Lone JU88 3rd May 1941 over Dry Drayton?

[jamesinnewcastle]

Hi Julian

I'll certainly have a look at your book - Currently I have two problems, one, trying to find out where exactly my Mum (and Aunt) were staying, and the other to find out exactly where the crash was. I want to know just exactly how narrow the miss was!

I don't think that they were at Caxton Gibbitt, that's too far, they say the crash was at the bottom of the garden in Dry Drayton! The Stirling in question was N6012 which was apparently shot up and came in to land too low. All the crew died eventually. Interestingly Dry Drayton is lined up with one of the runways at Oakington.

The same crew just ten days before were (apparently) attacked as they tried to land in N6009, they (apparently) were misled by a nearby Q-Site at Stambourne (are Q-Sites in your book?) and crashed there - the nightfighter (apparently) dropped bombs on them but missed!

But while lots of help is coming in, nothing is yet comfirmed eitherway!


Thanks
James

[Julian]

Hi James trouble with Oakington and Dry Drayton area is that so many incidents occurred that inevitably confusion and myth and rumour creep in. On 3/05/41 only a Lt Feurbaum put in a claim for a Hamden near Church Fenton.....no other claims are recorded ..this does nowever not account for any Luftwaffe nightfighter crews who may have attacked a Stirling but not sufficiently enough to merit a claim...Sadly I dont include Q sites in my book. I must admit durimng my research in Cambridgeshire I have not come across the incident of a Stirling landing on a Q Site that was then bombed by a Junkers 88....if this caused a conflagration I suppose any old "run of the mill" night raiding Junkers may have been attracted to the scene, and not necessarily a nightfighter variant from NJG2. Again there are many Stirling crashes in the area in question including 3 seperately dated crashes adjacent to the same house!!Also apart from the actual occupents of premises thus affected there is a great tendency for everyone who lives locally to claim some sort of connection "crikey it landed 10 feet away from our garden" and the passing of 70 years has simply accepted this as fact...perticularly when handed down to descendants.....All the very best with your research, please keep in touch to let me know how you get on...Julian