Aircraft: Heinkel 111-P
Nationality: German
Serial number: 2146
Unit: 3 / KG55
Call sign: G1 + GL
Date of Loss: 19/09/1940
Inspection cover from a Heinkel 111 bomber, shot down at 11.40pm by anti-aircraft fire on a night sortie to bomb RAF Filton. The aircraft crashed in Thorley Wash, beside the River Stort, near Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire. Three of the crew, Uffz Hans Pohl, Uffz Willi Goliath and Fw Theodor Alpers were killed. Uffz Gertz baled out and was captured.
Nationality: German
Serial number: 2146
Unit: 3 / KG55
Call sign: G1 + GL
Date of Loss: 19/09/1940
Inspection cover from a Heinkel 111 bomber, shot down at 11.40pm by anti-aircraft fire on a night sortie to bomb RAF Filton. The aircraft crashed in Thorley Wash, beside the River Stort, near Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire. Three of the crew, Uffz Hans Pohl, Uffz Willi Goliath and Fw Theodor Alpers were killed. Uffz Gertz baled out and was captured.
The capture of Uffz Gertz, the fourth member of the crew, has a strange twist. Mr Clark was a stoker at the town Gas Works and heard the plane crash while on fire-watching duty. The next day, Mr Clark took his dog for a walk to locate the crash. He came across the injured German crew member in a stubble field. The airman pulled out a gun and handed it to Mr Clark who promptly threw it out of reach. He then phoned the police who came and took Unteroffiizier Gertz to Haymeads Hospital. Mr Clark's story had a happy ending. Towards the end of the war, German prisoners were allowed out to work locally and some were sent to the Gas Works. One of those detailed to assist Mr Clark was Herr Gertz!
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