On the night of 9th / 10th July 1941 at least three Junkers Ju88's set out from Schipol in Holland to carry out anti-shipping patrols over the North Sea, they had possibly set out at different times. All three aircraft flew into mist as they neared the English coastline and were seperated. This Bernberg manufactured aircraft headed north and hit the cliff top at Brackenbury Wyke, Staithes at 00.06hrs. The tail of the aircraft fell back down the cliff and the rest of it broke up and was spread over the fields at the top of the cliff on land near Cliff Farm. Two other Junkers Ju88;s crashed near the village of Speeton, further down the east coast. All four German airmen died as a result of this incident at Staithes, they were:
Pilot - Oblt Edgar Peisert (Luftwaffe), aged 27. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Observer - Lt Rudolf Belloff (Luftwaffe), aged 22. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator - Gefr Gerhard Vogel (Luftwaffe), aged 23. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Fw Karl Kinder (Luftwaffe), aged 26. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The four airmen's gravestones at Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.
The Whitby Gazette briefly mentioned that this aircraft had crashed, but unless you knew where it was then you wouldn't be able to guess!
A general overview of where this aircraft crashed, in the green fields to the east of Staithes.
I have yet to visit the crash location although I believe it to be in the area shown in the photograph shown above. Upon impact the tail section fell back down the cliffs into the sea whilst the front part of the aircraft continued across the fields above (below). Historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Eric Barton sought permission from the landowner to search for the site and located small fragments in July 2005 to confirm the location.
