Messerschmitt Bf110 C
Nationality: German
Serial number: N/K
Unit: 1./ZG26
Call sign: N/K
Date of loss: 11/05/1940
Shot down by Flying Officer Paul Richey of No1 Squadron south-east of Hirson, northern France. The aircraft crashed between Aubenton and Ribeauville at 7.15pm, killing the gunner Obergefreiter B Hofeler. The pilot, Leutnant Auinger, was captured, having baled out with a gunshot wound in the left leg. Paul Richey describes the action in his book "Fighter Pilot" as follows.
"We went in fast in a tight bunch, each picking a 110 and manoeuvring to get on his tail. I selected the rear one of two in line-astern who were turning tightly to the left. He broke away from his No1 when he had done a half-circle and steepened his turn, but I easily turned inside him, holding my fire until I was within 50 yards and then firing a shortish burst at three-quarters deflection. To my surprise a mass of bits flew off him – pieces of engine cowling and lumps of his glasshouse (hood) – and as I passed over him the top of him, still in a left-hand turn, I watched in a kind of fascinated horror as he went into a spin, smoke pouring out of him. I remember saying 'My God, how ghastly!' as his tail suddenly swivelled sideways and tore off, while white flames streamed over the fuselage. Then I saw a little white parachute open beside it. Good!"
Nationality: German
Serial number: N/K
Unit: 1./ZG26
Call sign: N/K
Date of loss: 11/05/1940
Shot down by Flying Officer Paul Richey of No1 Squadron south-east of Hirson, northern France. The aircraft crashed between Aubenton and Ribeauville at 7.15pm, killing the gunner Obergefreiter B Hofeler. The pilot, Leutnant Auinger, was captured, having baled out with a gunshot wound in the left leg. Paul Richey describes the action in his book "Fighter Pilot" as follows.
"We went in fast in a tight bunch, each picking a 110 and manoeuvring to get on his tail. I selected the rear one of two in line-astern who were turning tightly to the left. He broke away from his No1 when he had done a half-circle and steepened his turn, but I easily turned inside him, holding my fire until I was within 50 yards and then firing a shortish burst at three-quarters deflection. To my surprise a mass of bits flew off him – pieces of engine cowling and lumps of his glasshouse (hood) – and as I passed over him the top of him, still in a left-hand turn, I watched in a kind of fascinated horror as he went into a spin, smoke pouring out of him. I remember saying 'My God, how ghastly!' as his tail suddenly swivelled sideways and tore off, while white flames streamed over the fuselage. Then I saw a little white parachute open beside it. Good!"
The relics on display are part of an oil or air filter, part of a hydraulic pipe, a piece of airframe, a few Perspex pieces from the canopy and several exploded 20mm cannon and 7.92mm machine gun rounds from the Bf110's main frontal armament.