Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives), Volume IX, March, 1953 Germany, Page 12817 © 1931-2006 Keesing's Worldwide, LLC - All Rights Reserved. Air, Incidents.-Czechoslovak. Fighters Attack on U.S. Planes over Bavaria.-Soviet Attack on British .-Shooting- down of British Lincoln and U.S. Thunderjet.-Seven British Airmen killed.-Czechoslovak Rejection of U.S. Protest.-British, French, and U.S. Protests to Soviet Authorities in Germany.-Statement by Mr. Churchill.-Soviet Rejection of British Protest.-General Chuikov's Proposal for Air Safety Conference.

U.S. Headquarters in Wiesbaden announced on March 10 that two Czechoslovak MIG-15 jet fighters of Russiandesign had earlier the same day attacked two U.S. F-84 (Thunderjet) fighters over Bavaria, 15 miles inside the AmericanZone of Germany, and had shot down one of them. The attack, the announcement said had occurred near Regensburg at an altitude of about 12,000 feet and in "perfectly clear weather", and the two Thunderjets had been "well within the AmericanZone." The pilot of the crashed aircraft (First-Lt. Warren G. Brown) had baled out just before the crash and had landed safely, whilst the other pilot (First- Lt. Donald C. Smith) had flown back to Furstenfeldbruck (the base from which the Thunderjets were operating) without having fired his guns. An Air Force spokesman said that neither Lt. Smith nor Lt. Brown had been able to identify any national markings on the planes which had attacked them.

In a further statement on March 15, a spokesman at U.S. Air Force Headquarters disclosed that earlier press reports that the two Thunderjets were on a routine patrol and had accidentally, run up against the MIGs were not correct, that in actual fact the U.S. fighters had been "ordered out in a matter of seconds from Fürstenfeldbruck air base to investigate and intercept the two MIG intruders as soon as they were picked up on our radar screen"; and that they had found and intercepted the MIGs over American zonal territory "only a few minutes after the radar warning was received." "The fact that one of them was shot down," the spokesman added, "was due to faulty manoeuvring plus the superior speed of the MIGs, but the incident proved that our radar warning; system to effective and that our fighters can be up in the air to intercept intruders within minutes." The incident gave rise to deep concern both in Washington, where the State Department announced on March 10 that the U.S. Ambassador in (Mr. George Wadsworth) had been instructed "to lodge the strongest possible protest both against the attack on the aircraft arid the violation of the U.S. Zone of Germany," and at U.S. Headquarters in Germany. Dr.Conant, the American High Commissioner in Bonn, declared on March 11 that he was confident that the U.S. forces inGermany "will know how to deal with any future incursions of this type."

The Czechoslovak Government, in a Note handed to the American Embassy in Prague on March 11, disclaimed any responsibility for the shooting down of the U.S. fighter.

The Note alleged that the two U.S. aircraft had first been located 12 miles south of Pizen (Pilsen) and 25 miles insideCzechoslovak territory, that the American pilots had refused to land when ordered to do so, and that the two CzechoslovakMIGs which challenged them had then opened fire and damaged one of the planes. Rejecting the American protest as "an attempt to reverse the foots and evade responsibility," the Note maintained that the incident constituted a "crude violation ofCzechoslovak sovereignty" and that responsibility rested exclusively on the U.S. Government.

A second American Note sent to on March 13 emphasized that U.S. jet fighters were under constant U.S. radar surveillance, that radar had established beyond doubt that the two U.S. aircraft had not crossed the Czechoslovakborder at any time, and that the shooting down of one of them had occurred "within the border of the American Zone ofGermany."

Describing the Czechoslovak Government's "attempted explanation of tills provocative incident" as "a falsification of facts designed to cover its responsibility for this inexplicable action," the Note referred to previous border incidents in 1951, after which the Czechoslovak Air Force had been instructed to keep about 12 miles away from the U.S. zonal border. The "flagrant incident of March 10" indicated, however, that "the Czechoslovak Government has reverted to its previous practice of misrepresentation" and that the former "buffer zone" order was no longer in effect. "In view of this attitude of theCzechoslovak Government," the Note declared, "the U.S. authorities in Germany will take the measures necessary to prevent any further violations of the border of the U.S. Zone by Czechoslovak aircraft." Finally, the Note demanded an expression of regret, an assurance that such incidents would not recur, disciplinary measures against the offending pilots, and "immediate compensation" for the destroyed jet fighter.

