He was posted
to 19 Squadron (AEAF) on 5 August 1944. At the
time he was a Flight Sergeant. His squadron
gave fighter cover to the D-Day Landings.19 Squadron
was equipped with Mustang fighters and
(shortly) stationed on the mainland of
Europe. Early September 1944 the squadron
operated from the airfield of
Grimbergen (B60) in Belgium.
On 9 September
1944 a number of 19 squadron mustangs took off at
12.45 from Grimbergen to fly an armed
reconnaissance mission in the Arnhem-Zwolle-Lingen
area.
F/S Abbott flew Mustang IIIB FB148. This was
probably his 14th mission.
The armed reconnaissance flight attacked
several locomotives, leaving three of them
severely damaged. Two Mustangs, however,
were lost by intense light Flak. F/S
Abbott's Mustang came down south of
Apeldoorn.
The second Mustang to be shot down was
piloted by Australian Pilot Officer Maxwell
Herron Bell. It crashed north east of
Arnhem, near Velp. P/O Bell managed to bail
out, but was taken prisoner. He was
allegedly killed by German SS troops that
were stationed in the area and were to play
an important part in thwarting the British
attempt to take the Arnhem bridge only 8
days later, during operation Market Garden.
WO Abbott is buried in Zutphen General
Cemetery.
(picture
courtesy of Auckland War memorial)
