The Orwell Dornier 217E-4

[Julian]

A much mentioned and investigated Cambridgeshire incident.....I know!!! For some reason this crash site and incident has become one of my most time-spent researches. I found the crash site in the early 1980`s, attended Peter Stanleys excavation of it in 1991 where we unearthed a reduction gear and BMW badges. Over the years I have managed to trace lots of new details....last year I traced the last surviving Home Guard member who attended the crash, and this year from a local private collection the only known photo of the wreckage was discovered. Sadly despite over 30 years of research Ive never come across an identifiable photo of the crew involved. The ROC station at Croydon in Cambs was identified and luckily I was given permission to photograph it....then I was contacted by the relative of one of the ROC crew who had spotted the Dornier 217 and even better they had a wartime photograph of him at the station. Well I dont think I can do much more on this (heck what am I gonna do now?) so I have included this research into an article for Britain at War magazine and Ive just seen the PDF file on its layout....wow!! Anyway apologies to all I admit this has been an obsession of mine, so cheers for being tolerant.....the article features in the next issue on sale a week from this Friday. As always any feedback is welcome and as always if anyone thinks I could help with research just ask. My Email address is easy to locate on Internet.
Cheers all Jules

[edwest]

Pardon me for making assumptions but I have a few questions. Were any photos published in local newspapers? Who collected crash reports in your area? Where did they end up? Odds are, photos were censored or reviewed by the proper authorities before release for publication, if any. If there were bodies, then there should be a burial record somewhere (assuming the crew did not bail out over water).



Hope this helps,
Ed

[Julian]

Hi Ed after 30 years you can be sure I tried every avenue. Unfortunately Cambs newspapers published pics of the crashes of most Luftwaffe planes in the county...all apart from the Orwell Dornier although they carried a small write up about it. Now I know that photos would have been taken but if they still exist they are probably deeply buried and "unidentifiable" perhaps in personal photographic albums of RAF aircrew involved.....and this line of research has proved non-existent. The photograph in question was taken by a local man with a Box Brownie...he only took one photo probably after a week or so and he took that clandestinely...he passed away in last year and sifting through hundreds of local photos he took thankfully it was identified for what it was...The crew were killed and now rest as many do in Cannock Chase. As for crash reports I have the "G" and "K" reports concerning the incident kindly passed onto me by another researcher. I must admit I have not pursued local burial reports, as these often bear little details apart from curious costs of coffins and inhumation, but of course would not yield the photographs of the crew I wanted. So far all lines of research into Germany have failed to produce a next of kin....but I will keep trying as there must be some out there or somewhere. Thanks for replying....Jules