SHETLAND
CRASH LOG

Loss of aircraft
in WWII

Compiled
by David Hanson

116 Copgrove Road

Leeds

West Yorkshire

LS8 2RS

(03/11/1993)

RETYPED
BY CRAIG ROBERTSON (Keeping original text layout and grammar) 15/04/2003

SHETLAND CRASH
LOG

By David Hanson

 

This is a log of all known aircraft losses which occurred in Shetland during World War Two. It also includes aircraft which came down in the sea within ten miles of land. It is compiled from RAF, FAA and Luftwaffe records, with extracts from the ‘Shetland Times’ and ‘Shetland Life’.

I would also like to thank Andy Flours, Stephen Burns, Jemima Hepburn,
Ron Pankhurst, Lindsey Robertson, Martin Smith, Peter Ward and Tommy Watt for their help.

There are some gaps in the records, particularly in the early years. Where the names of all the crew are not known, only the pilot is named.

Lerwick had its first air-raid of the war on this day. The London was at anchor in the North Harbour having a engine change, when six Heinkel He 111’s began circling the town. They chose the London as their target and dropped eight bombs without doing any damage. One of the Heinkel’s then came in very low, and set the London on fire with machine gun fire. The flying boat was abandoned by its six man crew, who were soon picked up by fishing boats.

Because of the frequent visits to Shetland by the Luftwaffe the Shetland Fighter Flight was formed. The Flight was also sometimes referred to as
the Sumburgh Fighter Flight. Fighter Commands stretched resources meant only Gladiators could be spared. But what was missing in the way of numbers was made up by the enthusiasm of the pilots.
Unfortunately the Flight did not leave any records, so we are left with
some blanks in this interesting period of Shetland’s aviation history.

This Gladiator was in the circuit at Sumburgh when it stalled and spun into the beach. There are no further details.

At 1008 a ‘bogie’ was reported near Whalsey Skerries. At 1022 this was confirmed as two enemy aircraft near Fetlar. One of the JU 88’s was engaged by the Gladiators of the SFF and shot down into the
sea.

The Walrus was returning from patrol, short of fuel, and with the crew unsure of their position. Land was sighted, and a precautionary landing was made. They anchored as close to shore as possible, and landed in their dinghy. They found out that they had arrived on Foula.

Bad weather prevented the crew being picked up for some days, until the MV Water Lily made it from Scalloway.

Before the Walrus could be rescued from the north coast of the island it was broken up by bad weather.

Crew:-
Lt Paul R.E.Woods, Pilot; Mid.Paul Furber, Navigator and Ld/Sm
Arthur Bell, TAG.

The London caught fire at Sullom Voe.

The Gladiator bounced on landing and ran off the end of the runway. It turned over onto its nose on soft ground and was a write-off.

The Skua failed to return from a reconnaissance flight from Hatson to Lerwick. It was last seen at 59 degrees 31N, 0 degrees 19W, to the east of Fair Isle.

Crew:-
Mid (A) J.R. Crossley, Pilot (missing) and PO (A) M.Hall, buried Lerwick.

The Blenheim lost a propeller and it had to make a forced landing at Scatsta. The airfield at Scatsta was still under construction at the time, and the Blenheim has the distinction of being the first aircraft to land
there.

The 254 Sqn records for this incident are unreadable, so there are no further details.

The Beaufort had carried out a dive-bombing attack on Vaeres, in Norway. On the way home they were hit in the starboard aileron by machine gun fire.

The Beaufort crashed into the sea when trying to land at Sumburgh. All of the crew escaped with cuts and bruises.

Crew:-
Sgt Flinn, Sgt Shirley, LAC Thomas and AC O’Malley.

The Gladiator had engine failure while on patrol. A forced landing was made in shallow water on the beach at Haroldswick, Unst. The aircraft turned over, and was a write-off, but the pilot was not injured.

Pilot:-
P/O N.I.L.Francis.