Bomber Command

The Search – April 2018 to June 2020

Remembrance - Reconciliation - Commemoration

Painting by Willy Müller – Germany 1940

Honouring those lost adversaries

149 Squadron

OberleutnantJohann

Fuhrmann10(N)/JG26

9 Squadron

LeutnantRomanStiegler6/JG77

37 Squadron

Remembering together in a spirit of friendship

The Battle of Heligoland Bight – 18th December 1939 was the first named air-battle of World War Two. It proved to be a baptism of fire for the RAF and resulted in the loss of 57 airmen and 12 Wellington Bombers. Happening so early in the war, this action and the men who fought in it have largely been forgotten. However, it is widely acknowledged that as a result of this disastrous raid Bomber Command decided to discontinue daylight raids over mainland Germany in favour of night operations. Had this bitter experience not been heeded, the R.A.F. would have undoubtedly faced annihilation at the hands of what was then a dominant Luftwaffe.

The Loch Ness Wellington In 1984 Robin Holmes set up a trust called The Loch Ness Wellington Association Ltd to organise and finance the recovery of the aircraft which has now been restored and is on display at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. Out of a total of 11,461 produced, Wellington Mk.1A, N2980 is now the only one left that fought against the Luftwaffe in World War Two.

Robin's excellent book tells the dramatic story of the battle of Heligoland Bight 1939 and gives the history of the plane and its crew who survived to fight another day.

Available in eBook format through Amazon. All monochrome images printed on this leaflet were provided courtesy of Grub Street Publishing Ltd

An appeal for informationA massive search is underway to find the living relatives of the airmen who participated in The Battle of Heligoland Bight 1939. If your family has any connections with those listed overleaf and wish to become involved in an 80th Anniversary Reconciliation & Commemoration Ceremony in December 2019, please make contact with any of those listed below.

Heligoland39 Project 1 Castelhythe ELY Cambridgeshire CB7 4BU – UK 0044 (0)1353 665665 www.heligoland39.org

International Bomber Command Centre Canwick Hill LINCOLN LN4 2RF - UK

Jack Waterfall H39 Project Leader jack.waterfall@ntlworld.com

0044 (0)1522 514755 www.intern

ationalbcc.co.uk Find us on

Heligoland39 Project

Charly Pfeifer H39 Luftwaffe Liaison charly.pfeifer@kabelmail.de Doug Aylward H39 RAF Liaison dougaylward@talktalk.net Caroline Kesseler H39 Family Researcher caroline.kesseler@ntlworld.com Cathie Hewitt IBCC Family Researcher Info@internationalbcc.co.uk Markus Graw H39 Researcher - Germany graw@ludgerus-werk.de

H39 Project Phases: The Search Remembrance Commemoration Documentation Closureover 27 months April 2018 – Jul 2020 Nov & Dec 2018 Nov & Dec 2019 April 2018 – Jul 2020 7th July 2020

HELIGOLAND 39

N2960 Up 0927 - Down 1600 W/C R Kellett P/O RA Cruickshank

Lt/Cdr Rotherham NAVY Sgt Hough LAC Bingham AC2 Francis

N2892 Up 0927 – Down 1610 F/O FWS Turner Sgt HJ Wheller Sgt WC Parker AC1 R Coalter AC2 H Gillott

N2962 Up 0927 Shot down 1410 by Me109 Position 54’N 8’E - 10,000’

NO SURVIVORS F/O JHC Speirs P/O FN Lines Sgt RR Hammond AC2 WJ Ellis LAC JH Sinton

N2943 Up 0927 - Down 1600 F/O HML Bulloch Sgt DJ Kirkness Sgt R Ballantyne LAC AA Brown AC2 DH Grove

N2980 Up 0927 - Down 1600 On return journey saw N2961 ditch. Endeavoured to drop dinghy which

fouled the tail. Flew on with difficulty. Force landed at Coltishall. S/Ldr PI Harris P/O HA Innes Sgt Austin AC2 Watson AC1 Mullineaux AC1 Dorsy

KEY Returned to base early Returned to base after mission Emergency landing in England Ditched in North Sea Shot-down

LG Land Grave (12) * See notes above

N2961 Up 0927 Ditched near Cromer Knoll

Cromer lifeboat sent to search. NO SURVIVORS

Two bodies washed-up* F/O MF Briden P/O WSF Brown* LG Sgt VHG Richardson AC2 ID Leighton AC2 AG Foster* LG AC1 PJ Warren

N2984 Up 0930 - Down 1325 Returned early with engine trouble.

F/LT AG Duguid Sgt McLeod Sgt JC Murdoch LAC EH Prior AC2 TE Smith

N2894 Up 0930 - Down 1325 Returned with N2984

F/Sgt Kelly P/O RECI Beeny Sgt Osborne AC2 Hoey AC2 Graydon

N2866 Up 0930 - Down 1600 F/O AF Riddlesworth Sgt Woodcock Sgt Johns AC2 Williams AC2 Gouldson

Luftwaffe Losses Unit

10(N)/JG26 Me 109

Shot-down by the rear gunners of Kellett’s section. Ditched 200m off Speigeroog. Managed to get out of his Me109 before it sank. Drowned after his heavy flying suit soaked up the icy water. Oberleutnant Johann Fuhrmann DROWNED

Unit 6/JG77

Me 109

While in pursuit of N2903 at low level. Wingtip touched the surface of the sea west of Borkum and the Me109 disappeared in a cloud of spray and sank Leutnant Roman Stiegler MISSING

