EYEWITNESS: FALLEN EAGLES

In an occasional series looking at eyewitness testimony relating to German military history, Andy Saunders examines the case of two senior Luftwaffe officers lost over Britain in 1940.

In another new occasional series, we look at events behind eyewitness accounts from the battlefield. In this issue, witnesses describe the downing of a Heinkel 111 bomber over Britain which resulted in the deaths of two highranking Luftwaffe officers.

The little RAF training airfield at Upavon, Wiltshire, made little sense as a target when singled out by the Luftwaffe for a daylight attack on 14 August 1940. In the air defence of the British Isles, Upavon was singularly insignificant. Nevertheless, three Heinkel 111-P aircraft from the Geschwaderstab of KG55 were detailed by their Kommodore for an attack on the airfield. What made even less sense than the target selection, however, was that two senior Luftwaffe officers were on board one of the aircraft.

Both officers were of Oberst rank roughly equivalent to a Group Captain in the RAF: 45-year-old Oberst Alois Stoeckl and 50-year-old Oberst i.g Walther Frank, the Geschwader Kommodore of KG55 (who had ordered the attack) and the Chief of Staff of V. Fliegerkorps respectively.

Taking off from Villacoublay during the late afternoon, the three bombers stayed close together across the English Channel, with Stoeckl the captain of G1 + AA, Werke Nummer 2898. For this operation, Stoeckl selected Oberleutnant

Bruno Brossler, the Geschwader’s navigation officer, as his pilot. Given Brossler’s status and navigational skills, Stoeckl could be certain that he would get them precisely to the target as one of the best and most experienced pilots on the unit. Flying as flight mechanic was Feldwebel Jonny Thiel, together with the radio operator, Feldwebel Heinz Grimstein.

For his part, Stoeckl was to fulfil the role of the aircraft’s observer, and while Frank was nominally recorded as ‘air gunner’ in Luftwaffe records, he was simply a supernumerary. In other words, just along for the ride. Perhaps, though, there was rather more to the target selection than might at first meet the eye?

AN ‘EASY’ TARGET

RAF Upavon housed neither fighter squadrons nor a defence flight, and aside from light weapons for ground defence it had no real means by which to defend itself. This, quite likely, was known to Stoeckl who was able to select Upavon with confidence as an ‘easy’ target. Not only that, but the airfield sat in open countryside atop a hill and would be easy to locate. Cloud cover on the run-in might also prove to be a useful hiding place in the unlikely event of encountering fighters. All round, the attack would be simple and relatively ‘safe’. And, with a crack pilot, they would be sure to arrive exactly on target. For Stoeckl, it would be the perfect objective to ‘showcase’ to Frank the ease with which the crews of KG55 could hit a target in daylight, and with impunity. Thus, when Oberst Frank asked to accompany one of the crews on a daylight sortie over England to see how it was done, Upavon fitted the bill perfectly. Not only that, but with the daylight air offensive of 1940 just getting underway, some aircrew were anxious about air operations over Britain. What better way to reassure them but for the CO to go on an unescorted daylight raid with another senior officer? And they might have got away with it but for a fatal flaw in the plan.

Whilst it might be a stretch of to suppose that the operations officer of KG55 was unaware of other sorties at roughly the same time in the locality of

Upavon, it was doubtless an attack on RAF Middle Wallop by I./LG1 shortly before the approach of Stoeckl’s aircraft that sealed the fate of KG55’S CO and his crew. However, an engine problem caused him to turn prematurely for home. Perhaps, too, the blanket of cloud was too problematic for even Brossler to get a fix. Either way, their fate was sealed.

The attack by three Junkers 88s of I./LG1 on the airfield had stirred up something of a vigorous RAF response, and although some of Middle Wallop’s Spitfires of 609 Squadron were already airborne, others got quickly into the air after the raid. As result, one Junkers 88 was shot down south of the airfield.

Meanwhile, the Spitfires of 234 Squadron were also up and looking out for raiders – just as Stoeckl’s three aircraft began to transit the area around Middle Wallop as they headed north towards Upavon and straight into a veritable hornet’s nest of Spitfires. One of those pilots was Sergeant Michael ‘Scruffy’ Boddington of 234 Squadron who chanced upon Stoeckl’s lone Heinkel, now headed on a southerly track:

EYEWITNESS 1

‘Wednesday 14 August 1940 17.30 – 18.45 hrs Spitfire N3280

234 Squadron

Patrol Middle Wallop

I was patrolling base at 17,000 feet above 10/10 cloud at 12,000 ft and sighted enemy aircraft at 15,000 feet turning to approach from the sun. I turned again through 180 to a distance of 50 yards from the tail. During the final approach at a distance of 100 yards enemy aircraft opened machine gun fire from rear turret. I held fire until satisfied that target was well within range. Upon opening fire all enemy retaliation ceased. First one undercarriage and then the second dropped. As fire was continued pieces appeared to be coming off from all section of the enemy aircraft. It went into a dive, through the clouds and apparently blew up on making a crash landing some five miles SSW of Middle Wallop aerodrome to which point I followed it at a distance of approximately 200 yards.

Sergeant M C B Boddington’

Following his quarry down, Boddington used all 2,640 rounds of ammunition riddling machine and crew with bullets. To those watching below, several had a grandstand view, including Graham Gready:

EYEWITNESS 2

‘In the summer of 1940 I was employed as carpenter by a firm of civil engineers, at the Admiralty Depot in West Dean. On 14 August 1940, a double alert sounded meaning enemy aircraft in the immediate vicinity. With others, I took cover behind a pile of railway sleepers.

