12 August 1940 Bf109E-4 < - + III/JG August 1940 He111H-3 1G+AC Stab II/KG27

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1 12.00 hrs. Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton attacked. Over 150 aircraft ranged over the area. The RDF station at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight 108 was bombed. 72 HE and 10 DA bombs reported and the railway line at Shanklin and Wroxhall was damaged. Portsmouth harbour railway station was badly Casualties were four dead killed and eight injured. Lympne Aerodrome was damaged. 109 damaged and the pier demolished. Fires broke out in several buildings including a brewery. Casualties; eight killed and seventy-five injured. At Gosport fifteen people (including twelve RAF personnel) were killed and twenty-four injured hrs. Manston attacked by 50 aircraft - Me110s of Erprobungsgruppe 210 and Do17s of KG2. Damage was caused to the airfield and two hangars. 12 August 1940 Bf109E-4 < - + III/JG54 Hengrove, near Margate, Kent hrs. Attacked by Spitfires over the sea and shot down, the pilot carrying out a forced landing. Markings: < - + were in white with black borders. A red shield with silver edging, bearing a black cross and three silver aeroplanes. ID: 51575, AW: blue, Handorf, 12/1/40, FP: L Ff: Obltn Albrecht Dress wounded. The pilot s ID disc and Ausweis were the same as those of another pilot of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down by a tank north of Cambrai, France on 22nd May August 1940 He111H-3 1G+AC Stab II/KG27 Sturminster Marshall, near Wimbourne, Dorset hrs. Took off from Dinard to bomb the Blenheim factory at Bristol. Having dropped their bomb load of ten 50 kg bombs on Bristol Harbour they were attacked at 15,000 ft by a Hurricane or Defiant from below and the crew baled out. Markings: A in green. ID: 62662, 62672, 62681, AW: blue, Lechfeld, 20/7/40 signed Major Kieplinz & blue, 2/8/40 signed Haupt. Schneider, FP: L Ff: Ofw Herbert Frey. Kommandant (Bo): Major Frederick-Karl Schlichting. Gruppenkommandeur. Bo: Major Hans-Jurgen Brehmer wounded. Bf: Ofw Günther Löhning. Bm: Ofw Willi Bendrich wounded. The aircraft code, ID discs of the pilot and flight engineer and Feldpostnummer were known to be of Stab II/KG August 1940 Ju88A 9K+AA Stab KG51 Godshill Park, Isle of Wight hrs. Took off at hrs from Melun, Paris to bomb the RDF Station at Ventnor. Two large bombs were dropped from 15,000 ft on the target, but missed and shortly after the aircraft was attacked by Hurricanes and AA fire. Markings: first A in white. ID: & 65119, AW: blue, Memingen, 12/1/40, signed Pitschule, FP: L Ff: Oberst Dr Johann-Volkmar Fisser 65100/2 +. CC 7/260. Geschwader Kommodore. Bo: Ltn Franz Schad slightly wounded. Bf: Obltn Werner Lüderitz slightly wounded. Bm: Sonderführer Adam Nothelfer badly burned. Top: Obltn Albrecht Dress. Left and below: Three views of Dress s Bf109 showing his Gruppe Technical Officer s insignia - >. Other sources state that the spinner was white on a blue background and the wingtips were yellow. The pilot carried a permit to enter Paris inner town, signed by the Komandant of the 30th Division, marked Air Liason Staff of the C. in C. Air at the Military Command, Paris. He had also served as a pilot in the Great War. The observer, whose ID disc was that of 4/KG51, had made a number of reconnaissance flights over the English Channel. The wireless operator had a certificate marked KG51 showing that he had been promoted to Oberleutnant on 1st June August 1940 Ju88A-1 9K+CL 3/KG51 Near Godstone, Gosport, Hampshire hrs. Started from Villaroche, near Melun. Attacked by three Spitfires and with the controls being shot away, the crew baled out. Markings: C in white. ID: & 60030, AW: -, FP: L Ff:Uffz Karl Zimmermann 65105/60 wounded. Bo: Ogefr K-H Fahrenhain wounded. Bf: Ogefr Oscar Hansmann. Bm: Gefr Theodore Dickel 60030/25 +. Gosport, Hants. This was the crew s first War Flight, in a new aircraft that had been delivered the day before. The ID disc of the pilot was identified with 3/KG51, although the flight engineer s ID disc was that of 6/KG54; he also had a diary in which 6/KG54 had also been noted. The wireless operator s disc was marked 1 Fl.Haf.Betr.Komp.Mot.51. The pilot had joined the German Air Force in 1936 as a ground mechanic before proceeding to the Flying School at Magdeburg in October 1938 where he took his A, B and C Flying Certificates. At the end of his course he stayed on for a further two months acting as a flying instructor before proceeding to a Kampffliegerschule at Thorn, Poland until May He then went on to spend six weeks at the Blind Flying School at Konigsberg, East Prussia before finally being posted to Augsburg and KG51 on 22nd June 1940.

