| Admitted to: Leeds Castle Military Hospital. |
Date of Injury: 28/11/1940 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| D.O.B/Age when admitted: 23 16.03.1917. |
Cause of Incident: Enemy Action. Shot down in a Hurricane by an ME109 piloted by Adolf Galland. Bailed out. |
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| Transferred to QVH: 06/12/1940 |
Injuries: Burns to face and legs. |
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| No. of Operations at East Grinstead: |
IDENTITY CARD
This is to certify that the patient mentioned below and whose description is stated hereon is the authorised holder of this Identity card.
| Forename: Patrick H. V. |
Surname: Wells |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Service No: 72098 |
Nationality: British. Born in Johannesburg South Africa. |
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| Awards/Honours: DSO 23.05.1944. |
Patient Unit: 249 Sqn |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Profession: Pilot |
Patient Rank: Squadron Leader |
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| Death: April 2002 |
Age at Death: 85yrs |
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| Dr Rank: |
Dr Unit: |
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On 28 November 1940, Wells was shot down from below, while he and the rest of his squadron were concentrating on the ME109s above them. His Hurricane caught fire and went into a dive. Wells was thrown out of the cockpit and dislocated his shoulder when he hit the tail, but managed to pull the rip-cord with his other hand. His plane came down in a farm in East Peckham, Kent.
Wells returned to operational flying after treatment.
Later investigation by John Foreman and Trevor Williams revealed that Wells had been shot down by German Ace Adolf Galland.
We've been looking through our collections, and discovered this 1972 photograph from the East Grinstead Observer, o…