‘Aircraft were coming back harassed by Spitfires, when suddenly one bomber appeared barely clearing the trees. As it cleared the end of the valley, it veered 90° and came straight on, heading for the loading shed where I had been working.

‘The great Perspex nose just came on, but the engines were cutting and crackling, and machine guns firing. Although I was petrified, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Then, about 200 yards in front of the

building, the bomber struck a bank of chalk before it reached the shed. The result was dreadful.

‘The bomber bounced into the air, slewed to port and smashed down again. As it did, the port landing wheel broke off, went up in the air, and came down in a field on the other side of the road. Worst of all, as the fuselage slapped down it broke in two just behind the wings.

‘I didn’t have the courage to move, even as the dust settled, but one man jumped out of a trench and scrambled into the wreck because he could hear someone moaning. Two crew members were got out before the depot’s security people, ambulances and Bomb Disposal arrived.’

The moaning Graham Gready heard was from Jonny Thiel and Heinz Grimmstein. Miraculously, both survived the impact but were seriously injured.

Quite apart from injuries sustained as the Heinkel struck the ground, they were also wounded by machine gun bullets. Nevertheless, both were treated in hospital and made a partial recovery before transfer to a POW camp. However, so severe were their injuries that they were later repatriated.

Bruno Brossler was hit in the stomach by three bullets but somehow managed to almost get his aircraft down. He was found dead in the cockpit along with Oberst Alois Stoeckl. Meanwhile, Oberst Walter Frank jumped too low for his parachute to open, his crumpled body landing nearby with witnesses describing it as ‘…like a crumpled rag doll.’

With his decorations and red collar tabs, the locals considered he might be an important officer. They were not entirely wrong.

The aircraft came to rest in a field near the Royal Navy Ordnance Depot, Dean Hill, near the Hampshire villages of East Dean and West Dean, between Head’s Farm and East Dean Church.

AFTERMATH

The three German airmen were laid to rest at Romsey, Hampshire, but later moved to Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery in the 1960s. For the aircrew of KG55, the loss of their CO was a blow to operations and morale. Not without good cause did members of the unit regard the sortie as foolhardy. One, Leutnant Anton Tuffers of 8./KG55, had already been exasperated by having to take Frank on night sortie over Britain while Oberstleutnant Hans Korte, on taking over command of KG55, was astonished to learn that Stoeckl had ‘… flown to Bournemouth on a clear and lovely day just to have a look around.’ As to Frank, there was no good reason for being on the flight. Later, Oberleutnant Ignatz Krenn of 1./KG55 told the author: ‘It was madness. A pointless sortie because Frank wanted to show off and say he had taken part in the air assault on England.’

In his logbook, Boddington incorrectly recorded the aircraft as a Junkers 88 and was not aware of the fate of the crew:

‘Attacked from 50 yards. Very crude! Brief return fire. Five aboard. Including Colonel. All dead’ [sic.]

Meanwhile, Boddington received a silver cigarette case from Melville, Dundas & Whitson Ltd, RNA Depot, West Dean. It bore his engraved signature along with the following inscription:

A MEMENTO OF YOUR FIRST HUN A NICE, FAT, BOMB LADEN HEINKEL WHICH YOU SHOT DOWN AT WEST DEAN ON THE AFTERNOON OF AUGUST 14th 1940

Oberst Alois Stoeckl was the most senior Luftwaffe officer killed on air operations during the Battle of Britain. His loss with Oberst Frank would lead to an order from Göring forbidding such senior officers from flying together on combat operations.

(Colour by RJM) ■ The crumpled wreckage of the Heinkel 111 at West Dean, Wiltshire, on 14 August 1940. The crash took the lives of two senior Luftwaffe officers. Unfortunately, the identity of the RAF pilot in his black flying overalls has not been established.

All photos via author unless otherwise credited.

■ Oberst Alois Stoeckl was born in Bavaria in 1895 and was eight days short of his 45th birthday when he was killed. He served as an observer during the First World War in Turkey and the Middle East and had later been caught up in the failed beer hall Putsch of 1932, getting involved in a street battle with Hitler’s acolytes. Later, he went on to serve as liaison officer in Spain for the Legion Condor and then as an intelligence officer under Admiral Canaris. By 1938, he was the commanding officer of III./KG51 ‘Edelweiss’, taking over command of KG55 in March 1940. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross on 14 July 1940 and was the highest-ranking Luftwaffe officer killed in the Battle of Britain.

■ Oberleutnant Bruno Brossler, photographed much earlier in his service when holding the rank of Unterfeldwebel.

■ Far left: An aerial view of the West Dean Royal Navy depot during the war. The Heinkel crashed among trees, top right centre. ■ Left: That anyone survived the impact when the Heinkel 111 hit the ground is nothing short of a miracle. ■ Below: This photograph shows Feldwebel Jonny Thiel (left) and Feldwebel Heinz Grimstein standing in front of G1 + AA, the aircraft brought down on 14 August 1940.

■ Oberst Alois Stoeckl’s grave at Cannock chase. He lies buried with Oberfeldwebel Karl Pflitsch, the observer on board a Junkers 88 of 2./KG6 shot down at Ringwood, Hampshire, on 7 May 1943.