ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226985
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| Date: | Wednesday 9 April 1941 |
| Time: | 23:59 LT |
| Type: |  Heinkel He 111 P-2 |
| Owner/operator: | 5./KG 55 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | 1423 |
| MSN: | G1+DN |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lodge Bottom, Busbridge, Godalming, Surrey. Q.4261, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Chartres airfield, France (probably) |
Mission: Attack on Birmingham, England.
Pilot: Unteroffizier. Alfred Muller. (Sch./P.A.R.10 Nr.148) – Killed.
Observer: Gefreiter. Rudolf Langhans.(3.(E).A.R.109 Nr.100) – Killed.
Radio/Op: Gefreiter. Heinrich Berg. (13./Lg.Nachtr.Rgt.1 Nr.702) - Captured injured.
Flt/Eng: Unteroffizier. Gerhard Neumann. 67020/113 – Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Aircraft probably started from Chartres. This aircraft was flying northwards at 14,000 ft. when it was attacked from behind and below by a night fighter, a number of .303 strikes being traced in the wreckage. The pilot tried to make a forced landing but the aircraft crashed through a wood, ripping off the wings and shattering the nose section. There was no fire. All of the crew were thrown clear in the crash but three were killed and the wireless operator broke a leg.
Shot down by F/Sgt E. R. Thorn DFM and Sgt F. J. Barker DFM in a Defiant nightfighter of No. 264 Squadron.
Personal Combat Report 09.04.1941.
I took off from Biggin Hill at 2250 hours on 9/4/41 being under Kenley G.R. control. We gained height and finally orbited 15,00 feet. We were vectored after our A/E on approx 300 vector but were unable to make contact and so returned to Biggin Hill and once more orbited.
We were then given a great number of vectors rapidly and finally on a 090 vector we sighted E/A (enemy aircraft) at about 1000 yards ahead and 200 feet above us flying on the same course at 18,000 feet. We closed in on his starboard side and made a beam attack with a burst of 2 seconds.
The de Wilde ammunition was observed to be bursting in the fuselage and there was return fire, of which only one hit could be traced subsequently in the starboard wing. We then crossed under the port side and gave another good burst of 2 seconds, and the port engine was seen to glow.
E/A then started to lose height and turned away to starboard and coming over above him we fired a burst at the pilot. Returning to the port side we gave him another burst in the fuselage, and there was again return fire, but now from one forward gun. We then asked Control for our position, which was given as approx over Brookland’s. We followed the enemy aircraft down to 9,000 feet and it disappeared into cloud in a steep dive with lots of white smoke coming from it, which I thought to be Glycol, heading in approx a southerly direction.
E/A was clearly seen to be HE 111 and is now established to have crashed at Godalming in Surrey.
There was no anti-aircraft or searchlight co-operation and Kenley Control was excellent. The weather was very clear above a white cloud base 10/10 at 7,000 feet. We used 1079 rounds of ammunition and landed back at Biggin Hill at 0016 hours on 10.4.41.
We claim one He 111 destroyed. My gunner was Sgt Barker.
Signed (pilot) E. R. Thorn.
F/Sgt E. R. Thorn DFM and Sgt F. J. Barker DFM pictured the following morning. (IWM).
E. R. Thorn was killed in a flying accident on 12.02.1946 and he was buried in St. Peter's churchyard, Bishops Waltham, Hampshire.
On site evaluation of the wrecked bomber was made by RAF Intelligence officers at the scene of the crash;
Markings: D in black with a white edge. The spinners were red. Aircraft built by Norddeutscher Dornier Werke from September to November 1938. Engines: DB 601, the number of one was 61073, and made at Genshagen-Tetlow. An engine cowling plate was marked Heinkel-werke, Oranienburg 5/40.
Armament: five MG 15 were found in the nose, top rear, lower rear and two side positions. A grenade ejector tube was mounted in the tail. There were internal bomb racks on the starboard side and a fuel tank on the port side. Pieces of a large bomb rack were found scattered in the wood. Parts of an explosive charge for destroying the aircraft were discovered in the wreckage.
The G1 + DN lies broken at Lodge Bottom, Busbridge, Surrey on the 9th April 1941. The pilot Uffz. Muller attempted to make a forced landing after being attacked. The aircraft tore through trees that tore off the wings and smashed the nose of the bomber.
Crash site pictured the following day.(via O’Brien).
The same location today, not a lot has changed....
Except today you will find this remarkable memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives near to the crash site. I think this must be the first and only memorial depicting a German airman.
Lady Gillian Brunton, the present owner of the land off Hambledon Road on which the plane crashed, learned the names of the German air crew. They were no longer anonymous Germans, but young men of flesh and blood who had lost their lives when far too young to die.
Her original idea was to mark with a plaque the exact spot where the plane had come down in the field opposite the gates of Busbridge Lakes but, as she learned more about them, this seemed to be too impersonal and inadequate: they should be given their own unique memorial.
It is not difficult to find the details and the resting places of airmen who were killed and buried in this country; survivors are another matter, and so the search for Heinrich Berg continued. Nevertheless, she decided to make a statue to honour the dead and to give thanks for the survivor.
Memorial to Heinrich Berg and crew at the crash site today.
Heinrich Berg, the sole survivor of the crash.
Burial detail:
Those who lost their lives now rest in the Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England. Block 1 Graves 229, 231 and 233.
Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless. Special thanks to Steve Hall and Martin O’Brien and Lady Gillian Brunton in memory of those who lost their lives. April 2018.
Sources:
Luftwaffe losses aircrewremembrancesociety3.com
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jul-2019 09:31 | TigerTimon | Added |
| 09-Dec-2019 11:45 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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