More information : `27.06.1940. Heinkel He111 of 2/KG4, while on a sortie to Middlesbrough, was attacked by RAF fighters off the Northumberland coast, causing it to crash into the sea 3 miles east of Blyth.
`Police report, 0055hrs, received from Sgt Nelson, Hirst Police Station, Ashington:- He reports having seen an aeroplane flying over Ashington in the beam of a searchlight. It was brought down, not known by what means, and fell into the sea. A motor launch from Blyth was sent to its aid.
`Police report, 0443hrs:- Blyth Coastguard Station has just informed us that the motor launch has just returned and has nothing to report.
`Note: One Jumo 221F [sic] engine, possibly from the above-mentioned He111, was recovered by a fishing boat off Blyth on 3rd June 1983, and is now on display in the Bamburgh Castle Aviation Artefacts Museum.' (1)
`The assertion in "Blitz, then and now", Vol. 1, that AJ+1K [sic] was shot down off Blyth gives rise to speculation that the loss of the Heinkel may have been confused with another incident. Certainly, a German aircraft was claimed in the Blyth area that night but the British pilot responsible for it was under the impression that his victim was a Ju88.
`A number of plots appeared off the Northumberland coast on the night of 26-27 June 1940...At 23.57 hours, three Spitfires of 72 Squadron, Acklington, took off to investigate. One hour later, Flying Officer R A Thomson (in Spitfire L1078) was on Red patrol line when he saw a very definite cone of searchlight beams in the direction of Newcastle and at just about the time that Sergeant Nielson, at Hirst police station...saw an enemy aircraft caught by searchlight beams over the town.
`Thomson went to investigate. When he arrived in the Blyth area, no target was visible when the fighter was level with the apex of the cone, but when Thomson reduced altitude by 1,000ft he was able to see an aircraft clearly illuminated. When he first saw it, the enemy aircraft was turning from a southerly course to an easterly one and making no effort to evade the searchlights. Thomson identified the raider as a Ju88 and made his approach from astern and below.
`At 00.45 hours on 27 June 1940, Thomson delivered his attack at a height of 7,000 feet, when both aircraft were two miles east of Beacon Point, just north of Newbiggin, and just after he had finally positioned himself 50 yards astern and 20 feet below his target. He opened up with two bursts of machine-gun fire, each of some four seconds' duration. PC Bruce of Lynemouth police saw the tracers discharged as the aircraft flew between Lynemouth and Newbiggin. After the first burst, Thomson saw smoke issuing from both engines of the Junkers; during the second burst, a blinding white flash occurred and the enemy machine appeared to explode, and it was thought that the fighter's bullets might have struck the German's bomb load. A large number of fragments were clearly visible as they flew off in various directions, some of the pieces striking the Spitfire as Thomson broke away downwards to the left. He did not see his victim again but others witnessed its demise.
`The Squadron Operations Record Bookk points out that the whole combat - and the explosion - was clearly seen from Acklington aerodrome and that observers had no doubt that the aircraft had been destroyed...The raider is believed to have crashed into the sea some three miles east of Cambois but a subsequent search by a Blyth-based motor launch revealed nothing. Unfortunately, examination of the Luftwaffe's Loss Returns for this date also reveals no information relating to the loss of a Ju88.' (3)
Propulsion: Junkers Jumo 211F engine attributed to this craft as a Heinkel He111 (1); Ju88s had 2 x Junkers Jumo 211J-2 inline piston engines (2)
Unit: 2/Kampfgeschwader 4 (1)
Date of Loss Qualifier: A
Additional sources cited in Broken Eagles 2:
W G Ramsay (ed.), "Blitz, then and now", Vol.1, Battle of Britain Prints International, 1987, p111 |