Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum - Information on a Luftwaffe Me 110 shot down near Swindon in 1941/42

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Information on a Luftwaffe Me 110 shot down near Swindon in 1941/42

Hi All
I'm after any information about a Me 110 that crashed within 20 miles of the Swindon area some time from the start of 1941 to the late September of 1942. The reason I ask it that a story I was told many times by my late grandfather which involved him being charged with disobeying orders when he was a Lance Corporal in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps while based in the Swindon area between the dates stated. He was in charge of one of four LLAD positions around his camp equipped with a quad .303 BREN gun mount, the weapons being fitted with a drum type magazine instead of the usual 32 round magazine. The story I was told that a Me110 flew low over the camp after trying to attack Wroughton airfield on a hit and run attack (the aircraft's bombs missed the airfield and hit a Pig farm). The standard operating procedure for the LLAD teams on the army camp were not to open fire until an officer designated to the task identified the aircraft and blew a whistle. At the point the Bren teams would open fire. Anyway in this case, one of the teams opened fire before the whistle, and my grandfather, thinking that he had not heard the whistle ordered his team to open fire as well (as did the other two teams). The aircraft got away and the gun teams were then all charged with disobeying orders. When the charges were read out in front of the camp's commanding officer, he gave the men a very one way conversation on the importance of not opening fire unless ordered (so not to give the camp’s position away), followed by a commendation on the fact the Me110 had been hit badly in the wings and had crashed due to running out of fuel 10 miles away from the camp. The charge was needless to say, admonished and each team was credited with 1/4 of a kill. I do recall him mentioning that the incident happen in second half of January 1942. But I can not be more specific than that, as I do not know the location of the army camp except that it was in the Swindon area.

Re: Information on a Luftwaffe Me 110 shot down near Swindon in 1941/42

A Bf 110 in this area was rather unusual so I tried to find a two-engined aircraft in "The Blitz then and now". No obvious case found in January 1942 or the month before and after.

In the index, Wroughton airfield is never cited, and Swindon is sometimes.

Maybe you can try to search the date of 29 August 1942: Swindon was bombed by day on this date, and there was a German loss more or less over the Western part of Great Britain. A Ju 88 of 3(F)./123 didn't return from a sortie and is believed to have been intercepted and shot down over the Irish Sea by a 125 Sqn Beaufighter.

That is the closest I find to a loss related to Swindon or Wroughton.

Regards

Laurent

Re: Information on a Luftwaffe Me 110 shot down near Swindon in 1941/42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Rizzotti

Thanks for that Laurent, didn't expect anything to jump right out.

Regards

Richard