In the morning of 6th September 1942 two Messerschmitt Me210 aircraft were flying a reconnaissance mission over the Tees area. At this stage in the War the
Me210 was a relatively new aircraft, this mission was possibly the first over the English mainland in the type after a ban on flying over the UK had just been
lifted. Whilst still out to sea two Typhoons of No.1 Squadron based at Acklington had been patrolling an area to the north of the River Tees, they were sent to
intercept the two enemy aircraft. In one Typhoon was P/O T G Bridges, in the other was P/O Perrin. The fighters spotted the two Me210's near off Redcar, the
enemy aircraft turned landwards and crossed the coast near Redcar. By now the Typhoons were closing in on their targets and the Me210's dropped what bombs
they were carrying near Lackenby before splitting up, one Typhoon following each Me210. The fate of one
Me210 is also detailed on this website and it would crash near Robin Hoods Bay (for more details on this other incident please click
here).
The other aircraft was followed by P/O Perrin, he attacked three times damaging the Me210, after the third attack the Me210 went into a vertical dive. The wireless operator either jumped or was thrown out of the aircraft, his parachute did not open properly and he was killed on impact with the ground. The pilot also came out of the spinning aircraft just before impact, he landed in a small reservoir moments before the aircraft hit the ground closeby and near to Fell Briggs Farm. The pilot was dead by the time he was dragged from the pool.
Pilot - Fw Heinrich Moesges, aged 30. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.
Wireless Operator - Obgfr Eduard Czerny, aged 23. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.
The airmen's graves at Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.
The crash site shown in the above photograph taken probably the day of the crash. I would like to thank Mr
David Thompson for allowing it to be shown here and for sharing his research into this incident (Photo copyright Mr David Thompson).
The same area in June 2009 as shown in the photograph above.
The reservoir into which the pilot fell, now a private fishing lake.