2 17.30 hrs. Dover area attacked again with seventeen attacks identified. Hawkinge was considerably damaged; seven hangars, several lorries and buildings hit. At night minelaying took place from the north-east to south-west coasts. Aircraft flew over Nottingham, Norwich and Blackpool. Three bombs fell on Bircham 110 Newton. 200 HE and some incendiary bombs fell in the Canterbury area and the main Dover line was blocked August 1940 Ju88A-1 Wn K+EL 3/KG51 Horse Pasture Farm, Rowlands Castle, Westbourne, near Thorney Island, Sussex hrs. Started from Melun, south of Paris at hrs. Attacked by fighters at 9,000 ft, the wireless operator was killed and an engine hit. The aircraft went into a spin and broke up in the air, the rear gun position landing outside the Operations Room at Thorney Island aerodrome. Markings: E in yellow. Shield: blue with a white starfish in the centre, yellow patch in centre of starfish. Upper surfaces dark green, under wing grey. Tailplane marked ID: 65105, & 65103, AW: yellow, Meminghen, 13/1/40, signed Major Wundisch & yellow, Lechfeld, 9/5/40 signed Kuhn, FP: -. Obltn Hans Graf 65105/5 +. West Thorney, Sussex. Ofw Horst-Günther Czepik 65103/59 +. West Thorney, Sussex. Uffz Walter Floeter 65103/26 +. West Thorney, Sussex. Bm: Gefr Günther Fleischmann wounded, landed Hayling Island. The aircraft code, ID disc and Ausweis established the unit as 3/KG51. Above: The starfish mentioned in the report is actually the Edelweiss flower emblem of KG51! Left: The mangled wreckage of 9K+EL, this is a view of the inverted fuselage with the starboard wing in the foreground. An eyewitness account: The aircraft was seen coming from the direction of Portsmouth, smoking, prior to attempting a crash landing in a field at Horse Pasture Farm. While attempting to land a Lewis gunner at a searchlight battery opened fire and the machine was seen to nose over and crash, the tail breaking off as it struck the ground. Two of the crew were thrown out into the field, the pilot was still strapped in the wreckage. According to Sussex County Court Records a soldier was charged by a policeman of taking photographs of the crashed plane. At the hearing it was discovered that he had been given permission by his Officer, as the soldier was the Lewis gunner said to have been responsible for the crash. The case was dismissed and the film returned to the soldier. 12 August 1940 Ju88A-1 Wn K+FS 8/KG51 At sea - Portsmouth Docks, Hampshire hrs. Place of start was an aerodrome near Paris. Aircraft smashed to pieces following combat with fighters and three of the crew baling out. ID: 65112, AW: -, FP: -. Obltn E Wildermuth. Obltn O Stark. Uffz H Droese. Uffz K Rosch +. NKG. Unit assumed from ID disc. Left: The separated tail section of 9K+EL showing the Werk number 3134 on top of the fin. 12 August 1940 Bf 110D-0 Wn M+MK Stab I/ZG2 At sea - Portsmouth, Hampshire. Shot down during bomber escort operations over Portsmouth. Ff: Hptm Hans-Peter Kulbel +. Gruppenkommandeur. Washed up near Boulogne, France. Bf: Uffz Fritz Budig 55565/14 +. Buried at sea; later washed up and buried Gosport, Hampshire. 12 August 1940 Below: It s unusual to have such a good photo of one of the aircraft before its demise, but this is definitely the same 9K+EL as that same Werk number is clearly visible on the fin. MAP ID 1 (SEE PAGE 121) MAP ID 2 A notebook and Ausweis were recovered from the sea presumably originating from a bomber that crashed into the sea six miles south of Selsey, Sussex. Bf: Ogefr Otto Evel +. NKG. ID: -, AW: grey, signed Hubsehle, FP: L August 1940 Bf109E 5/JG26 Near Denton, Elham Kent hrs. Shot down by a Spitfire that opened up at 500 yards, scoring a lucky hit in the engine. This aircraft is stated to have had a 20 mm cannon in the starboard wing and an MG17 in the port wing, with probably two MG17s mounted over the engine. ID: -, AW: white, Dortmund, 15/1/40, FP: -. Ff: Uffz Hans Wemhöner broke his leg when baling out and suffered burns. 13 August 1940 Bf109E /JG53 At sea - off Weymouth, Dorset hrs. Attacked during a bomber escort operations by a Spitfire at 18,000 ft and shot down. Markings: 9 in grey with white edges. ID: -, AW: blue-grey, Frankfurt, 10/6/40, FP: L Ff: Fw Heinz Pfannschmidt wounded. The unit was assumed from the Feldpostnummer.

