Roland "Bud" Wolfe (January 12, 1918 – January 28, 1994), was an American
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
who parachuted from an
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
plane into a
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
bog on the
Inishowen peninsula
Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.
The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...
in
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...
, Ireland, on 30 November 1941. The incident initiated a diplomatic row between Britain and Ireland.
The 23-year-old, a member of
No. 133 Squadron RAF
133 Squadron RAF was one of the famous Eagle Squadrons formed from American volunteers serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.
History
133 Squadron was first formed in 1918 at RAF Ternhill. It was a training unit fo ...
, originally from
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
, was on convoy patrol when his engine overheated, eight miles from his RAF station at Eglinton – now the
City of Derry Airport
City of Derry Airport , previously known as RAF Eglinton and Londonderry Eglinton Airport, is a regional airport located northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle, a short distance from the village ...
. Realising he would certainly crash, he radioed back to his station with a last message: "I'm going over the side." He then pushed back the Spitfire's canopy, released his safety harnesses, jumped out of the plane, and parachuted down, landing in a peat bog on Irish soil.
The plane penetrated deep into the peat when it crashed. Seventy years later in 2011, historians Jonny McNee, Steve Vissard, Jeff Careless and Gareth Jones began searching for the missing Spitfire, following numerous failed attempts by others, in June 2011 they discovered the wreckage near Moneydarragh, Co Donegal with the aid of specialist detecting equipment. The team of archaeologists, also found the plane's six
Browning .303
machine guns and about a thousand rounds of ammunition buried 15 feet deep.
Because he joined the British war effort while the US was still neutral, he was stripped of his US citizenship.
Curragh
The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...
army camp in the neutral state of Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. On 13 December 1941, he walked out of camp, caught the train from Dublin to Belfast and was back at RAF Station Eglinton within hours. He was subsequently arrested and held for two more years while the authorities in the UK and Ireland debated how to handle his escape. In 1943 he escaped again and this time was sent to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) where he served for the rest of the war.
He later served as a pilot in Korea and Vietnam, and died in Florida in 1994. He retired as a lieutenant colonel,[
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in Derry. The machine guns recovered were found to be in relatively good condition and one was actually fired.