Info on Hampden FL in Holland 1940; 61 SQ QRoP

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I'm trying to ID the SN, date, crew and circumstances of the forcing down on a Hampden, apparently in the area of Vlieland, Holland sometime in 1940, possibly in May. An excellent series of photos of this aircraft have recently appeared in the following eBay auction.

Can anybody help with this. The seller info says: "“Album aus meinem NJG1 -Nachlass. Allerdings schwere Flak in Vlieland.”

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...t_17206wt_1167

Thanks for any assistance.

[Hans Nauta]

Hi again Larry,

This is P4324 which landed at 07.40 hrs in the morning of 27th August 1940 on the large sandplate, called De Vliehors, on the western end of the Isle of Vlieland.

All the best
Hans Nauta

[Larry Hickey]

Hans,

Thanks. Do you have crew info? I presume that all were POWs.

Regards,

[Hans Nauta]

Hi Larry,

The crew was indeed captured:

P: F/O P. D. Tunstall, 70824 RAF
OB: Sgt A. E. Murdock, 565268 RAF
WO/AG: Sgt M. J. Joyce, ?????? RAF
WO/AG: Sgt W. J. Brooks, 522242 RAF

The Hampden ran out of fuel, that's why this a/c landed intact.

Best wishes,
Hans

[Larry Hickey]

Hans,

Thanks! We now have that a/c well documented for the EOE DB.

Regards,

[Larry]

Larry,

This subject has just been covered in the thread by Parabellum - page 5

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...t=19400&page=5

By the way did you win the photos on eBay?

[Icare9]

Bit more info on MJ Joyce:
The Hampden was captured intact and later flown to Germany for evaluation.
F/O P.D. Tunstall PoW; Sgt A.E. Murdock PoW; Sgt M.J. Joyce PoW; Sgt W.J. Brook PoW; (also reported as W.J.Brock).
Sgt W.J. Brook was interned in Camps L1/L6/357. PoW No.729 with Sgt A.E. Murdock, PoW No.225.
Sgt M.J. Joyce (an Irish National) was held in Dulag Luft, where he collaborated with the enemy. 'Escaped' to UK 1942. Died in Ireland 1976.
F/O P.D. Tunstall in Camps L1/06B/04C, PoW No.258.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Thanks guys for the additional detail. I've just made a surprising discovery. There was apparently another QRoP that made an intact landing somewhere in the West, probably during 1940. Although the SQ codes are the same, QRoP, the shape and spacing of the codes is different enough that they can't be the same a/c. This one auctioned on eBay about five years ago. Does anyone know anything about another Hampden with the same SQ code which appears to have landed intact on its wheels?

No, I did not win the album for the 8/27/40 FL on Vlieland. I'd like to know who did.

Regards,

[Larry]

Dear Larry,

Of the known Hampdens that were captured more or less intact by the Germans, P2070 VN-X of 50 Sqn was lost on 25th/26th August 1940. It ran out of fuel and landed at Lautersheim on a sortie to Berlin.

P4324 QR-P of 61 Sqn also ran out of fuel as related above and landed on Vlieland Island.

L4146 similarly coded QR-P, AE265 of 144 Sqn PL-? and AT109 UB-C of 455 Sqn were also captured intact.

NB - If you PM me your email I can send some photos that for some reason refuse to attach on this thread!