Aircraft: Messerschmitt 109 E-1
Nationality: German
Serial number: 3874
Unit: 6 / JG3
Call sign: Not known
Date of loss: 26/08/1940
Believed to be one of two Bf 109s shot down by the Spitfire of Flying Officer Marston of No 56 Squadron in combat over the Thames Estuary. F/O Marston describes hitting the port wing and radiator of this aircraft which then dived into cloud with the pilot attempting to bale out. Coming out of the cloud, he observed the wreckage burning in a crater some two miles south-west of Westgate. This location corresponds to the site where a Bf 109 crashed at high speed and burned out at 12.20pm at Shuart's Farm, St Nicholas-at-Wade.
During 1984, this crash site was the subject of a major excavation. The main wreckage was discovered at a considerable depth (between 35 and 40ft) and within the compacted tail section and cockpit were found the remains of the pilot. Evidence from the excavation, in the form of Unteroffizier collar tabs found on the uniform, an embroidered handkerchief with the initials "FB", a lucky charm and serial plates indicating the identity of the aircraft, seemed to provide compelling proof that the pilot was Unteroffizier Fritz Buchner, who had been officially listed as missing 44 years previously. However, it took a further two years for British and German authorities to agree on his identity. He was finally laid to rest, in the presence of surviving members of his family, with full military honours in the German War Cemetery at Cannock Chase on the 8th May, 1987.
Nationality: German
Serial number: 3874
Unit: 6 / JG3
Call sign: Not known
Date of loss: 26/08/1940
Believed to be one of two Bf 109s shot down by the Spitfire of Flying Officer Marston of No 56 Squadron in combat over the Thames Estuary. F/O Marston describes hitting the port wing and radiator of this aircraft which then dived into cloud with the pilot attempting to bale out. Coming out of the cloud, he observed the wreckage burning in a crater some two miles south-west of Westgate. This location corresponds to the site where a Bf 109 crashed at high speed and burned out at 12.20pm at Shuart's Farm, St Nicholas-at-Wade.
During 1984, this crash site was the subject of a major excavation. The main wreckage was discovered at a considerable depth (between 35 and 40ft) and within the compacted tail section and cockpit were found the remains of the pilot. Evidence from the excavation, in the form of Unteroffizier collar tabs found on the uniform, an embroidered handkerchief with the initials "FB", a lucky charm and serial plates indicating the identity of the aircraft, seemed to provide compelling proof that the pilot was Unteroffizier Fritz Buchner, who had been officially listed as missing 44 years previously. However, it took a further two years for British and German authorities to agree on his identity. He was finally laid to rest, in the presence of surviving members of his family, with full military honours in the German War Cemetery at Cannock Chase on the 8th May, 1987.
The relics on display here consist of a shattered and twisted exhaust stub from the Bf 109's Daimler Benz 601 engine, some small pipework (presumably from the engine) and part of the radio transmitter / receiver located behind the pilot in the mid-fuselage section.
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