Peter
Oh what a tangled weave....
Firstly
The Times November 3, 1939 quotes
"F/O Allan Colin MacLachlan of Wolverhampton who was reported missing a month ago, is safe in a German Hospital, suffering from minor injuries. His parents yesterday received a letter from him written from a Hanover hospital. He said that he had jumped out of the aeroplane and had landed by parachute. He added that the Germans had been very kind to him, and that he could not have been better looked after in an English hospital. "
My actual source is Air 81/25 it says "Flying Officer A C MacLachan: prisoner of war. Aircraftman 2nd Class R V Britton and Sergeant W B Brown: report of deaths; Blenheim N6231 shot down near Petershagen, 1 October 1939"
http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...ls/r/C14142108
Now I know not conclusive but more likely to be in Hanover hospital if in Bad Rehburg region (approx. 1 hour away) rather than Bad Driburg (approx. 2 hours away) - Could it be interception occurred at Bad Driburg but crash happened further north
Air 81/25 should give accurate information on crash location, but I have not got a copy of it
Also some info on MacLachlan's injuries
Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 275, 21 November 1939, Page 7
PILOT SAFE.
IN GERMAN HOSPITAL.
Young Wife Receives Letter From Husband.
LUCKY TO BE ALIVE."
(Special.—By Air Mail.)
LONDON, November 3. One of the first letters home from a British prisoner of war has reached this country. It came from a 24- year-old R.A.F. pilot, Flying-Officer Allan Colin MacLachlan, now in hospital in Hanover, to his young wife, who lives in Newhampton Road West, Wolverhampton.
MacLachlan, escaped by parachute from his blazing machine during a reconnaissance flight over German territory during the last few days of September. The letter. which was posted on October 13. reads: "I am very pleased to be able to say that I am very well. "My face is a bit burnt from the aeroplane before I jumped and landed safely by parachute. I have no eyebrows or eyelashes any more, but the doctor thinks they will grow again soon. And just to add to my beauty, when jumping out I must have bitten my lip so hard that I took a piece out of my lower lip and split a front tooth from top to bottom, and that had to come out.
"Still, I am very lucky to be alive. I hope earnestly that you have read news that I am safe before this. I spoke into a record-making machine telling you that I was safe, and the German people assured me that you would know very soon through the neutral Press. '"They are being very kind. I could not have been better looked after in a hospital in England." MacLachlan's father said: "'This letter is the first we've heard since October 1, when we were officially informed that my so was missing. Evidently when he spoke into a microphone in Germany he thought his voice would be put on to the radio."
MacLachlan, a former Tettenhall College boy has been in the R.A.F. just over three years.