Date: 25th September 1940
Time: 11.50 hours.
Unit: 5 Staffel./Kampfgeschwader 55
Type: Heinkel He 111P
Werke/Nr.2126
Coded: G1 + DN
Location: Racecourse Farm, Failand, west of Bristol, Somerset, England. (T.9794)
Pilot: Oberleutnant. Gottfried Weigel. 67020/4 (EKI). – Captured.
Observer: Oberfeldwebel. Alfred Narres. 67020/12 (EKI). – Captured.
Radio/Op: Feldwebel. Georg Engel. 67020/37 (EKI). – Captured.
Flt/Eng: Unteroffizier. Karl Gerdsmeier. 67020/50 (EKI). – Captured.
Gunner: Gefreiter. Karl Geib. 67020/84 (EKII). – Captured.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Thirty aircraft started from Chatres at 09.30 hrs. in formation. The target was not known to the crew who were flying in the last Kette in the formation and were to drop their bombs when they saw the leader drop his; it is believed the target was the Bristol Aircraft works. Before reaching the objective the formation came under heavy AA fire of the 237th Battery, 76th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and at the same time, in the middle of the AA bursts, three British fighters appeared. The tail of this aircraft was hit by AA fire and the crew bailed out. Aircraft crashed and burnt out.
Markings: D in red, outlined in white. Aircraft made by Land & See Leichmetall, Kiel.
Engines: DB 601. Armament: Traces of three MG 15. Four 250 kg bombs were found lying in a field near to the crash.
A view of the wreckage spread over a large area. (Net).
RAF crew arrive and sift through the wreckage of G1 + DN. (Net).
Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless with special thanks to Nigel Parker.
