Grave visit yesterday Hptm. Willi Henke
 

Hi Guys,

For those interested, yesterday I managed to make the time to visit the graves of Willi Henke and Heinrich Rattay. Both airmen rest in Nuneaton cemetery and were not reinterned at Cannock Chase in the 1960's when most were transferred from their original resting places.

Below is briefly what I have put together for our website, but the search is not over! After recently being contacted by a relative of Willi Henke my direction is turned to where Willi lost his life in a field near Withybrook. My aim is to photograph the location for Willi's relative who is extremely interested to know more about the location where the aircraft crashed and the bodies found.

If anyone knows the exact location for this crash site then please contact me through our website, thanks. www.aircrewremembrancesociety.co.uk

Mission: Reconnaissance Flight to Banbury, England.

Date: 16th September 1940

Time: 23.06 hours.

Unit: 1 Staffel./Kampfgeschwader 54

Type: Junkers Ju 88A-1

Werke/Nr.7087

Coded: B3 + HH

Location: Withybrook, near Coventry, Warwickshire, England.

Pilot: Hauptmann. Willi Henke. 60024/ – Killed.

Observer: Feldwebel. Kurt Perlberg. 60024/ - Injured.
Radio.Op: Feldwebel. Hans Baur. 60024/ - Injured.
Flt/Eng: Unteroffizier. Heinrich Rattay. 60024/ - Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS:

Started at 21.00 hrs. on a reconnaissance mission to a factory at Banbury. The crew lost their way, turned south at Coventry and hit a balloon barrage cable; the observer stated that he saw a sudden shower of sparks and the engines caught fire. Two of the crew bailed out and the aircraft crashed, the bomb load exploding. The pilot was the Staffelkapitän of 1/KG54 and had taken part in the fighting in Spain.

Burial detail:
Willi Henke. Nuneaton, Warks.
Heinrich Rattay. Nuneaton, Warks.

Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless – Aircrew Remembrance Society.