The "Humbie Heinkel"

[Trismegistus]

I tidskriften "The War Illustrated" stötte jag historien om "The Humbie Heinkel" - det första tyska flygplan som sköts ner över brittiskt territorium, den 28 oktober 1939.

Det rörde sig om en Heinkel 111 ur Stabskette/Kampfgeschwader 26 "Westerland", kod 1H+JA, vilken flög ett spaningsuppdrag över Firth of Forth i de östra delarna av Skottland då den överraskades av brittiska jaktflygplan, jagades och slutligen kraschlandade utanför den skotska byn Humbie, söder om Edinburgh. Av en besättning på 4 så dödades de båda skyttarna medans piloten (Unteroffizier Kurt Lehmkuhl) skadades av och maskingevärseld i ryggen och navigatören (Leutnant Rolf Niehoff) verkar ha klarat sig oskadd.

Händelsen fick givetvis stor uppmärksamhet i de brittiska medierna som delade med sig både av fotografier och ögonvittnesskildringar av händelsen. Följande artikel gick att läsa i nummer 18/1939 av "The War Illustrated":

THEY WERE SHOT DOWN IN THE LAMMERSMOORS

A German aeroplane, attempting reconnaissance in the Firth of Forth area on October 28, 1939, was intercepted by British fighters and forced down - the first to crash on British soil. Here are first-hand impressions, reprinted from the "Observer" and the "News Chronicle" of this dramatic encounter.

Scottish country folks, and particularly the 600 inhabitants of Humbie, saw British fighters chase the German 'plane which tried hard to shake them off. They saw a display of aerobatics which held them spellbound and finally the German machine forced to earth.

Over one hundred people gathered on a high piece of ground to watch the grim contest. One of them stated: "The 'plane was brought down about two miles away. It came down on a hillside, struck a stone wall, and even then the pilot would not give up. He tried to get the machine into the air again, and ran along the ground for about half a mile before he had to stop.

In the air it was a fine sight. British 'planes chased the raider for several miles, and the way they looped and turned and twisted in the air as the German tried to get away was marvellous."

Another eye-witness said that a German 'plane came very low over the houses at Humbie.

"I heard machine-gun fire and saw a 'plane streak across the sky with British fighters in close pursuit," he added.
"The enemy 'plane was forced down and taxied across a field and then went up again very low and made for the Lammermoor Hills, where he was again forced down. The 'plane went through a wall, and then taxied along the heather and crashed into the hillside."

And the verdict of the British experts was: "A fine achievement in the circumstances."

When the machine came to a halt, the pilot was assisted out by his navigator., the only uninjured member of the crew. A policeman appeared shortly afterwards, and the pilot, speaking good English, said: "We surrender as prisoners of war. Please see to my gunners in the back of the aircraft."

But both gunners were dead.
The German pilot and his companion were taken as prisoners to Edinburgh.

En annan ögonvittnesskildring av händelsen är denna:


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Följande fotografier av händelsen har jag samlat ihop ur ett par nummer av "The War Illustrated":

Stort uppslag i nummer 10/1939 av The War Illustrated med helsidesbilder:



Gott om skotthål i flygplanskroppen:


Bild av fronten samt emblemet:


Observera skotthålen i ryggen på stolen som skadade piloten, Unteroffizier Lehmkuhl:


Många nyfikna bybor letade sig snabbt fram till vraket:


Bildtexter för nedanstående två bilder:

When the first Nazi aeroplane was brought down on British soil near Dalkeith on the morning of October 28, two of the crew were killed and the pilot was wounded. only the observer, Lt. Rolf Niehoff, seen above left, escaping all injury. Right is a close-up view of the ammunition strewn amongst the heather.

Film av händelsen på Youtube:

[Trismegistus]

Letade precis framdetta fotografi i en tysk flygtidning från tidigt under kriget och med historien om vår Humbie-Heinkel i bakhuvudet så inser man att det inte kan ha varit det roligaste att vara He-111 pilot när man mötte fientligt jaktflyg. Man sitter i en veritabel guldfiskskål; fin utsikt givetvis, men inte mycket till skydd.




[edit] Stavfel

[Hans S]

Jag besökte Aberdeen, i just Skottland, förra året då äldsta drulen studerar där. Jag har en bok därhemma någonstans om staden under kriget och där framgick att Skottland blev hyfsat rejält bombat. Det hade jag inte trott innan då det s.a.s. ligger en bit bort. Så att man spanade fanns det en anledning till. Det finns en interaktiv karta over räderna mot just Aberdeen:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.15152 ... PQLRZiKaAk

Även Belfast i Nordirland blev bombad.
https://www.historymatters365.com/case- ... ar-ii.html

NVH

Hans

Edit: Cråkschtavninq

[Hans S]

Aberdeen & the North East at war. Paul Harris, Lomond books, 1987 och inget isbn nummer.
Scannern, hon vägrar lyda order så smakprov får vänta.

MVH

Hans

[Trismegistus]

Imperial War Museum i London har faktiskt en del från "Humbie Heinkeln" i sin samling (http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30085385). Intressantast här är i min mening dock det
fotokopierade brevet som följde med metallbiten då det beskriver ännu en ögonvittnesskildring av nedskjutningen:

A photocopied letter was found associated with the item, now filed away, it reads: '15 Minster Rd, Godalming, 31.5.69 My dear Jonathan, You have asked me to let you have an eye witness account of the bringing down of the German aircraft near Gifford, East Lothian in the very early stages of the war. I believe this was the first enemy aircraft to be brought down on British soil, though several had come to grief in the sea approaches to the Scottish coast, and in the Firth of Forth. We were managing a small hotel in Gifford, about 20 miles SE of Edinburgh at this time, and one morning just after breakfast I had gone up to our bedroom to get some papers I needed when a sudden loud noise like the ripping of calico startled me, and I sprang to the window. I was in time to see the back end of a large plane at hedge height gliding rapidly in the direction of Humbie. then there were noises of crashing and bumping, and I rushed downstairs and called the barman to get out the hotel car. We drove to a T-road outside the village, and there we paused, uncertain of our direction; Bob, the barman, also pointed out that the petrol gauge registered 'empty'. there was nothing for it but to return to the hotel and collect my own car, in which I set off at good pace, and in a very few minutes arrived at the scene of the crash. By then, however, several other people had had the same idea, and a little crowd of 2-3 dozen were ambling curiously around the machine, now under the guard of 3 policeman; a Spitfire continually dived and circled overhead. The plane was a Heinkel 4-seater, and had probably been on reconnaissance; it was not severely damaged. Had we been first on the scene, as we should have been, we might have taken one or two of the earliest German prisoners, nut by the time we eventually turned up the bodies of two Germans had been removed, and two survivors marched off under escort. Back at our hotel we were soon inundated with reporters, RAF officers and sightseers. The phone was in continuous demand, and Audrey's typewriter temporarily commandeered by the Press. In the afternoon we were invaded by half a dozen 'Boffins' from the RAE Farnborough. They had been out to the wrecked aircraft, and came into the hotel laden with bits and pieces and parts of the Heinkel. They stayed nearly a week in the then nearly empty hotel, going out daily to the plane and returning in the evenings. These they spent squatting on the floor by the fire surrounded by miscellaneous material from the machine, which they examined and discussed in great detail. One of their discoveries was that the fuel supply of the aircraft was protected by a self-sealing material, an innovation which we adopted, and no doubt improved upon.' Here the letter ends, there is also a photocopy from a book, 'Pictorial History of the Royal Air Force' with some photographs of the wreck in it.