ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22390
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 October 1939 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Type: |  Heinkel He 111H-1 |
| Owner/operator: | 2./Aufkl.Gr.122 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | F6+PK |
| MSN: | Werk Nr. 2728 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Sea, 20 miles off Sandsend, near Whitby, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Heinkel He 111H-1 F6+PK of Luftwaffe, 2/Aufkl. Gr. 122 shot down on 17 October 1939 at 16:00 hours, by three Spitfires from 41 Squadron, based at RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire. The 41 Squadron Spitfire pilots were Flying Officer Peter Blatchford (RCAF), Flight Sgt Ted Shipman and Flight Sgt Albert Harris.
The He 111H-1 crashed into the sea, 20 miles off Sandsend near Whitby at 16.00. It is thought the He 111 was looking for the battleship HMS Hood, which was anchored in the Firth of Forth. Two of the crew of the German aircraft, Oblt Joachim Kretschmer and Uffz Hugo Sauer were both killed while the Heinkel was being shot down. The other crewmen, Ofw Eugen Lange and Uffz Bernhard Hochstuhl (one of them injured) came ashore in a rubber dinghy. The injured crewman had a shrapnel wound to his leg. It seems they spent quite some time in the dinghy before making land. They came ashore at Lythdale Sands, near the Middlesbrough-Whitby railway line on the 19th October 1939. LNER Special Constable George Thomas was guarding the entrance to Sandsend tunnel that day, and discovered the exhausted German airmen at the foot of the 40 foot cliff.
Both survived the war. They both returned to the scene in the North East of England in October 1979, 40 years after the actual event. The body of Uffz Hugo Sauer washed ashore near Whitby on 30 October, 1939 and he now lies in the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase. The body of Oblt Joachim Kretschmer was never found.
Sources:
1. http://ne-diary.genuki.uk/Inc/ISeq_01.html
2. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/553SquadronForum/first-enemy-aircraft-shot-down-t5106.html
3. http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/rc-chatter/1st-and-last-ww2-fighter-victories/
4. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Blatchford.htm
5. http://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=Sauer
6. http://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Aufkl._Gr._122_Oct_1939
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Aug-2008 12:29 | Anon. | Added |
| 10-Jan-2012 08:49 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Phase, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2012 16:20 | Uli Elch | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2017 23:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2017 23:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2017 23:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2017 23:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2017 23:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Dec-2019 19:05 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 10-Dec-2019 21:12 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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