Heinkel He111 A1+AL near Wigginton.
This Luftwaffe aircraft was one of four flying to attack Belfast on the night of 15th / 16th April 1941. It took off from Vitry-en-Artois at 22.00hrs. Using National Archives file AIR40/2405, this states that
the crew were briefed to attack a main target of Belfast but had alternative targets of Liverpool and Hull as options. This aircraft carried one 1,000lb bomb and sixteen containers each containing 36 incendiary bombs. The
crew appear to have flown around the east side of England but off-shore and crossed the Humber Estuary at 10,000 feet. It made landfall in the Flamborough Head area then headed west. When it reached the Kirkby Stephen area
the oil pressure in the starboard engine fell to zero so the pilot had to shut it down and attempt to turn around to return for home. The pilot redcued flying speed to that just above stalling speed and flew roughly south-east
but the aircraft began to lose height. Over the Ripon area the starboard engine caught fire, the crew then jettisoned the 1,000 bomb and a short time later they all baled out of the aircraft. The aircraft crashed near Bohemnia
Farm, between Huby and Wigginton at around 01.30hrs. Most of the wreckage was centred around the main impact site with much of the bulk of the aircraft burying itself in the impact hole. The crew survived their landings and
were taken prisoner of war. Nothing of the aircraft's history is really known other than it was operated within II Fliegerkorps in Luftflotte 2. I thank Mr Ken Atkin for recounting his memories of this crash site to me which he visited the site just after the crash.
A number of RAF ORB's sourced differ from the above account and probably offer some truth. Combined, they state that the aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire over the Leeds/Huddersfield area at around 01.20hrs, then
the aircraft was able to limp off to the North but while over the Ripon area an engine caught fire. The Leeds / Huddersfield area I would question being correct.
Bill Norman's book "Broken Eagles" is full of researched information but nothing extra is included in his account of this incident, possible as none was known at the time of writing. What I can add is that on this same
date the Old White Bear in Masham, north of Ripon, received a direct hit by one of two "parachute" mines. One landed near the Leyburn Road at or in Marfield Quarry and another at Cross Hills which destroyed the pub and
surrounding houses and sadly killed some civilians and billeted military personnel. The blast broke windows as far away as the church. A memorial to commemorate this incident is now close to the site of the old pub. It seems likely that the Heinkel that crashed at Wigginton was the
same aircraft that dropped the mines over Masham as the Wigginton aircraft is known to have dropped it's load in the area North of Ripon where Masham falls. No other confirmed record of bombs dropped in the Ripon area on this date has been found although on an unknown date bombs were
dropped around the village of Mickley, between Masham and Ripon which landed on farmland. The crew of the Heinkel were as follows.
Pilot - Fw Karl Menzel. Survived and became a PoW.
? - Hptm Werner Horing. Survived and became a PoW. (Hptm Werner Horenz on AIR40/2405).
Observer - Obfw Rudolf Lackner. Survived and became a PoW.
Wireless Operator - Uffz Oskar Seltmann. Survived and became a PoW.
Mechanic - Fw Alfons Wachter. Survived and became a PoW.
The York Aircraft Preservation Society excavated the crash site in 1971 and recovered engines, propellers and other items. Of these recovered parts a propeller blade is still in the locality of the
farm but the location of the other recovered items is not known. Mr Brian Rapier was one of the main men behind the dig but a young Nick Roberts was in attendance, he recovered the items pictured here.
They show a machine gun magazine and oxygen bottles, the magazine contained live 7.92mm phospherous incendiary bullets which began to self-ignite when they dried out and cleaned, they were "disposed" of.
The names listed below are those known to have been killed in Masham by the explosion near the pub, the first four civilian names are those credited on both a memorial at the bomb sites and on Masham War Memorial
in the churchyard (where they were buried on 18th April 1941 and the church records note they were killed in an air raid). The two soldier's names have not been listed locally on with the memorial or the War Memorial.
Mr Herbert Scaife, aged 57, of Cross Hills, Masham. Buried Masham Churchyard.
Mrs Ann Scaife, aged 61, of Cross Hills, Masham. Buried Masham Churchyard.
Mr Douglas Watkinson, aged 33, of Cross Hills, Masham. Originally from Skipton, Yorkshire. Buried Masham Churchyard.
Mrs Elsie Irene Watkinson, aged 31, of Cross Hills, Masham. Buried Masham Churchyard.
Pte Hubert Charles Page (13032691), aged 26. Buried Wootton Bassett Cemetery, Wiltshire.
Pte Alfred Louis Sweet (13032695), aged 25. Buried Tuckingmill Churchyard, Cornwall.
A close up of the memorial plaque in Masham.
Masham's War Memorial.
