When we were kids we used to go to Shorne/Cobham woods ? which was located between Nells Cafe and what was the little chef on the coastbound side on the A2, as there was rumours a spitfire had crashed there and had never been recovered. We used to forage to see if we could find it. Alas we never could.
It is probably this which is a few miles away that folk talked about.
I might be imagining it but seem remember being taken to Farnborough for days out when I was very young and there being some kind of stone memorial of a plane in the woods not far from the church. Anyone else remember this?
Tomorrow marks the start of Big Week. 81 years ago most aircraft’s had been grounded for the last four days due to extremely bad weather.
On the night of 19th May 1944 Bomber Command launched an attack on Leipzig . The intended target was the Messerschmitt aircraft factories and a ball bearing plant in Leipzig.
A total of 823 aircraft’s were involved in this operation . Lancasters 561,Halifax’s 255 and 7 mosquitos.
78 aircraft’s and 420 air crew never returned back from that mission.
Lancaster MK3 bomber JB109 was one of the aircraft’s lost that night along with its 7 man crew.
We have several crash sites not so far away and all have been remembered by the local council.
Do any other people have crash sites close to them? Would love to hear about them.
19th February 1944 , 80years ago tonight Lancaster JB 109 took off from its base in Wickenby Lincolnshire. Along with 7 crew members the Lancaster never returned home.
The last resting place of all the crew is in Harderwijk Gelderland about 10 KMS away from where the plane crashed at 05-34 in Elspeet .
Not a crash site exactly but almost. A German pilot, Herr Behlan, made a forced landing on Blackheath SE3 in March 1939. He landed outside the end house in Talbot place, near All Saints Church. The house in Talbot Place today still looks pretty much as it did in 1939. Herr Behlan was a German Diplomat and at the time not technically an enemy of Great Britain as the war had not started. However the plane was decked out in Nazi swastikas and caused quite a stir. Apparently Herr Behlan believed he was landing Croydon airport !
Photo credit to Trustees of the late AAR Martin and taken from The Heath by Neil Rhind.
A little way across the Heath from the Talbot Place site is The Point where there is a memorial for a crashed Hawker Hurticane. This marks the spot where Flight Lieutenant Richard ‘Dickie’ Reynell was shot down and killed.
The Hawker Hurricane fighter pilot was repeatedly hit during fierce fighting at the height of the Battle of Britain on September 6 1940 while being chased by two German Messerschmitt fighters.
There's a memorial at Point Hill in Greenwich to an Australian hurricane pilot, Richard Reynell, who was shot down and bailed out but his parachute failed to open.
Are there any memorials in Britain for downed German aircraft? Must be hundreds of crash sites, particularly around Kent.
Go to the Kent Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge (opens in April for the 2024 season) and you’ll be amazed at the amount of aircraft parts they have recovered over the years both British and German of which a large amount have been recovered from Kent. Slightly off topic, but it’s an amazing museum based on the Battle of Britain with a good coverage of both the Allied and German losses. You’ll be totally blown away by it as it’s recognised as the world’s leading museum on the subject of the Battle Of Britain
Are there any memorials in Britain for downed German aircraft? Must be hundreds of crash sites, particularly around Kent.
Go to the Kent Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge (opens in April for the 2024 season) and you’ll be amazed at the amount of aircraft parts they have recovered over the years both British and German of which a large amount have been recovered from Kent. Slightly off topic, but it’s an amazing museum based on the Battle of Britain with a good coverage of both the Allied and German losses. You’ll be totally blown away by it as it’s recognised as the world’s leading museum on the subject of the Battle Of Britain
But woe betide anyone who wants to take photos. They've got a ridiculous rule that no phones or cameras are allowed inside the museum.
Are there any memorials in Britain for downed German aircraft? Must be hundreds of crash sites, particularly around Kent.
Go to the Kent Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge (opens in April for the 2024 season) and you’ll be amazed at the amount of aircraft parts they have recovered over the years both British and German of which a large amount have been recovered from Kent. Slightly off topic, but it’s an amazing museum based on the Battle of Britain with a good coverage of both the Allied and German losses. You’ll be totally blown away by it as it’s recognised as the world’s leading museum on the subject of the Battle Of Britain
But woe betide anyone who wants to take photos. They've got a ridiculous rule that no phones or cameras are allowed inside the museum.
Well you can't be too careful. Never know when ze Germans may decide the want to invade again. Loose lips and all that ....
Are there any memorials in Britain for downed German aircraft? Must be hundreds of crash sites, particularly around Kent.
Go to the Kent Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge (opens in April for the 2024 season) and you’ll be amazed at the amount of aircraft parts they have recovered over the years both British and German of which a large amount have been recovered from Kent. Slightly off topic, but it’s an amazing museum based on the Battle of Britain with a good coverage of both the Allied and German losses. You’ll be totally blown away by it as it’s recognised as the world’s leading museum on the subject of the Battle Of Britain
Just a shame so many of the planes are just replicas.
Comments
It is probably this which is a few miles away that folk talked about.
http://shornewoodsarchaeology.co.uk/oral-history-new-years-eve-1943
Always pay my respects to James B Coulson when passing.
Lancaster JB 109 took off from its base in
Wickenby Lincolnshire. Along with 7 crew members the Lancaster never returned home.
The last resting place of all the crew is in Harderwijk Gelderland about 10 KMS away from where the plane crashed at 05-34 in Elspeet .
Thinking of you all on your last flight RIP.
80years on you are not forgotten.
Air Gunner Royal Air Force. RIP
The Hawker Hurricane fighter pilot was repeatedly hit during fierce fighting at the height of the Battle of Britain on September 6 1940 while being chased by two German Messerschmitt fighters.
Photo Credit The News Shopper .
if of course you wish to share them.
Not forgotten RIP 79 years ago today.
Slightly off topic, but it’s an amazing museum based on the Battle of Britain with a good coverage of both the Allied and German losses. You’ll be totally blown away by it as it’s recognised as the world’s leading museum on the subject of the Battle Of Britain