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| Ian.s memorial cross with the peice of wreckage we found |
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| The shot of the crater taken by Lt Gidden |
On the 22nd September 1943 , Dornier Do217K-1 U5+CM crashed into a feild at Out Newton on the Yorkshire coast .
The aircraft was caught in searchlight beams as it came in over the coast and attacked the searchlights with machine gun fire , it is not known if any return fire caused the crash or simply that the pilot flying at only 50 feet above the ground got it wrong and hit the ground or a tree !
The aircraft on crashing did not explode but broke up into large pieces . The main fuselage of the aircraft coming to rest across a ditch some 250 yards from the impact point . All four crewmen were killed in the crash .
The story does not end there though ,On arriving at the scene members of the armed forces quickly realised that the aircraft contained two huge 1000lb unexploded bombs /landmines .
Bomb disposal teams were called in before clearing of the site could commence .
Unfortunately whilst the Bomb Disposal team were working on the first one the firing mechanism activated and the bomb went off .
The three man team must have had a few seconds warning of the impending explosion and attempted to get as far away from the explosion as they could for they were not vapourised in the blast .All three though were injured and taken to a Convalescent Home in nearby Withernsea , it was the closest thing to a hospital there was at the time . Two of the men died of thier injuries later that day . The injured but surviving Bomb disposal man was Lieut. Frank Price.
A huge crater was formed in the blast (see picture above) , the aircraft was ripped apart and the bodies of the crew were scattered across Hodgsons field .
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| Hodgsons field looking towards Southfield Farm |
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| The remaining unexploded bomb where it was blasted to in the explosion |
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| Centre of hedge centre of shot was probable location of the second bomb |
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| close up of bomb |
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| Al inspecting damged hedge |
One of the bombs did not explode and was flung some distance coming to rest near a hedge on the North side of Hodgsons field . The location is difficult to place exactly but in the picture to the left my friend Al is inspecting a still damaged bit of hedge which could easily be the place the second bomb ended up . The shape of the trees in the distance indicate that we are somewhere in the correct vicinity for nothing else matches the details on the contemporary shot above.
A Lt Gidden went to disarm the second mine , it is his shot of the crater made by the first mine .
He reports walking up through a field scattered with wreckage and the dead German crew .
The crew who died were :
Fw.Helmut Rumpff Pilot
Fw. Siegfried
Vomweg Observer
Gefr. Arno Ehemann Radio op.
Obgfr. Kurt Stiegler Gunner
The Bomb Disposal men who died were :
Lieut. Commander
Peter Tanner
Able Seaman Percy Fouracre
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| From the Britain from above website a shot of the old convalescent home and St Nicholas church next to it in Withernsea ...this story links together very closely |
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| Withernsea Community Hospital now stands where the institute once stood . This section of perimeter wall is thought to be from the time of the incident nothing else remains of the original building . |
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| St Nicholas church tower |
There is another thread of story involved in this crash .
At some point , presumably before the aircaft was destroyed in the explosion , a group of youngsters managed to take from the aircraft a machine gun with 300 rounds and a cannon with 200 rounds . (amongst a number of other smaller items too ).
They carried the weapons to St Nicholas Church in Withernsea hiding them in the belltower .
Their intent was to shoot down a German aircraft . The Germans apparently used to come in low over Withernsea possibly using the Church tower and the lighthouse as markers .
The lads even managed to test fire the guns on the beach after clearing a path down through the minefield !
They were nothing if not intrepid .
Eventually though they were found out and the weapons confiscated before thier daring plan came to fruition . Although they did escape detection for two weeks .
The centre of the largest area of debris (its under the ground and its illegal to remove it without proper permit ) is centred around this Grid Ref.
TA 37601 20859
Its now a nature reserve so the ecology is sensitive . Someone had been there before us indiscrimently digging holes and just leaving them unfilled , please do not do this , instead please respect the crew , the tremendously brave Bomb Disposal men and of course the present day enviroment . Thanks .
Just to note that we only uncovered a tiny fragment in order to confirm that it was wreckage rather than a split bag of nails . We reinterred the wreckage we found after photographing it and replaced the clod of grass. It was very close to the surface .
It is extremely unlikely that anything of any value at all remains so further digging would just be wasting your time so dont do it !
Visiting the crash site, situated with Kielder forest , involves a very long walk and/or some atrocious terrain to cross if taking the shortest route . Its probaly the reason that so much wreckage still remains at the site .
