'Can anyone provide a map reference for this HE111 Crash?'

[Robert J. Lane]

Dear Readers ‘Can Any Of You Please Help?’

I very much hope that you may be able to help me with my enquire or point me in the right direction.

Some of you may own the book ‘Children Of The Blizt’ (ISBN 0-14-007404-X Ref: Page 190) a compilation of stories by the well known children's author ‘Robert Westall’.

The story which I am particularly interest in is that on page 190-192 which is titled ‘The Defence’ of Withensea’. From this story ‘Robert Westall’ based his book ‘The Machine Gunners’ (ISBN 0-330-39785-0) which was later turned into a BBC Children series in the early eighties (Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ils2z...eature=related ).

‘The Defence Of Withernsea’ Starts: We heard at school that a German bomber had been brought down south of Holmpton, after being spotted by searchlights at Skeffling. Following our usual practice, we rode our bicycles five miles to the crash. We approached by walking over the fields and were some little distance away when a large explosion occurred, shrapnel flew over our heads and a large cloud of smoke appeared. We turned tail. (Little unknown to us, the aircraft carried two land mines and one had exploded, killing some of the bomb-disposal team.)

(For more info if you don’t have toe book e-mail me robertlanedesign@aol.com)

I would very much like to know the exact spot where this event took place (German Bomber Crashed) as these stories and the TV series when I was a child have helped shape my life. I would hope to maybe visit Withensea and Holmpton at some pint but i am disabled, so at present it would be difficult.

I have looked on Google Earth and there are the signs of a number of craters in this area of coast line especially, just south of Holmpton.

Any extra help would be much appreciated.

Robert.

[FrankieS]

Later that same year, early in the morning shortly after midnight on 22nd September 1943, a second German bomber crashed at Out Newton, this time at Threefoot Lane in a field belonging to Mrs. Hodgson of Skeffling.This plane, too, was a Dornier 217, part of a flight that had taken off earlier from German-occupied Holland on a night-time bombing and mine-laying mission. Its pilot had approached the coast at an estimated altitude of only 50 feet in order to avoid the coastal searchlights at Kilnsea and Spurn but was unlucky enough to be picked up almost immediately by one of them and then held by the beams of several more. He launched a machine-gun attack on one of the searchlight emplacements but flew too low and struck the ground at a shallow angle. The crash occurred about a quarter of a mile from Southfield Farm in Out Newton with the plane breaking up into several large pieces and coming to rest about 250 yards from the point of impact. All four members of the crew died — the pilot Fw.Helmut Rumpff, his observer, Fw. Siegfried Vomweg, the wireless operator, Gefr. Arno Ehemann, and the gunner, Obgfr. Kurt Stiegler. When the broken-up plane came to rest, it did not catch fire but among the debris were two large 1,000 kg. G-type unexploded parachute mines. A team of Royal Navy mine disposal experts were called to the scene and attempted to defuse the mines. Unfortunately one of the mines exploded injuring the three men in the team; they were taken to hospital but two of them, Lieut. Commander Peter Tanner and Able Seaman Percy Fouracre both later died of their injuries leaving Lieut. Frank Price as the only survivor. The bodies of the crew of the Dornier were later buried in Hull North Cemetery. (Source: Broken Eagles: Luftwaffe losses over Yorkshire, 1939–1945, by Bill Norman (2001). )
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nice greetings,
FrankieS

[bill norman]

Robert, the Dornier mentioned in Frankies' reply is the one you're looking for. The only Heinkel 111 to crash at Withernsea came down some 600yds off shore (on 8 May 1941).
Bill Norman
(website: www.billnorman.co.uk)

[bill norman]

Robert,
You have a private message.
Bill Norman
(website: www.billnorman.co.uk)