Attack on Eindhoven airfield, 9/10 September 1940

[Nick Beale]

Does anyone know which RAF unit, if any, attacked Eindhoven during this night? I'm following up an Ultra report, with a view to posting something on my web pages and the Germans don't mention which type was involved.

[Jaap Woortman]

The Germans could not mention the type, because there was no attack of the RAF.
The fire at the airfield was caused by a returning He 111 of II./KG 4 which has thrown a bomb
at it's own airfield and not at the 'Notabwurfplatz' near Oirschot.
After it has dropped the bomb(s) it flew against a train in the approach to the airfield.
Three of the four crewmembers were killed in the crash.

Jaap

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Jaap Woortman

The Germans could not mention the type, because there was no attack of the RAF.
Jaap

Thanks Jaap. It's nevertheless interesting that the following evening, the Germans still believed that the RAF had been responsible. I wonder how long it took them to work out what had really happened?

[Stephen M. Fochuk]

Jaap. Did the plane crash into a train? Did someone not post a picture recently of a He.111 that crashed into a train?

Nick, I suspect they figured it out once the survivor was able to talk about it.

Stephen

[robert]

Hi,

it might be a Wellington bomber from no.3 Group. It was targeting Essen but two bombs were aimed at Shiphol on returning leg. But most likely it could be a Whitley bomber from no.4 Group, which bombed an airfield in Holland between 02.30 and 02.45 hrs.
Germans reported that the attacking aircraft had flown 2 bomb runs.
This He 111P (4./KG4) was in landing circuit when it was caught by the blast of exploding bombs and crashed into the train.

Regards

Robert

[Jaap Woortman]

In my opinion the so-called RAF attack was a cover-up operation for the mistake the German pilot has made.

Robert.
The bomb(s) had fallen in the far south-west side of the airfield and the plane crashed against the train on the railway track between Best and Eindhoven, north-east of the airfield, just on the south-side of the bridge over the canal.
The distance between the bombed location and the crashsite 6-7 km.

Stephen, show me the picture and maybe I can tell you if this was the site.

I live in the area and have 30 years of experience in researching the history of Eindhoven airfield during WW2.

Jaap