Re: shoot down of Hurricane P2692 13/08/40

[Danny152]

Hi all,

Can anyone advise on the Luftwaffe unit - individual who shot - claimed shoot down of Flying Officer Peter Frederick McDonald Davies, 56 Sqn.

On 13th August 1940 he was shot down in combat with Me109s. His Hurricane, P2692, was set on fire and he baled out at 20,000 feet over Brabourne, Kent with burns on his hands, arms and legs and minor burns to his face. He was admitted to Ashford General Hospital.

Thanks

Danny

[robert]

Hi,

Hurricane P2692. Shot down in combat with Bf 110s over the Isle of Sheppey and crashed at Hampton Farm, Hampton Lane, Brook, east of Ashford, 4.30 p.m. Flying Officer Peter Frederick McDonald Davies baled out with severe burns to arms, legs, and feet – admitted to Ashford General Hospital. Aircraft US*T a write-off.

Robert

[Danny152]

Great, thanks Rob. Hopefully put a Staffel or name to it.

[robert]

I have following Luftwaffe Bf110 unit`s claims for this engagement:
1./ZG26 *Olt. Wilhelm Spies Spitfire
2./ZG26 *Lt. Herbert Meisel Spitfire
3./ZG26 *Olt. Hans-Jürgen Kirchhoff Spitfire
3./ZG26 *Olt. Johannes Kiel Spitfire
I./ZG26 NN Spitfire

Regards

Robert

[Chris Goss]

So your best bet Danny is I./ZG 26 Bf 110 claims being very imprecise

[Peter Cook]

Danny, you may find the following of interest:

There is no combat report for F/O Peter Davies for this action at the National Archives. But he described his experiences for author Norman Gelb in Scramble: A Narrative History of the Battle of Britain, 1986, p. 250-1

"My hands were badly burnt and very painful when my aircraft was shot up. I had to bale out. They sprayed them with tannic acid. It formed a dark brown hard casing over my hands. The skin began to grow back over some of the fingers together. They had to be separated. One or two things went septic, but I recovered pretty quickly and was fortunate compared to some of the men. There was another pilot officer named Davies who was brought in. His mother was upset seeing him – he was so badly burnt, his eyes were just slits. They brought her in to see me to show how burn cases could recover."

I have a question for Robert re. the ZG 26 claims. None of these are listed in Tony Wood's OKL claims lists, and I can only locate the single claim by Lt Meisel, which is described in Vasco and Cornwell's Zerstörer book. What is the source for your ZG 26 claims?

Peter

[Danny152]

Thanks all, and confirming this detail. It always amazes me conflicting events - reports etc.

Kind regards

Danny