Matti,
Many thanks for this information. I wonder whether the German crew's relatives ever knew what had become of them. From the 'Missing' description it would appear that they might never have found out. Perhaps you could investigate.
Peter,
The time of the engagement isn't recorded in my father's logbook, but take off was at 14.25 and the flight, recorded as a "Cross-country - Exercise 5", lasted 3h50m. (German time was probably 1 hour ahead.) The note in his logbook says "Attacked by Ju88 - which was shot down by rear gunner." My father was the Wireless Operator in this crew, the pilot being P/O Bois. They were posted to No. 115 Squadron and completed their tour.
In my father's effects was a press cutting, which reads as follows:
3-BURST TRAINEES BAG NAZI
A British bomber manned entirely by pupils under training shot a Junkers 88 down into the sea off the Scottish coast on Friday. The encounter lasted exactly 45 seconds. The Air Ministry news Service says the British aircraft, a heavy night bomber type, sighted the enemy machine approaching the Scottish coast on an almost opposite course.
The German pilot turned in to atack from the bomber’s port quarter and, opening fire with its front guns at 150 yards range, passed right underneath the British aircraft. Swinging his turret as the Junkers swept below, the British rear-gunner caught the enemy bomber as it reappeared on the starboard quarter and, with three short bursts of fire, sent it diving 2,000 feet straight into the sea.
The British crew, after a fruitless search for survivors, photographed the few pieces of wreckage remaining on the water, and then resumed their interrupted training flight.
I didn't know any more than this until last night, when on a whim I managed to trace
Finlay Pirie's brief account. I won't quote from the pdf, but the relevant section is a short passage in a chronicle of air-related incidents in the Banff area of Scotland. He writes that the incident was reported in the Express, so the cutting may be from there.
According to Mr Pirie the rear gunner, Sgt Geoff Prior, was able to fire only a few rounds from two of his four guns, but this is improbable, for early Wellingtons had only two machine-guns in the rear turret. I have written to find out where Mr Pirie got his information, as I have been never been able to trace any 20 OTU records for that period. If anyone else knows....
As to the Wellington, thereby hangs a tale. Its serial number (according to the logbook) was N2873. This aircraft had taken part in the ill-fated attack on Wilhelmshaven on 18/12/39. It had been severely damaged during the raid and was landed at RAF Sutton Bridge, the pilot being Sgt Petts of No. 9 Squadron. It seems to have ended up at 20 OTU after repair. What is especially sobering about Mr Pirie's account is the number of air crashes by pupil crews throughout the war.