3 13th August 1940: Adler Tag. Raids were carried out by large numbers of aircraft during the day at two distinct periods. Between hrs to hrs 112 bombs were dropped on the north Kent area, near Shoreham-on-Sea and on the Borden and Liss areas of Hampshire. Between hrs and hrs hrs. Thirty Do17s of KG attacked Sheppy and Eastchurch airfield considerable damage or buildings and six aircraft destroyed. Sixteen killed, 113 further raids were carried out in Southampton and on inland areas of southern England. At night the main attack was directed against Birmingham and its suburbs. A number of bombs were dropped in Aberdeenshire, and near Bristol. Total losses hrs. 250 aircraft operated in the Solent area; Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Selsey Bill. A convoy in the Thames Estuary attacked. 48 injured. 13 August 1940 Bf109E-1 Wn.5068 < + Stab I/JG2 New Salts Farm, Shoreham, Sussex hrs. Took off from Beaumont-le-Roger aerodrome on a Friejagd operation. Having problems with his engine, this pilot got left behind by the rest of his formation and while going to the assistance of a straggling Junkers Ju 88, was shot down by two Spitfires. Markings: all in black. A red R was also noted. ID: 53521, AW: grey, Würzburg, 13/2/40, FP: L Ff: Obltn Paul Temme. Gruppe Adjutant. During a flight the previous day the pilot had found that the engine was not running well and showing signs of strain. The pilot was found to have a tin of chocolate containing 2% caffeine and eight Pervitin pills that were meant to strengthen resolve if the pilot came down in the sea as no rubber dinghies were carried by fighter aircraft. MAP ID 3 This page and previous: A good selection of views of Paul Temme s Bf109 near Shoreham aerodrome. The spinner tip was reported to have been in red and the Richthofen badge can just be seen under the forward cockpit. The chevron is the Gruppe Adjutant s marking. MAP ID 4 13 August 1940 Bf109E /JG53 At sea - Poole Harbour, Dorset hrs. At least a whole Staffel started from Guernsey, escorting bombers attacking the Poole, Dorset area. The pilot was badly wounded and could not give much information, except that the bombers had already dropped their bombs, when he was attacked at 18,000 ft by a fighter and wounded. He baled out. ID: 67010, AW: blue-grey, Mannheim, 27/1/40, FP: L Ff: Uffz Wilhelm Hohenseldt badly wounded. Right: The mangled wreckage of Uffz Wilhelm Hohenseldt s Bf109 that fell into the shallows of Poole Harbour.

4 12.00 hrs. Twenty-eight Me110s of I/ZG2 over Portland and Dorset August 1940 Bf109E 5/JG53 MAP ID 5 At sea - Weymouth, Dorset hrs. Shot down in combat with fighters. The body of a German airman was brought ashore at Weymouth by the S.S.Brinmeric on 25th August ID: 67010, AW: : -, FP: L Frankfurt. Ff: Ofw Artur Trutwin +. NKG. The pilot s Ausweis was almost indecipherable, but it was similar to those previously seen on II/JG53; the signature being identical. In addition to the above, the unit was deduced from an instruction dated 4th August 1940, headed II/JG53 for a courier flight in Focke Wulf FW 58, NC+CV from Mannheim- Sandhofen to Villacoublay. A receipt dated 10th July 1940 mentioned equipment for Messerschmitt Bf 109, werke nr Personal papers showed that this airman joined the German Police in April 1931 and was transferred to the German Air Force 1st May 1935, when he was drafted to Geschwader Boelke (KG27). He was transferred to pilots school 12th January August 1940 Do17Z U5+KA Stab KG2 Railway, Pherbec Bridge, Barham, Kent hrs. Started from St.Leger, near Arras at hrs to bomb Eastchurch aerodrome, with ten 50 kg bombs. Flying westwards over the Thames Estuary, was attacked by a Spitfire that came out of the sun and put shots into the tail and one of the engines. The bombs were dropped blind before the aircraft was wrecked in a forced landing. Markings: K in green. Shield: bomb falling from a cloud with man sitting on it, holding a telescope. ID: 58205, AW: grey, Kitzingen, 30/1/40, signed Gamar, FP: -. Ff: Obltn Heinz Schlegel. Bo: Obltn Gerhardt Oszwald slightly wounded. Staffelkapitän. Bf: Ogefr Gustav Babbe wounded. Bm: Ogefr Ernst Holz wounded. MAP ID 6 This page and previous: The pilot of U5+KA selected a nice flat area of ground to crash-land his crippled Do17 only to find the Canterbury - Folkestone railway cutting appearing in front of him! The aircraft hit a tree and split into two but miraculously all four crew survived.

