Lone wolves that rained
AT 1.50pm on November 4, 1940, a German bomber flew at just 1,000 feet through the balloon barrage that crowded the skies above Kings Norton. It dropped three bombs, damaging houses and two factories.
Minutes earlier the same aircraft had bombed and machinegunned Henley-in-Arden, in Warwickshire.
Five days later, on a Saturday lunchtime, Kings Norton and nearby Cotteridge were the initial focus for another ‘lone wolf ’ raid.
A single Junkers Ju 88 bomber approached from the south-west and shortly after 12.30pm dropped bombs and machinegunned a number of streets.
Eye-witnesses report it flew very low, startling shoppers and residents in the Hobs Moat and Sheldon district. The Junkers followed the Coventry Road and continued spraying machinegun fire.
The pilot guided his aircraft to the principal target, Elmdon Aerodrome. Here the plane dropped three or four bombs, causing minor damage to five Tiger Moth training aircraft, before opening fire on two barrage balloons, damaging one.
At this point in the war, the Austin Aero works had ostensibly escaped the attention of the Luftwaffe, unlike the aircraft factory at Castle Bromwich.
In fact, German intelligence held the mistaken notion that the Austin factory was producing Spitfires. Although involved in wartime production for the RAF, it did not produce the fighters though did produce the Fairey Battle aircraft, as well as Hurricane fighters and the Short Stirling heavy bombers.
A German reconnaissance flight took place on September 5, and plans for an attack drawn up.
Shortly after 4pm on November 13, barrage balloon posts in the Longbridge area were alerted that enemy aircraft were approaching from the south.
Orders were given for balloons to fly just below the cloud base. Within a couple of minutes the air-raid warning sounded. Ten minutes later a solitary Heinkel He 111 was overhead and greeted with errant anti-aircraft fire.
The Heinkel turned to the west, circled and came in to attack. Over the next ten minutes, it dropped at least 15 bombs, most of which fell in surrounding fields.
The electricians’ shop at the Austin Motor factory was hit, resulting in six deaths and 25 injuries. The damage caused meant the night-shift was cancelled for the following two nights. As for the important aero works at Cofton Hackett, only the water mains were damaged as three high explosive bombs missed their mark.
A further three bombs fell in Northfield, completely blocking the main Birmingham-Bristol LMS railway track.
Then 914 (barrage balloon) Squadron reported the Heinkel being chased off by three RAF Hawker Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes belonged to the newly-operational 306 (Polish) Squadron, which had taken up residence the previous week at the Shropshire airfield of Tern Hill.
Yellow Section had scrambled at 4.05pm and was initially instructed to patrol the Coventry area.
Within a few minutes the three pilots were given a series of new courses which led them to Birmingham.
Anti-aircraft fire alerted them to the whereabouts of the Heinkel heading north-east. The Hur-
German intelligence thought the Austin factory was producing Spitfires