Ju88 4D+DR Fuselage wreckage

Germany’s invasion of Britain relied on securing total air superiority over the continent.

They sought to do this by directing their main attacks at RAF airfields and aircraft production facilities whilst attempting to draw the RAF into combat at every opportunity. It was to be a simple war of attrition on the British aircrews and aircraft.

RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires were being destroyed faster than they could be built. Its pilots, especially those less experienced were suffering horrendous casualties. Far more alarming, its pool of  experienced, senior pilots were also rapidly diminishing. 

Like many other British aircraft manufacturers, the Supermarine works at Woolston and Itchen near Southampton had already dispersed many of its production jigs and machine tools to smaller facilities across the country. 

It was an important decision as both factories were completing destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing in September 1940 with a horrendous loss of life.     

To press home its advantage, the Luftwaffe launched one of their largest bombing raids on the morning of August 15th 1940, targeting RAF fighter and bomber bases on the North East coast of Britain.

Designed to overwhelm RAF resources, the raid was compromised of two thrusts. The first, originating from bases in Norway was directed at the RAF airfields in the north and the second, from the Luftwaffe base at Alberg in Denmark, to those in the North East of Britain

It was to be the biggest daylight raid in what was to be called the Battle of Britain. 

The Luftwaffe had hoped to take the RAF by surprise but had failed to take into account the range and sophistication of Britain’s early warning coastal radar stations which had been able to pick up the first wave of aircraft some 90 miles out to sea.

Comprising 65 Heinkel He IIIs and 34 escorting Bf 1110’s, by the time the formation had begun their approach to the coast, RAF controllers already had two squadrons of Spitfires already in position to meet them.

Diving from height, Spitfires from No 72 and 605 Squadrons managed to scatter the formation with one squadron targeting the Heinkels and the other, their BF 110 fighter escorts. 

Some of the BF 110s immediately jettisoned their external drop tanks before forming a defensive orbit around the lumbering bombers whilst others dived to sea level turning back out to sea as they made their escape.

With fighter escort numbers now significantly reduced, the lumbering, heavily ladened Heinkels began to fall quickly to the British fighters.
 
Within the less than an hour, eight Heinkels and seven of their BF 1110 escorts had been destroyed and with many more severely damaged, the remainder jettisoned their bomb loads over the countryside before they too turned back to Norway having inflicted minimal damage on a number of coastal villages and harbours.

Meanwhile further south, a formation of 50 unescorted Ju88’s of 7, 8 & 9 Staf. III KG30, operating out of Aalborg-West in Denmark appeared on British radar heading for the RAF bomber base at Driffield in Yorkshire.

Their secondary targets, if the first were unreachable, were the industrial cities of Newcastle, Sunderland or Middlesbrough.

On high alert RAF controllers sent 73, 264 and 616 Squadron’s Hurricanes, Defiants and Spitfires to intercept the intruders with 616's Spitfires and 73’s Hurricanes engaging with the lead Ju88’s. 

Immediately the Ju88s split into separate groups with some turning towards the ammunition dumps at Bridlington whilst the main group continued onto RAF Driffield.

Harried by the RAF fighters and targeted by heavy anti aircraft fire, a number of JU 88’s were shot down before they were even able to commence their bombing runs on.

Many more however managed to slip through the gauntlet, dropping a total of 169 bombs on the Driffield base, destroying 12 Whitley heavy bombers and four of the five hangers.

Heavy damage was also inflicted on the runways with15 RAF personnel and a civilian killed. The attack had been so severe that RAF Driffield was put out of action for the rest of that year.

Scattered, and with many badly damaged, the remaining Ju 88’s made a desperate run for home with many falling prey to the Spitfires and Hurricanes out over the North Sea.

For the Luftwaffe it was a disaster with 75 German aircraft lost during the mission and a further 15 severely damaged and although RAF Driffield had been successfully hit, it was to be the last daylight bombing raid over British soil. 

