58 Sqn Whitley

[michel]

Chris,

Hptm. Hülshoff St.Kpt. of 3./NJG2 scored his first abschuss of the war.
He claimed a Hampden destroyed near Dishford aerodrome this was,in fact the first combat reported by 1./NJG2 that can be confirmed by RAF records.Hülshoff's quarry was a 58 Squadron whitley that was shot up by a intruder at Thornaby-on-tees and crash-landed at Ingleby eith the loss of four of its crew. crashtime 21.30 hour...

Michel

[SpitfireZPC]

Thanks Michel, appreciate the help!

C

[SpitfireZPC]

Another thing that I am finding hard to track down is information on Sgt Robert E Langfield of 58 Sqn, because he survived the incident, so surely his testimony of what happend must be recorded somewhere? (Wireless Op/Air Gunner)

[SpitfireZPC]

Hi guys, I'm back with a couple of additional inquiries that I wonder if anyone could help out with:

- Karl Hülshoff claimed he shot down this aircraft at 21.30, but the bomber command losses record says it crashed at 6.15, so I have no idea which is accurate?

- Also, if a Whitley set out at 1900 and crashed the following day at 0615 that means it was airborne for a long old time! I didn't even know a bomber carried that much fuel?

[Larry]

I'll check on the endurance of the Whitley but I do know they flew all the way to Turin in Northern Italy and back in the early war years at relatively low cruising speed.

In Sept 1940 58 Sqn was with Bomber Command but had also served with Coastal Command until April 1940 and again from April / May 1942 with Mk VIIs equipped with ASV.

My gut feeling though is that 11.15 hours airborne is a bit too long for a typical Bomber Command mission - but what was the mission that night and were overload tanks needed?

What was the aircraft serial number by the way?

[Icare9]

I think some details have already been given, but:-
58 Squadron. Whitley Mk V. Serial Number: T4171; Squadron Code: GE-O.
Operation: Pilsen. 20th October / 21st October 1940
Airborne 19:00 20th Oct 40 from Linton on Ouse. Shot down at 06:15 by Hptm Karl Hulshoff of 1./NJG2 who was flying an Intruder mission over Northern England. The Whitley crashed in flames on the NW slopes of the Cleveland Hills at Bottom Head near Ingleby Greenhow, Yorkshire.
This was the first successful enemy Intruder sortie of the war, though the official accident card gives the cause as "out of petrol".
P/O E.H. Brown KIA; Sgt L.F.P. Adlam KIA; Sgt C.S.G. Green (DoW); Sgt R.E. Langfield Inj; Sgt M.C.Caryll de Tilkin KIA.

[Larry]

I was having a 'senior moment' asking for the serial number!!!

BTW - is Pilsen the same as Plzen as used in Bomber Command Losses 1940?

Regarding the time 06.15 hrs mentioned above I have just seen in Bomber Command Losses 1940 that Whitley P5095 of 51 Sqn lost the same day was in the air for 12 hours on a trip to Milan so that confirms the endurance.

[Icare9]

Is Pilsen the same as Plzen? Probably, after a few....... modern name versus 1940's spelling?

[SpitfireZPC]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your help!