On March 12, two days after the incident, over Bavaria, two further serious incident involving British military aircraft, took place in Northern and North-Central Germany. The Air Ministry in London announced on that date that an R.A.F. Lincoln bomber of Flying Training Command, on a routine exercise, had been shot down by MIG fighters in the Hamburg- Berlin air corridor near the British zonal border, that five of the crew had been killed and two wounded, and that earlier the same day another R.A.F. Lincoln of Flying Training Command, on a similar routine exercise, had been the object of a threatening "mock" attack by two Soviet MIG-fighters near Kassel, "well within the British Zone." The statement added: "H.M. Government take n grave view of this serious event within the Hamburg- Berlin air Corridor. The U.K. High Commissioner inGermany has been instructed to protest to the Soviet, High Commissioner in the strongest terms against this deliberate attack on a British aircraft, involving the death of British airmen. He is to request that an investigation be undertaken immediately by the Soviet authorities, that these responsible for this outrage should be punished, and that due reparation be made for damage to persons and property."

An R.A.F. spokesman in Germany stated that the Lincoln bomber had come down in flames near Bolzenburg (on the border of the British and soviet Zones, and S.E. of Hamburg), at about 2.30 p.m., after having been fired at by two soviet fighters, that the main portion of the wreckage had fallen in a wood on the Soviet side of the Zonal border, but that other parts of the wreckage, as well as the aircraft's papers (which had been thrown out by the crew), had been found near Lauenburg, inside the British Zone and near the zonal border.

The two Lincolns had taken off in the morning on a long-distance training flight from the Central Gunnery School at Leconsfield ( Yorkshire), and had been expected to return to their base in the afternoon without making a landing inGermany.

Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick, the British High Commissioner, accordingly protested on March 13 to the Soviet High Commissioner (General Chuikov) against "this deliberate and brutal act of aggression involving the murder of British airmen," Before his protest was sent off, however, he received a Note from General Chuikov alleging that the British bomber had violated East German territory and had opened fire on the Soviet fighters.

General Chuikov's Note stated that, according to a report from the Soviet Air Force station at schwerin (Mecklenburg), the bomber had been observed at 2.26 p.m. over, East German territory in the region of Bolzenburg, "flying on the route Bolzenhurg Rostock", that it had thus flown "a distance of 120 kilometres (75 miles) into the German Democratic Republic"; that "when it continued its course" two Soviet aircraft had instructed it to follow them and land on the nearest airfield; but that the British bomber had "not only failed to submit to thus lawful demand but opened fire on the soviet planes." The Sovietaircraft (the Note went on) had thus been forced to fire a warning shot but the bomber had continued-firing at them, thereby compelling the Soviet fighters to open fire in return. The British aircraft had subsequently lost height and had fallen south-west of Schwerin on East German territory, where the wreckage had been found, together with four dead airmen and a fifth seriously injured. The Note alleged that there had been found in the wreckage "two aircraft guns, a large calibre machine gun, ammunition, and spent cartridges," and protested against a "violation of the East German border."

Later the same day the British Air Ministry announced that the Lincoln had carried no live ammunition, that the breach-blocks of its guns had been removed for servicing before it had left, and that there was consequently no truth whatsoever in theRussian statement that the Lincoln had fired on the Soviet fighters. The announcement added: "The Russian report that discharged ammunition had been found in the wreckage is regarded as being possible because the aircraft had been used on a number of occasions recently in gunnery practice. It is by no means unlikely that some discharged ammunition might have been left in the aircraft."

An Air Ministry spokesman subsequently stated that the Lincoln's flight had been "carefully plotted across territory over which the aircraft had every right to fly"; that the fact that it had come down in the Hamburg- Berlin air corridor did not mean that it was over the corridor when attacked; that, even if it was, it still had every right to be there under four-power agreements; and that even if an aircraft at some point overstepped the boundary, there could be no Justification for shooting it down. The Foreign office likewise described the Soviet allegation that the Lincoln had flown 75 miles inside East Germanterritory as "a gross distortion of the facts, showing a degree of incompetence on the part of the Russian navigators which was almost incredible."

The two members of the Lincoln's crew who had landed within the British Zone died shortly afterwards, whilst the fifth member found seriously injured in the wreckage died the following day at the Schwerin military hospital in the Soviet Zone, the whole crew of seven thus being lost. The bodies of the five men found in the Soviet Zone were handed over to the Britishauthorities on March 15.

A spokesman, of British European Airways in London announced on March 13 that on the previous day shots has been fired by Soviet aircraft alongside a B.E.A. Viking while en route from Munich to Berlin, and that they had presumably been fired as a warning to the Viking to keep well within the air corridor.

