The Search – April 2018 to June 2020

Honouring those 39 lost adversaries Remembrance - Reconciliation - Commemoration Bomber Command

Oberleutnant Johann Fuhrmann 10(N)/JG26

149 Squadron

Leutnant Roman Stiegler 6/JG77 9 Squadron

Remembering together in a spirit of friendship

37 Squadron Painting by Willy Müller – 1940

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 information A 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 International Bomber Command Centre 1 Castelhythe Canwick Hill ELY Cambridgeshire CB7 4BU – UK LINCOLN LN4 2RF - UK 0044 (0)1353 665665 0044 (0)1522 514755 www.heligoland39.org www.internationalbcc.co.uk

Jack Waterfall H39 Project Leader [email protected] Find us on Charly Pfeifer H39 Luftwaffe Liaison [email protected] Doug Aylward H39 RAF Liaison [email protected] Caroline Kesseler H39 Family Researcher [email protected] Cathie Hewitt IBCC Family Researcher [email protected] Markus Graw H39 Researcher - Germany [email protected] Heligoland39 Project H39 Project Phases: The Search Remembrance Commemoration Documentation Closure over 27 months April 2018 – Jul 2020 Nov & Dec 2018 Nov & Dec 2019 April 2018 – Jul 2020 7th July 2020 The 18th December 1939 RAF Formation 149 Squadron – Mildenhall 9 Squadron - Honington

N2960 Up 0927 - Down 1600 N2961 Up 0927 N2941 Up 0855 N2872 Up 0900 W/C R Kellett Ditched near Cromer Knoll Failed to return Failed to return P/O RA Cruickshank Cromer lifeboat sent to search. NO SURVIVORS NO SURVIVORS Lt/Cdr Rotherham NAVY NO SURVIVORS Two bodies recovered* S/Ldr AJ Guthrie Sgt Hough Two bodies washed-up* F/O DB Allison F/O IE Atkinson LAC Bingham F/O MF Briden F/O DCE Bailey Sgt HW Tyrrell AC2 Francis P/O WSF Brown* LG Cpl RT Black LAC TL Marlin Sgt VHG Richardson Sgt JBA Turnbull Sgt BJ Pickess N2892 Up 0927 – Down 1610 AC2 ID Leighton Sgt JA Brister* LAC JMF Key F/O FWS Turner LG AC2 AG Foster* LG LAC AG Goodenough* LG Sgt HJ Wheller N2964 Up 0900 – Down 1600 AC1 PJ Warren Sgt WC Parker N2940 Up 0855 F/Lt IP Grant AC1 R Coalter N2984N2984 Up 0930 - Down 1325 Shot-down into sea Sgt K Douglas AC2 H Gillott Returned early with engine trouble. NO SURVIVORS LAC R Jackson F/LT AG Duguid AC1 L Gratton N2962 Up 0927 P/O EF Lines Sgt McLeod AC1 CL Williams Shot down 1410 by Me109 F/Sgt AK Fearnside Sgt JC Murdoch Position 54’N 8’E - 10,000’ AC1 EMG Polhill N2981 Up 0900 – Down 1600 LAC EH Prior NO SURVIVORS LAC AM Dickie Sgt T Purdy AC2 TE Smith F/O JHC Speirs AC2 C Walker Sgt WS Kitson P/O FN Lines N2894N2894 Up 0930 - Down 1325 N2939 Up 0855 Sgt W Wheatley Sgt RR Hammond Returned with N2984 Shot-down into sea LAC G O’Neill AC2 WJ Ellis F/Sgt Kelly NO SURVIVORS Cpl J Ware LAC JH Sinton P/O RECI Beeny F/O JTI Challes LAC J Peters Sgt Osborne P/O AHR Bourne Up 0927 - Down 1600 N2871 Up 0900 – Down 1600 N2943 AC2 Hoey Sgt TH English Forced landed Northcoates Fitties F/O HML Bulloch AC2 Graydon LAC GE Cox after sustaining battle damage. Sgt DJ Kirkness AC1 A Telfer N2866 Up 0930 - Down 1600 F/O WJ Macrae Sgt R Ballantyne Sgt FM Mason LAC AA Brown F/O AF Riddlesworth P/O JA Pritchard AC2 DH Grove Sgt Woodcock N2983 Up 0900 – Down 1530 Sgt CT Murphy Sgt Johns Ditched Latitude 50’16” North 1’15’30” AC2 EA Fawcett N2980 Up 0927 - Down 1600 AC2 Williams East – Trawler Rescue LAC F Horry On return journey saw N2961 ditch. AC2 Gouldson FOUR SURVIVORS* AC2 RW Smith Endeavoured to drop dinghy which Sgt JR Ramshaw* fouled the tail. Flew on with Sgt R Hewitt* N2873 Up 0900 – Down 1600 difficulty. Force landed at Coltishall. Force landed Sutton Bridge Luftwaffe Losses LAC DJ Connolly* S/Ldr PI Harris AC1 CR Driver* Badly shot-up. Had been on fire. P/O HA Innes Unit Me 109 LAC W Lilley Sgt FC Petts Sgt Austin 10(N)/JG26 P/O G Heathcote AC2 Watson AC1 FS Kemp Shot-down by the rear gunners of AC1 Mullineaux Sgt PW Robertson Kellett’s section. AC1 Dorsy LAC C Balch Ditched 200m off Speigeroog. C37 Squadron - Feltwell Managed to get out of his Me109 N2936 Up 0944 before it sank. Drowned after his N2904 Up 0940 Shot down and crashed on . heavy flying suit soaked up the icy Shot-down into sea THREE SURVIVORS taken prisoner* water. NO SURVIVORS Sgt H Ruse* Oberleutnant Johann Fuhrmann S/Ldr LV Hue-Williams Sgt TK May * DROWNED F/Lt TGW Appleby LAC HA Jones * F/O AR Vaughan-Williams LG Unit Me 109 Sgt TW Holley LG LAC JA Barstow Cpl FJ Taylor LG 6/JG77 Sgt AR Norris While in pursuit of N2903 at low LAC E Lowe N2888 Up 0946 level. Wingtip touched the surface Shot-down into sea of the sea west of Borkum and the N2903 Up 0940 – Down 1540 ONE SURVIVOR taken prisoner* Me109 disappeared in a cloud of Feltwell’s ‘Sole Survivor’ F/O PA Wimberley* spray and sank F/O PC Lemon P/O M Radcliffe Leutnant Roman Stiegler P/O P Templeman AC1 AM Hill MISSING Sgt EA Downham Sgt LA Sheppard LAC Greaves LAC AWW Lane KEY Cpl Kidd N2889 Up 0948 Returned to base early N2935 Up 0942 Shot down and crashed into Returned to base after mission Shot down near Borkum mudflats. Emergency landing in England NO SURVIVORS NO SURVIVORS Three bodies recovered* One body recovered* Ditched in F/O AT Thompson F/O OJT Lewis Shot-down P/O MI Drawwater* LG P/O RM Ross LG Land Grave (12) Cpl W Robinson* LG Sgt MB Barrington-Taylor Sgt AJ Tilley* * See notes above Camouflaged Me109 & Me110 LG AC1 PT Jones Jever Airfield - Winter 1939 LAC LA Stock AC1 GW Geddes* LG 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 Formation 149 Squadron – Mildenhall 9 Squadron - Honington