Camouflaged Me109 & Me110 Jever Airfield - Winter 1939

N2941 Up 0855 Failed to return NO SURVIVORS

Two bodies recovered* F/O DB Allison F/O DCE Bailey Cpl RT Black Sgt JBA Turnbull Sgt JA Brister* LG LAC AG Goodenough* LG

N2940 Up 0855 Shot-down into sea

NO SURVIVORS P/O EF Lines

F/Sgt AK Fearnside AC1 EMG Polhill LAC AM Dickie AC2 C Walker

N2939 Up 0855 Shot-down into sea

NO SURVIVORS F/O JTI Challes P/O AHR Bourne Sgt TH English LAC GE Cox AC1 A Telfer Sgt FM Mason

N2983 Up 0900 – Down 1530 Ditched Latitude 50’16” North 1’15’30”

East – Trawler Rescue FOUR SURVIVORS*

Sgt JR Ramshaw* Sgt R Hewitt* LAC DJ Connolly* AC1 CR Driver* LAC W Lilley

N2872 Up 0900 Failed to return NO SURVIVORS

S/Ldr AJ Guthrie F/O IE Atkinson Sgt HW Tyrrell LAC TL Marlin Sgt BJ Pickess LAC JMF Key

N2964 Up 0900 – Down 1600 F/Lt IP Grant Sgt K Douglas LAC R Jackson AC1 L Gratton AC1 CL Williams

N2981 Up 0900 – Down 1600 Sgt T Purdy Sgt WS Kitson Sgt W Wheatley LAC G O’Neill Cpl J Ware LAC J Peters

N2871 Up 0900 – Down 1600 Forced landed Northcoates Fitties

after sustaining battle damage. F/O WJ Macrae P/O JA Pritchard Sgt CT Murphy AC2 EA Fawcett LAC F Horry AC2 RW Smith

N2873 Up 0900 – Down 1600 Force landed Sutton Bridge

Badly shot-up. Had been on fire. Sgt FC Petts P/O G Heathcote AC1 FS Kemp Sgt PW Robertson LAC C Balch

N2936 Up 0944 Shot down and crashed on Borkum.

THREE SURVIVORS taken prisoner* Sgt H Ruse* Sgt TK May * LAC HA Jones * Sgt TW Holley LG Cpl FJ Taylor LG

N2888 Up 0946 Shot-down into sea

ONE SURVIVOR taken prisoner* F/O PA Wimberley* P/O M Radcliffe AC1 AM Hill Sgt LA Sheppard LAC AWW Lane

N2889 Up 0948 Shot down and crashed into

Spiekeroog mudflats. NO SURVIVORS

One body recovered* F/O OJT Lewis P/O RM Ross Sgt MB Barrington-Taylor AC1 PT Jones AC1 GW Geddes* LG

C37 Squadron - FeltwellN2904 Up 0940

Shot-down into sea NO SURVIVORS

S/Ldr LV Hue-Williams F/Lt TGW Appleby F/O AR Vaughan-Williams LG LAC JA Barstow Sgt AR Norris LAC E Lowe

N2903 Up 0940 – Down 1540 Feltwell’s ‘Sole Survivor’

F/O PC Lemon P/O P Templeman Sgt EA Downham LAC Greaves Cpl Kidd

N2935 Up 0942 Shot down near Borkum

NO SURVIVORS Three bodies recovered*

F/O AT Thompson P/O MI Drawwater* LG Cpl W Robinson* LG Sgt AJ Tilley* LG LAC LA Stock

The search is underway……………. Charly Pfeifer gave me the photograph of Willy Müller’s startling painting on a trip to Jever in 2016. Ever since then, during our regular phone chats, we have talked about the forgotten history it depicts and this project has grown out of these conversations. At this early stage we are building on many old friendships and new collaborations to enable the delivery of an Anglo German 80th Anniversary Commemoration on the 18th December 2019. I would sincerely like to thank the people who have helped get this search phase underway: RAF Points of Contact: RAF Honington, RAF Club, Piccadilly & RAF Museum, Hendon. Luftwaffe Points of Contact: Jever Airbase; Jever Airbase Military History Collection. R3236 Family Members: Doug Aylward, Polly & Kirsty Freeman, Ted Fuller, Caroline Kesseler, Sally Reynolds & Patricia Ruff. Lincoln University: Heather Hughes. IBCC Lincoln: Nicky Barr, Dave Gilbert & Cathie Hewitt. Brooklands Museum: Andrew Lewis & Denis Corley. Author: Robin Holmes. John Davies at Grub Street. Friends in Germany: Charly & Frank Pfeifer, Marcus Christ, Markus Köpke & Markus Graw. Friends in England: Angela & Derek Pickersgill, Nick Pollington, Andy Dicks, Canon Chris Barber, Chris Cock & Paul Emeny. Wellington PH, Feltwell. The Mildenhall Register: Geoff Reynolds, Steve Smith, Dave Richardson & Alan Fraser. Cromer Lifeboat Museum: Jacqui Palmer & Eryl Williams. Grimsby Local History Library: Jennie Cartwright & Colleagues. Thank you all once again, Jack Waterfall

The 18th December 1939 RAF Formation149 Squadron – Mildenhall 9 Squadron - Honington

The 18th December 1939 RAF Formation149 Squadron – Mildenhall 9 Squadron - Honington

N2984

N2894