193919391939
HIT OVER BRITAIN
Three days later, Wekusta 26 (a
weather reconnaissance unit) lost its
first Do 17Z-2 in combat when Fg
Off Max Pearson of 54 Squadron
damaged its starboard engine off
Orford Ness in Suffolk at 12.25pm.
It was the first kill of a Do 17 by a
home-based RAF fighter squadron.
Pearson’s combat report is very
detailed, albeit his kill was not
confirmed at the time: “...it was
identified as a Do 17 and Red 3
immediately went astern (apparently
unnoticed by the Do 17), closed to
200 yds and opened fire for a ten-
second burst. Enemy went into a steep
left-hand spiral. Fire from enemy
upper rear gun continued for about
five seconds and then ceased. It is
thought the rear gunner was killed in
the first burst from our fighter.
“The slipstream from the Dornier
[had] upset the sighting of our aircraft
and so Red 3 ceased fire until he hadrealigned his sights when he gave
another burst of about five
seconds. At this point Red 3’s
ammunition ran out and
[the] enemy aircraft pulled
up into a very violent stall,
turned to port and dived
vertically towards
the sea from a height
of 7,000 feet, black
smoke pouring from
his starboard engine.
“The Do 17 flattened
out at sea level and
Red 3 followed from
behind and to one side
at a distance of half a
mile. The enemy
continued on its
course eastwards
with smoke still
coming from its
starboard engine
and starboard wing
down.”Post-war research has proven that
Uffz Gerhard Hertel tried to get back
to base but his aircraft crashed in the
sea of Ameland with the deaths of all
four crew.
By the start of April 1940, the
German invasion of France and the
Low Countries was just 40 days
away and, with an improvement in
the weather, air operations began to
increase. A total of four Do 17s were
shot down in combat and another
four damaged during the month, but
by now, several Do 17 units, notably
1.(F)/123 and 3 and 4.(F)/121,
had already begun to convert to the
Junkers Ju 88.NORWAY – A
REDUCED ROLE
Further north, on April 8, 1940,
German forces invaded
Norway.
However,
the part
played
by the
Dorniers
wasAbove
Removing the RC 50/30
camera fi lm magazine
from a Do 17P of 1.(F)/123.Right
The RC 50/30 camera
fi tted to Frankenberger’s
Do 17 was recovered
intact and underwent
detailed analysis by the
R A F.Below
Dornier Do 17P-1 ‘F6+FM’
of 4.(F)/122 was brought
down on November 23,- Both its engines
were crippled in attacks
by Fg Off C D Palmer of 1
Squadron over Écury-sur-
Coole and it belly-landed
at Moiremont, north of
Sainte-Menehould. Two of
the three crew survived.
116 FLYPAST June 2018