Cap ‘souvenir’ taken from crash site

For 80 years the Peters family have kept a ‘souvenir’ taken from the German bomber that crash-landed in Kennington during the Second World War.

Now they would like to return it to the family of one of the crew.

Jack Peters, who lived in Burton Road, was one of the first on the scene and helped rescue the wounded airmen.

He also helped himself to a Luftwaffe forage cap.

His grandson Jonathan said: “The cap always prompted the telling of the tale, salvaged from the aircraft (somewhat ‘irregularly’ I suspect!) which has been in our possession ever since.

“My grandad was in the local Home Guard and had served in the First World War.

“I am wondering if the families of the crew would be interested to know of its existence and whether there might be some way to return it — though I understand it might be tricky.”

The Heinkel 111 came down near the mound on Spearpoint Recreation Ground soon after midnight on May 11 1941 after being attacked by Spitfire pilot Roger Boulding.

Mr Peters, who is 58 and lives in Crediton, Devon, said: “I was often told about the crash by my dad who was 16 at the time and a member of the local Air Training Corps.

“He joined the RAF in 1943, flew over 40 ‘ops’ as a Special Operator with 214 Squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM).

“Sadly there is no trace of a name inside the cap. I expect it was strictly forbidden to add any ID marks in case of capture.”

Author Dilip Sarkar, an expert on the Battle of Britain and the Second World War, said: “Tracing the families of the crew would have been fairly straightforward when we were dealing with German veteran associations.

“But it would be very difficult now as they no longer exist and the new generation of Germans don’t want to be associated with the war.”

Mr Sarkar said the cap would not have belonged to the navigator Albert Hufenreuter who returned to Kennington in 1979 to thank the villagers who rescued him.

“He was an officer and their forage caps had silver bullion piping around the edge of the fold, and a silver bullion eagle.

“The crew’s unit was the 5th Squadron of Bomber Group 53. Unfortunately it has no online presence.”

But Mr Peters is not deterred. He said: “I have been a keen genealogist for many years and as we have the crew’s names I will try and trace the whereabouts of their descendants.”

The pilot Richard

Furthmann died before reaching hospital. After recovering from their injuries Hufenreuter, gunner Edgar Weber, radio operator Karol Gerhardt and flight engineer Josef Berzbach were sent to a prisoner of war camp in Canada.

An information plaque to mark the 80th anniversary was unveiled last year by Peter Rainer, who was 15 when he helped to carry the airmen to safety.

The Peters were well-known builders in Kennington for almost 100 years.

Jonathan Peters’ great-greatgrandfather carved the altar and pews in St Mary’s Church and built the lychgate. Peters also built the Kennington War Memorial.

■ Steve Salter is away

Jonathan Peters with the Luftwaffe forage cap; centre, the crashed Heinkel on The Ridge in 1941; right, Jack Peters, who took the cap, in his Home Guard uniform with his wife Alice

One wing demolished a fence belonging to air raid warden Frank Field of Church Road