In the morning of the 6th of September 1942 two Messerschmitt Me210 aircraft were flying a reconnaissance mission over the Tees area. At this stage in the War the Me210 was a relatively new aircraft, this mission was possibly the first over the English mainland in the type after a ban on flying over the UK had just been lifted. Whilst still out to sea two Typhoons of No. 1 Squadron based at Acklington had been patrolling an area to the north of the River Tees, they were sent to intercept the two enemy raiders. In one Typhoon was P/O T G Bridges, in the other was P/O Perrin. The fighters spotted the two Me210's near off Redcar, the enemy aircraft turned landwards and crossed the coast near Redcar. By now the Typhoons were closing in on their targets. the Me210's dropped what bombs they were carrying near Lackenby before splitting up, one Typhoon following each. The fate of one Me210 is also detailed on this website, (For more details on this other incident please click here). This aircraft was followed by P/O Perrin, he attacked three times damaging the Me210, after the third attack the Me210 went into a vertical dive. The wireless operator either jumped or was thrown out of the aircraft, his parachute did not open properly and he was killed on impact with the ground. The pilot also came out of the spinning aircraft just before impact, he landed in a small reservoir moments before the aircraft hit the ground closeby. The pilot was dead by the time he was dragged from the pool. The two Airmen were:

Pilot - Fw Heinrich Moesges, aged 30, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.

W Op - Obgfr Eduard Czerny, aged 23, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.

The airmen's graves at Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.

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I have not yet searched for remains of this aircraft but I understand that it crashed into this field.