German aircrew shot down over UK

[Franek Grabowski]

I believe that we should add to the picture any hostilities shown to Allied pilots, as well as actions of Allied pilots against German airmen. This picture will be incomplete, however, without mentioning attacks of German airmen on civilian targets and bailing out airmen.

[Brian]

Hi Franek

Good to hear from you. However, my main interest in this subject relates to the Battle of Britain period and associated 'abuse' handed out by British, military or civilian, to German aircrew.

I believe a number of Polish airmen were mistaken for Germans and were victims of such assault. I think we discussed briefly the possible death of a Polish pilot in this manner during the Battle of Britain. Perhaps you can add more.

Cheers
Brian

I assume and hope that you have stopped jumping out of aeroplanes!!

[Brian Bines]

Brian and Franek,

One of the older books on the BofB referred to a Polish pilot (Franek Surma) who wore a ''Flashy Luftwaffe Jacket'', apparantly he baled out and landed in a tree near some Free Frech soldiers. They were going to finish him off with makeshift hanging before he convinced them he was Polish. This was in 'Fly For Your Life, the Stanford Tuck book, whether a myth or a line-shoot I have no idea.

[Franek Grabowski]

Brian #1
Well, shooting up an airman on a parachute seems an abuse, is not it? Any hostilities toward Allied airmen should fit as well, they were friendly fires, were not they? Nonetheless I do not recall any story of a Polish airman being killed on the ground in Britain. I recall a story of a man roughly treated, but this changed when they realised their mistake. Another story was of an airman hysterically inquired if he is a German. He told them to f... off, this causing immediate relief.

Brian #2
Never heard of the story. I have heard of some problems with uniforms brought from France - they were dark blue - that is all.

[PeterVerney]

There is of course the case of Fl/Lt Nicolson VC who was shot at by the Home Guard whilst descending by parachute.

[Andy Saunders]

Nicolson was not the only RAF pilot shot at whilst descending and there quite a good many others who were others who were "roughed-up" or abused when mistaken for Germans. (One was even locked up by the Police until his unit could vouch for who he was) One such case of mistaken nationality was John Ellacombe, shot down over Essex on 31 August 1940. As he descended a Home Guardsman, George Emberson, fired two rounds at him but thankfully missed. In Ellacombe's own words: "I informed him in very fruity language that I was English. When he discovered I was RAF he was kindness itself but when two Police officers arrived they were very hostile and aggresive and Mr Emberson had to restrain them". The point is, of course, that since we have known instances of such occurrences involving RAF/allied airmen over the UK who were mistaken for Germans then it is, in a sense, merely confirmation that this was certainly the kind of treatment sometimes handed out to Luftwaffe aircrew. In fact, I believe that such events could well have been rather more frequent than one might suppose. The concept of who the "Good Guys" and the "Bad Guys" were might have been surprisingly skewed at times. That said, for every distasteful deed there was surely an equal number of chivalrous, compassionate and humane acts from both sides.

[Dubar1]

My mom was Welsh and a nurse during the war. She said folks would spit and kick at the German crews whenever they brought them to the hospital where she worked.

You have to realize, these people were at war and hated each other for what they were doing. She had a 4" scar on her leg from a piece of shrapnel she received during a bombong. She was in Conventry at the time of the infamous bombing there, but I don't know if that's where she got wounded.

Funny thing is, after I was born we moved into a new neighborhood. Our neighbor across the street was of German decent (he was in the 9th AF) and my parents and him became the best of friends!!!

I wish I knew more, but she's gone now, along with my dad and all their brothers and sisters who took part in the war. I don't think I ever heard my mom say the word "Germans" without "Those damned" preceding it, for 50 years when talking about WW2.

[PeterVerney]

You must remember that 1940 was a different era. As a child in the 1930s I was brought up to believe that there was another war coming with the Germans, who were evil personified. We learnt a little phrase "The only good German is a dead one", and no doubt they thought the same way about us.
Tinplate toys made in Germany had the legend "DRGM" stamped on them, which to us stood for "Dirty Rotten German Make". To be honest I was very doubtful about the EU because Germany is perceived as the leading light, so these feelings still run deep.

[Joe Potter]

A verbatim copy of an entry in Weymouth Crematorium records.

"The body of an unidentified officer of the German Air Force, recovered from the sea near Portland on Sunday 25th August 1940. The body which had apparently been in the sea for several weeks was in an advanced stage of decomposition, and consequently the Town Clerk and the Medical Referee (Dr Gordon Wallace) decided that the body should be cremated for public health reasons, and that no fuss should be paid in connection with the cremation, and no service held, Identity disc found on the body contained the following, BLGR/O, 67010/7.
The carrying out of the usual statuary formalities in connection with this cremation was impracticable in this case. (Note) On 18/4/47 information from Imperial War Graves Commission that the body was that of a A. Trutwin a German A.F. Feld"

His family are not impressed.

[Brian]

Thanks guys for your contributions

A most interesting collection.

Cheers
Brian