Quote:
Originally Posted by alanatabz
Question, Was this commonplace, even though the aircraft would have been recognizable as Allied aircraft to an attaching Spitfire?
"the story came out soon after that several Hampden Bombers returning from a operation over the Norwegian coast failed to give the correct identification signal for the day and our defence Spitfires promptly brought it down just south of Craigleith Island, one of the Hampden crew died as a result of this dreadful mistake"
|
This involved 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron Auxiliary Air Force, on 21 December 1939 they shot down two Hampden’s of 44 Squadron, who were returning from a raid on Sylt and had been due to land at Lossiemouth but, through an error of navigation, flew up the Forth Estuary instead of the Moray Firth. A combination of errors had led to the shooting down of these friendly aircraft, and loss of life. A flight of RAF 44 Squadron Handley-Page Hampden bombers were approaching the south coast of the Firth of Forth without properly identifying themselves as friendly, by lowering their undercarriage. Spitfires of 602 Squadron were hastily scrambled, taking-off crosswind.
The light was poor, and such was the time of heightened tension, that the Handley-Page Hampdens bore a remarkable resemblance to Dornier Do17 bombers. They both had the same basic layout of twin-engines, and twin-fins on the tailplane. The Hampdens fired flares to confirm their identity, but they were in the wrong sequence. The Spitfires engaged. Two of the Hampdens were shot down in the Forth before the Spitfires realised their mistake. Remarkably, only one Hampden crewmember lost his life.
The remaining Hampdens were escorted into Drem by the Spitfires, and landed safely. They stayed overnight, and the next morning after having taken off, turned and roared back over the airfield at full-throttle, bombing the 602 Squadron quarters with hundreds of toilet rolls! Such black humour shrouded much deeper feelings of despair and terror, necessarily swept aside as the real threat continued. An inquiry absolved 602's pilots of any responsibility in the accident - just one of many hundreds of "friendly-fire" tragedies to occur in all theatres of the war. A Court of Inquiry cleared the Squadron of blame for the incident.
Allan