JU88 loss over Manchester 4/5 May 1945

[schnellmeyer]

I am hoping that somebody can help me with details on the possible loss of a JU88 on the night of 4 May or the morning of the 5 May 1945 . I believe the plane may have been shot down by Flak fire over Manchester .

[Chris Goss]

1945????

[Larry]

The last LW aircraft to be shot down and crash on British soil was a Ju88G-6 of 13/ NJG3 on 3/4th March 1945.

I think the last recorded Luftwaffe sortie to the UK was an intruder mission to East Anglia on 20th March 1945 by Ju188s.

Interestingly a Ju188A-3 of 9/KG26 'defected' from Norway on 2nd May 1945 and landed at Fraserburgh, Scotland and the crew taken POW.

[schnellmeyer]

Yes , 1945 Chris . I am researching the flight of a JU88G-6 D5+GH of 1./NJG3 from Grove in Denmark to Ireland where the crew landed and were interned . From material I have the pilot Ofw.Herbert Giesecke claimed that four JU88 left Grove for Ireland but over Manchester they were split up due to Flak and one of the JU88 was shot down . Sadly Herbert passed away some years ago before I could question him on the details that he sent me .

[Delmenhorst]

I spoke to Herbert Koch, who was Giesecke's Staffelkapitän, a number of years ago about this incident. Giesecke approached Koch and asked for permission to try and escape british capture. This happened one of the first days in May, 1945. Koch told Giesecke that he had to wait until after the German forces had surrendered due to that he otherwise would be charged with Fahnenflucht. As far as I know Giesecke was the only plane that took off for Ireland. He got special permission from Koch and Husemann due to his connections to South Africa. He was afraid to be charged of treason from the South African government.

What happended to Gisecke after the war? I have heard many conflicting stories.

[Atcham Tower]

I believe that Capt Eric "Winkle" Brown's book Wings on my Sleeve tells of the loss of another Ju88 en route to Ireland, possibly in the Irish Sea. I can't find my copy at the moment to check. Capt Brown went to Ireland to collect the Ju 88 for radar gear evaluation at Farnborough. He may have been recounting contemporary rumour of course.

[schnellmeyer]

Hi Delmenhorst , thanks for the information .It was Herbert who said that some other JU88 also left Grove on the same day as himself .They were not sure at first if they were going to fly to Spain or Ireland .Is Herbert Koch still alive and if so maybe he could clear this matter up . Maybe we will never know the real truth .
After the war Herbert returned to Germany , while there he made arrangements to return to South Africa where his wife was .This he did and lived out the rest of his life there .
Atcham Tower , I did contact Capt.Eric Brown as he flew Giesecke's JU88 back to England .He interviewed Herbert in Ireland about their flight to Ireland and again Herbert told him that four JU88 left Grove on that day in May 1945 .

[Bombphoon]

Surely an enemy aircraft crashing so late in the war in Britain would have made major news then and now and would have been researched/discussed loads over the years.

[edNorth]

Hi all,

I find this thread interesting. I do not know if this (below) can be relevant.

In my notes Ju 88 G-6 621642 D5+GH flew to Ireland on 03.05.45 (I do not have exact takeoff or landing times or know if that date is correct), but then the only four "other" Ju 88 G-6 (I have in my notes) that I can find "partly unaccounted for" (in that time frame) - are four reported leaving unspecified Danish or North-German airfields in morning 05.05.45 - but these are reported as from I/KG 66 and flying to Sola Airfield, Norway in morning of 05.05.45 (622307, 622346, 620646, 620426) but in lists of surrendering aircraft in Norway on 06.06.45 these are not listed.

But there is another note I just remembered.

Four Ar 234 C-3´s delivered to KG 76 - Lt. Kolm lead four Ar 234 C-3 and nine Ar 234 B-2 from Leck and north to Stavanger/Sola to avoid capture on 05.05.1945 (one machine crashed into the North Sea, one returned to Flensburg, one returned to Leck - only six Ar 234 B-2 were still at Sola 10.05.1945).

I do not know if the Ar 234 C-3 had the range for a flight to Ireland too?

Best regards
ed

[Martin Gleeson]

Ed,

It was definitely May 5th. The Junkers was landed perfectly at 0517 hours on the grass airfield at Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath on the east coast of Ireland. I have read the two files on this incident at least twice in our Military Archives.

Regards,

Martin.