Protest Notes against the aggressive behaviour of the Soviet pilots were sent to General Chuikov on March 15 by Sir Ivonc Kirkpatrick and by the U.S. and French High Commissioners (respectively Dr. Conant and M. Francois-Poncet). The British Note referred, in addition to the shooting down of the Lincoln near Hamburg, to the "mock" attack on the second Lincoln bomber by two Soviet fighters over Kassel, as well an to the "series of threatening mock attacks from at least fourSoviet MIG-15 aircraft" on the B.E.A. plane flying from Munich to Berlin "on a normal commercial fight." After saying that it was "purely fortuitous" that the second Lincoln bomber and the B.E.A. Viking had escaped damage "which might have led to grove loss of life," Sir Ivone Kirkapatrick protested "most emphatically against the rockless and aggressive behaviour of theSoviet pilots, which represents a deplorable departure from the standards of humanity inspiring the conduct of civilized peoples" and demanded "that an immediate investigation be made, steps taken to punish these responsible, and all possible measures steps taken to prevent a repetition of such incidents." The U.S. and French Notes were in similar terms, and expressed "strong indignation" at the "brutal, unprovoked, and entirely unjustified "attacked" the Lincoln bomber.

General Chuikov sent a letter to the British High Commissioner on March 19 rejecting the British protest but proposing an Angle-Russian conference on air safety problems. Copies of the letter were sent to the U.S. and French High Commissioners.

In his letter to Sir Ivonu Kirkpatrick, the Soviet High Commissioner said that he could not accept the British Note since it wan "based on assumptions that do not accord with the facts." After expressing his regret that the crew of the Lincoln bomber had lost their lives, he proposed that British and Soviet military representatives Should meet in Berlin "in view of the necessity to guarantee the safety of aircraft in future and in order to avoid misunderstandings in this respect." At such a conference, he suggested, "Joint concrete measures could be discussed… to guarantee the adherence of aircraft to the existing flight regulations and thus to avoid regrettable air incidents." General Chuikov reiterated the Soviet contention that the Lincoln had violated the East German border on March 12, said that two other British aircraft had deviated from the Berlin air corridor on the same date, both having flown back into the corridor after the "usual warning signals"; and rejected theBritish statement that Soviet fighters had flown over Kassel on March 12, declaring that no such flights had occurred on that date.

In a statement to the House of Commons on March 17, Mr. Churchill expressed the deep sympathy of the Government and the House with the relatives of the seven airmen who had lost their lives as a result of "a cruel and wanton attack by Sovietfighter aircraft." He continued:

"The Lincoln was unarmed. On training mission when not engaged in gunnery practice, our aircraft have hitherto carried no ammunition. The belt feed mechanism had in fact been removed from both 20 mm. guns in the upper turret, which is the usual practice when it is not intended to fire these weapons. The .5 machine guns in the rear turret were complete, but were not provide with ammunition. The Russian assertion that the Lincoln opened fire on them is utterly untrue.

The flight was part of the usual exercising of allied air defences, Such exercises have been carried out regularly by Flying Training Command over the past 18 months The course prescribed for the Lincoln ran parallel to the zonal boundary and 40 miles on our side of it. The pilot and the navigator were both fully trained and experienced officers.

A study of the information new available indicates that the aircraft may, through a navigator error, have accidentally crossed into the Eastern cone of Germany at some point But the evidence of ground observers, and the spent cannon-shell links from the Russian fighters picked up in our western zone, prove that the Russians repeatedly fired on the Lincoln and mercilessly destroyed it when it was actually west of, and within, the allied zonal frontier. The wreck of the aircraft followed in its descent a track which caused it to fall just within the Russian Zone Thus it was actually over our zone when first fired on, and the lives of seven British airmen were callously taken for a navigational mistake in process of correction which could have been dealt with by the usual method of protest and inquiry.

British aircraft in the Western allied zone of Germany will continue to carry out their normal exercises, taking all possible precautions, Should Soviet aircraft stray into our zone over effort will be made to warn them, and, by following the procedure normally used by nations at peace, to avoid loss of life."

The Air Ministry in London announced on March 15 that British training aircraft taking part in exercises over Germany would in future be fully armed, and when necessary would be given fighter cover. American Air Force H.Q. at Wiesbaden announced on the same date that all unidentified aircraft over the U.S. Zone of Germany would be intercepted, that U.S. aircraft, if fired on by "intruders" in a "belligerent manner," would return the fire, and that American aircraft, unlike Britishplanes, had not been ordered to keep ten miles away from the "Iron Curtain" frontier. On the following day it was announced in Wiesbaden that a number of fighters of the U.S. 81st Fighter Interceptor wing had been moved from Britain to Germanyfor temporary duty, and had been sent to the Fürstenfeldbruck air base. (Times Dally Telegraph Manchester Guardian Le Monde, Paris-New, York Time-New York Herald Tribune)

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