238 Squadron pilot in the sea 1940

[nick de carteret]

Alex and Peter,

I can tell you quite a bit about 8th August but regretfully not the serial number of the Hurricane that my uncle ditched in the sea that day - his log book does not record any serials after 31 July, I guess things had hotted up to such an extent that minor details such as identification marks were just not relevant by this stage.

According to notes that I have found amongst his papers, Sgt.Bann did not participate in the 12 sorties that were ordered to intercept the raid on convoy "Peewit" on that date.

The twelve were: Fl/Lt Turner, PO Davis, FO Hughes, Sgt Marsh, Sgt Domagala, Sgt Batt, Fl/Lt Walch, PO Steborowski, Sgt Little, PO MacCaw, PO Cawse and Sgt Seabourne.

The rest I can only quote from his privately published memoirs:-

" On the 8th, as usual, we were at readiness at first light. After breakfast, my adjutant Noel David, fetched me to the office for a rare spell of administration. As soon as I left dispersal, the Squadron was scrambled - led by Stuart Walch, and went into action over a shipping convoy a few miles south of the Isle of White intercepting a big raid. During the scrap Eric Turner, the 'A' Flight Commmander was shot down. There was no rescue launch in the area so I went out to have a look for him - on my own, as all the others were being refuelled. I could not find any trace but, while searching, I spotted a German seaplane at sea level. I went down to attack, gave him a long burst but, being much faster, I overshot and his gunner must have got in a lucky one which cut an oil pipe. I turned North but shortly afterwards my engine seized. Having so little height, I had to ditch rather than bail out.
The propeller had stopped, I undid everything, harness and parachute straps, and to this day I can remember holding off above the waves. I was thrown clear but banged my head on the way out - probably on the reflector sight on the windscreen. My unpulled parachute was close by and was as buoyant as a lifebuoy so I bobbed about for half an hour, somewhat dazed from the bang on the head.
Fortunately, I had been seen by HMS Bassett, an Admiralty Armed Trawler. The skipper had been watching my approach, not knowing whether I was friend or foe. They took a bearing on the splash, steamed over and hauled me out. Not long after I was picked up, the convoy was bombed again. Soon afterwards the ship fished out another pilot and he turned out to be German. We shared the cabin for the rest of the day. He had a little English so we managed to converse to some extent. I remember that he hailed from Leipzig and was the pilot of a Bf 110. Like me he had to strip for his clothes to dry and his few possessions comprised a large pack of condoms. I do not know what he thought he was coming for - with the next five years as a POW!
I was put ashore at Gosport late that evening having made some good friends on board. my forehead needed seventeen stitches and the medics sent me on three weeks sick leave to give it time to heal"

[Alex Smart]

Hello,


FCL vol 1 has P2947 down as Sqdn Ldr Fenton's a/c on the 8th Aug.
With P3617 F/O MacCaw and P3823 being F/Lt.Turner.

Thank you for details re P/O B. Firminger.

Still leaves the question re Bann though.

There must be details of hime coming ashore and being checked out and returning to Squadron somewhere, local Police records perhaps, if we knew where he came ashore.


Alex

[Peter Cornwell]

Many thanks Nick for posting details from S/L FENTON's account.

The German pilot he shared a cabin can be identified as Oberlt Martin MULLER the Gruppenadjutant of Stab I./StG3. So either S/L FENTON misunderstood him to say he was a 110 pilot or MULLER was being highly security concious. And yes, he WAS from Leipzig !

[Jon]

Hi Alex

No i am certainly not saying it was Bann into the sea, i only wish we could find some details on this incident. I have done a good deal of research on Sgt Bann but this incident, together with identifying the JU88 or Heinkel he again mentions in a letter, that he followed almost back to France before killing its rear gunner with his last burst i can find no further information on. ( i will post this as a question with a date soon)
Sgt Bann is a fascinating pilot to study, just an "ordinary" pilot with four confirmed kills including shared before he was Killed on 28/09/40.
I am visiting his crash site on the Isle of Wight in a few weeks my 5th visit to it and would love to have the answers to these final few questions.
Thanks for all the help
Jon Eeles

[steve sheridan]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the wonderful information from your uncles log book, this is most useful to me. What a fascinating thread this as turned out to be!

Many thanks.

Rgs
Steve.

[Juha]

Hello Nick

I'm in total agrement with Steve. Especially the log of Your uncle's activities in July 40 is very enlighting. It shows once again the workload of fighter pilots during high activity. On can only admire their stamina.

Thankfully
Juha

[Franek Grabowski]

Nick
Excellent stuff! Any mention of the Poles in the memoirs?
Anyway, I would like to note that neither log-book nor ORB cannot be considered a definite source of correct information on aircraft or sorties. An extreme care must be taken, especially during such a hot periods.