Seven of those aircraft shot down were Ju 88’s, with six claimed by Spitfires and the seventh, by a nearby anti aircraft battery.

One of the JU 88’s failing to complete its bombing run was Ju88 4D+DR of 7KG30 piloted by FF Oberlt Werner Bachmann.

With it’s two 250kg bombs still locked under its wings, Bachmann’s Ju 88 had barely begun its descent before receiving a direct hit on the port engine’s oil cooler from a Spitfire piloted by Sgt James Hopwell of No 616 Squadron.

With thick billowing smoke streaming from his port wing, Bachmann broke of his attack but Hopewell hit him again in the starboard engine.

Too low to bail out and with his radio operator badly injured and his gunners frantically trying to return fire at Hopewell’s Spitfire, Bachmann decided to attempt a wheels up crash landing and braced for impact.

Miraculously the JU 88 stayed in one piece as it pancaked into a field beside the Bridlington Waterworks reservoir and ground to a shuddering halt of tearing metal and erupting dirt. 

Within moments, Bachmann, aided by his bomb aimer and air gunner, had managed to release the upper canopy hatch pulling the badly injured Wireless operator from the wreckage before surrendering to soldiers making for the crash site. 

Unfortunately the wireless operator Uffz Arnulf-Georg Neumeyer, succumbed to his injuries a day later and was buried in Bridlington Cemetery but for Bachman and the remainder of his crew, the war was over. 

With guards posted at each wreckage site to deter looters and souvenir hunters, the wreckage of JU 88 4D+DR  remained undisturbed until the arrival of an RAF technical officer attached to Air intelligence who inspected the wreckage gathering as much information as possible.

Then with the inspection complete and any unusual equipment, armament  aircraft features and code books and maps secured, the wreckage was released to one of the many teams of RAF Maintenance Units (MUs) dotted across the country responsible for the recovery and dispersal of aircraft wreckage.

Before they did however, the RAF Intelligence officer organised a familiarisation inspection of the wreckage by group of newly commissioned Spitfire pilots to obtain first hand knowledge of a type of aircraft they would undoubtedly meet in combat.   

By late 1940, the RAF were hard pressed to keep up with the increasing number of German aircraft littering the countryside of Britain, let alone their own crashed aircraft.

As an interim measure, the Air Ministry engaged civilian contractors to collect both British and German wrecks but such was the volume of aircraft being short down that temporary ‘holding’ depots were established where assorted wreckage from locally-crashed aircraft were stockpiled before further processing and eventual despatch to the Northern Aluminium Company depot at Banbury.

With aluminium in short supply, melted down many Luftwaffe aircraft did in fact fly again as newly manufactured Spitfires but authorities continued to struggle with souverneiring often amongst their own military personnel, the civilian population and many of their recovery contractors.

In fact, of particular concern was the scavenging of live rounds by British children from the wreckage who proudly displayed their finds in the schoolyards across Britain.

This section of airframe is likely to have had similar ‘scavenged’ origins being found a few years ago during a house clearance near Bridlington in an old wooden box labeled ‘Driffield attack August 15 1940 Junkers Ju 88 4D+4R’.

28cm long and complete with panel and framing rivets, one larger anodised frame secured by a bent bolt bares the faint stamp of R8 -88A - the designation of The Junkers Ju88 but its Werk No is too faint to derive a complete number. 

As such its likely to be one of the few remaining pieces of Oberluinenet Bachman's Ju88 and mounted on its 100 yr old mango wood stand with engraved plaque and highly detailed hand crafted 1/72 or 1/48 scale model of 4D+4R perched above, it makes an incredible collectable from one of the most deadliest air battles of WWII.

Along with a detailed laminated Fact Sheet telling the story of Bachmann's raid and his aircraft, it would make an awesome gift from any aviation enthusiast.

This Junkers 88 Collectable comes complete with detailed 1/72 or 1/48 Scale Model, Mango Wood Stand & Plaque plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of instrument in aircraft cockpit.

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