5 16.00 hrs. A massive force approached the Solent area: 40 Ju88s of KG54, 80 Ju88s of LG1, 30 Me110s of V/LG1, 27 Ju87s of II/StG2 escorted by Me109s of II/JG53; 52 Ju87s of StG77 escorted by 30 Me109s of JG27. Aircraft crossed the coast near Portsmouth and penetrated inland to Middle Wallop Me109s 10 killed and 40 injured; eight Blenheims wrecked. Fifteen Me110s and four Me109s of Erprobungsgruppe 210 escorted by Me110s of ZG and Andover. Southampton heavily bombed: Pickford s Depository and Raleigh Cycle Works damaged, cold storage depot completely destroyed. At Andover offices and the officer s quarters were damaged; two killed and one injured hrs.150 aircraft operated over Kent; Deal, Dover and Eastchurch bombed. Detling aerodrome bombed by 40 Ju87s of IV(Stuka)/LG1 escorted by made for Rochford, but did not find their target because of cloud and dropped bombs south of Canterbury. 13 August 1940 Do17Z U5+FR 7/KG2 Birchington, Kent hrs. Shot down by fighters during operations to Eastchurch aerodrome. AW: -, FP: L Fw Franz Dannich /84. CC 1/426. Fw Kai Schwerdtfeger 69645/18 +. CC 1/424. Ogefr Erich Nitzsche +. CC 1/422. Gefr Alfred Beck 69645/55 +. CC 1/420. MAP ID 7 Left: Unlike the crew of the previous page s Dornier, the men inside U5+FR stood no chance of surviving this devastating crash. MAP ID 10 Above: The emblem of KG3 was carried by this unusually marked Dornier of 7/KG2. It had probably just been transferred between the units. Although not immediately apparent, the aircraft does have the KG2 nosestripe which can be seen emerging from behind the shield in the photo below. Note that it is flaking off above the shield. 13 August 1940 Do17Z U5+ER 7/KG2 Stodmarsh, near Canterbury, Kent hrs. Started from an aerodrome twelve miles south of Arras at hrs on a reconnaissance flight. The crew were flying in a formation of two Ketten, at a height of 600 ft when attacked by a Spitfire that put one engine out of action. With the petrol and oil leads shot through the pilot belly landed the aircraft. Markings: E in white. A shield on which the top half showed a red cross on a white background and the lower half a white cross on a red background. Engines: BMW, 9 cylinder, air cooled, radial engines. Armament: five MG15s carried. No bombs carried but three parachute flares were found. This aircraft was found to be more heavily armoured than any other that had been examined previously. Wireless: FuGe 3 a.u. wireless set was fitted. ID: & 69645, AW: grey, Würzburg,1/3/40 & Grey, Fliegerhorstkommandantur 9/11, 11/7/40, FP: l Ff: Uffz Georg Vogel. Bo: Uffz Herbert Arndt wounded. Bf: Uffz Willi Mehringer. Bm: Gefr Helmuth Bahr. The unit was established from the aircraft code and the third letter in white. Top: One of the crew of U5+ER is guarded in a barn. 13 August 1940 Do17Z U5+ - R 7/KG2 MAP ID 8 Above and left: Some nice closeup photos showing the extra armament carried by this Dornier with some basic frames fitted to stop the gunners shooting bits off their own aircraft. At sea - Thames Estuary. Failed to return from operations to Eastchurch aerodrome and presumed to have been shot down by fighters. A body was recovered from the sea. A grey Ausweis was marked Fliegerhorstkommandantur 9/11 was found. Obltn Horst von der Groben +. NKG. Three airmen +. NKG. From post-war research it is believed that the body of Oblt Horst von der Groben was buried in Millstrood Road Cemetery, Whitstable on 17th August 1940 and still lies there in an unmarked grave.