This Heinkel He111 was one of a number of aircraft that had taken off in the early morning of the 3rd February 1940 to attack shipping off the North East coastline of Britain. Three aircraft failed to return to their bases, two of which crashed into the sea off Northumberland and the other is detailed below.
This aircraft (and other) was first picked up at 09.03hrs whilst 60 miles out to sea by the Danby Beacon Chain Home base on the North Yorkshire Moors. Fighters were scrambled to intercept the aircraft flying at 1000 feet, it was located by 09.40hrs. The He111 had just made an attack on a trawler when it was intercepted by F/Lt Peter Townsend, F/O "Tiger" Folkes and Sgt Jim Hallowes, all flying Hurricanes of 43 Sqdn based at Acklington. Townsend made the first attack, damaging the He111's starboard engine and killed one of the German crew, Uffz Leushake. Folkes was next to attack, his bullets also found their mark, striking the fuselage and hitting another German crewman in the stomach, Uffz Meyer later died from these injuries. Hallowes positioned himself clear but heading off any possible escape which the German's may have hoped for. During the attacks that followed, Uffz Missy was shot in the leg, these injuries would later mean his leg being amputated. The aircraft was by now severely damaged and was on its way down, the pilot had no choice but to make a forced landing on land. The aircraft flew very low across Whitby and out into the countryside beyond. By all accounts it had been shot at until it was on the ground, where upon it ploughed through a snow covered field, a hedge and a tree. It came to rest near the farm cottages at Bannial Flat Farm, Whitby. Locals had already started to follow the stricken bomber even before it was on the ground, it was apparently so clear that it would crash soon. With one airman dead and the other dying soon after, it was the first Enemy aircraft to crash on English soil.
Soon after the aircraft was down a large crowd gathered at the site, some being hostile to the survivors, given at the time shipping from the East Coast was being attacked by these aircraft, this could be quite easily understood. I am told that the two dead airmen were removed from the wreckage and placed out of sight of the crowd in the farms outhouse, the two survivors were also taken away briefly and looked after in the nearby farm house until they were safely removed to hospital.
The day after the crash, Townsend visited the He111's gunner in Whitby Hospital, they later met again in 1969 at Missy's home in Rheydt, West Germany and remained friends until the Germans death in 1981. As previously mentioned, he was badly wounded in the legs and later repatriated during October 1943.
The Luftwaffe crew were:
Pilot - Fw Hermann Wilms, survived.
Wireless Operator (/ Dorsal Gunner) - Uffz Karl Missy, wounded in both legs but survived.
Observer - Uffz Rudolf (Rudi) Leushake, aged 23, died almost instantly. Buried Cannock Chase Cemetery.
Mechanic (/ Ventral Gunner) - Uffz Johann Meyer, aged 25, mortally wounded. Buried Cannock Chase Cemetery.
Karl Missy.
Of the three Fighter pilots, Peter Wooldridge Townsend after the War was linked to the late Princess Margaret; he died on 19th June 1995. Folkes was killed soon after this incident when his aircraft went down into the sea off Wick. Herbert James Lampiere (Jim) Hallowes survived the War. His NCO number was 563179, he was commissioned on 19th November 1940 and his officer service number was 45010. He served with 56 OTU and later was an instructor with 65 Sqdn, before going to 122 Sqdn and later as a W/C at 57 OTU in late 1944. In March 1945 he went to North Weald as deputy station commander.
The aircraft crashed through the row of trees in the middle of the picture when it came down behind them.
Today all that is left at the site is a gap in the line of trees at the side of the farm where
the plane ploughed through. A plaque was erected to commemorate the crash and is located on a
stone pillar at the junction of the A169 and A171 north of Sleights. I passed the junction when the Council
were doing major road works here in May 2002. The pillar is now at the Western side of the new roundabout.
Another plaque at the site of the former Danby Beacon radar site.
