost's Spitfire was excavated in Series 2, Episode 4 of WW2 Treasure Hunters programme by History channel featuring Stephen Taylor and Planehunters Recovery Team Belgium on June 23th 2018.