Dornier Do 217K-1 U5+CM

  Ian.s memorial cross  with the peice of wreckage we found

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 .   

Hodgsons field  looking towards Southfield Farm

The remaining unexploded bomb where it was blasted to in the explosion

Centre of hedge centre of shot was  probable location of the second bomb

close up of bomb

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 

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

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   .

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 !