[Peter Cornwell]

An excellent question Stig and one I have asked myself over the years. The first reference to this incident is Chris Shores Fledgling Eagles (1991) p122 and I can confirm that the information came from the late Heinrich Weiss but his original source(s) are unknown. His records document that five aircraft of 1.(F)/122 took-off at 5.13 hours for a reconnaissance of British Fleet dispositions in North Scotland (Scapa Flow) and were followed at 5.45 hours by an He111 of the Stabsstaffel KG26. He further documents that this was intercepted east of Alnwick by Hurricanes of 111 Squadron from Acklington led by S/L Broadhurst and shot down into the North Sea about 10 km east of Amble - the crew going missing. There is a corresponding RAF claim that supports this view but I have found no evidence for this loss in any German material or personnel records of the period. But given the reputation of Shores and his co-authors it has inevitably found its way into 'accepted wisdom' on the subject and, as such, still surfaces occasionally as an unresolved query so I keep it listed (with an appropriate caveat) just in case some evidence for it finally emerges. Frankly, I become increasingly doubtful that it ever happened as decribed.