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15th September 1940


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With this years Battle of Britain day getting near I felt it a good time start this build which I`ve been planning for a little while now and it`s also a good time to try out my new account at Flickr because Photobucket can go and ..........., ok...., that`s for another thread on here. 


The subject of this build is all to do with this man sitting in the cockpit ..........,


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..... Sgt Ray Holmes.


As most will know Ray is known for his effort in ramming a Do-17 as it flew over Central London. (Whether it was in fact out to bomb Buckingham Palace is open to debate, but this is not really within the remit of this build). 

That said, Ray was like so many other airmen at the time, incredibly brave and this story will always capture the imagination of anyone who hears it for the first time, if not a second of third time.

There is a well known painting of the event in question.....,


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...... however I`m pretty sure this is not an accurate representation of the schemes and in particular the Dornier.

 

Classic Airframes seem to have been closer to the actual scheme as seen below but I`m always open to help and advice on the matter.

 

 

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Using the Hurricane from the `Ready for Battle` Airfix kit and the ICM D-17.

 

 

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Not got much done yet, just Ray sitting in his Hurricane.

 

 

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As mentioned, any and all help welcomed when it come to research on the subject.

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Another minor update now with added Dornier bits.....

 

 

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Hurricanes coming on fine however if I thought the Hurricane kit had quite a few fiddly bits, I really should not of opened the ICM Dornier kit........,

 


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Look at that glazing.....! Think I`ll be upgrading to Mr J Daniels as this build progresses........

 


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I don't know if you have this information but if you go to  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/battle-of-britain/11865303/The-Battle-of-Britain-as-it-happened-on-September-15-1940-live.html

and scroll down about halfway there is a very clear photo which shows the exact placement of the pink (yes, it was pink) stripe across the port fin & rudder assembly as it lay on a roof top at the corner of Wilton Road.

 

HTH

 

Cheers

 

Dave

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On 7/8/2017 at 11:54 PM, tango98 said:

I don't know if you have this information but if you go to  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/battle-of-britain/11865303/The-Battle-of-Britain-as-it-happened-on-September-15-1940-live.html

and scroll down about halfway there is a very clear photo which shows the exact placement of the pink (yes, it was pink) stripe across the port fin & rudder assembly as it lay on a roof top at the corner of Wilton Road.

 

HTH

 

Cheers

 

Dave

 

Cheers for the info Dave. :yes:

 

I was aware and had heard it was a pink stripe so here`s the stupid question, does anyone know what shade of pink it was?

 

So onto today`s update and...... 

 

......... it`s always shocking to see a perfectly good kit mutilated in the name a creativity..... :D

 

 

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...... but it gives you a good idea of how this 1/48 scale build will look once completed.

 

Ray, sitting in his Hurricane, is coming along nicely. 

 

 

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12 hours ago, tc2324 said:

I was aware and had heard it was a pink stripe so here`s the stupid question, does anyone know what shade of pink it was?

A thrilling subject tc.

The Classic Airframes decals and the Valiant Wings book on the Do 17Z seem to tally closely enough in their reproduction of the KG76 pink, though it would be interesting to know their primary sources for this hue of course:

DecalsDo17Zlw010.jpg

 

Review+Airframe+Detail+No.2+The+Dornier+

HTH,

Tony

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Cheers for the colour references Tony, all noted for when the time comes.

 

Another issue I have if I want to get this reasonably accurate is that two dead crew members were still on board the Dornier and I`ll have to see if I can find out their positions in the aircraft. By the time Ray came across it, all the living aircrew had bailed out.

Talking of which, I`ll also have to find out how the crew bailed out, bomb bay would be the obvious choice, but the bomb load was still in place so not sure if that was possible? Crew access hatch is also another credible choice.

 

Any help always welcome.

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F1+FH  W.Nr.2361.  The 6.Abt. QM returns identify the crew as Oblt. Robert Zehbe (pilot), Ogfr. Ludwig Armbruster  (radio operator), Uffz.Leo Hammermeister (flight engineer), Uffz. Gustav Hubel (gunner) and Uffz. Hans Goschenhofer (observer). Lagging almost half a mile behind the main formation due to engine trouble, it was attacked over the southern outskirts of London and severely damaged and one engine set on fire.  Armbruster (unhurt) and Hammermeister (wounded) baled out over south London, the former landing in Sydenham and the latter in Dulwich. They were followed shortly by Zehbe who baled out over Battersea shortly after Holmes’ attack leaving the dead Hubel and Goschenhofer in the aircraft.

The crew would have baled out through the access hatch under the nose while its bomb load was jettisoned over south London.

HTH

Dave

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Hey Dave, cheers for the info on who was who in the Dornier. I did know about Zehbe but wasn`t entirely sure about the others so that`s a great help.

 

With regards to the text on when Zehbe left the Dornier, this tends to change from website to website and is typical when trying to research incidents or aircraft history. The following two texts are taken from the Blitzwalkers and BoB London Monument web pages respectively and indicate that the Dornier was in effect a ghost ship when Holmes attacked it.

 

 

`With two of his crewmen already dead, Zehbe ordered the remaining two to bale out, set his aircraft onto auto-pilot and followed his men out. He landed in Kennington, near the Oval Cricket Ground and hanging by his parachute from some cables, was set upon by an angry mob, including several women armed with pokers and kitchen knives. Although this 'mob rule' behaviour cannot today be condoned, at the time, after a week of the Blitz, feelings were already running high amongst some Londoners. Zehbe was rescued by the Home Guard and driven away but died of his wounds shortly afterwards. In the meantime, his bomber flew on unmanned across Central London`.

 

`The Dornier, F1+FH werk nr. 2361 of 1./KG76, had taken off from Beauvais-Tille at 10am and joined a formation heading at 15,000 ft for central London. After crossing the coastline near Dungeness an engine started to malfunction and the aircraft dropped behind the main force. Once over London it came under concentrated attack from Hurricanes of 310 (Czech) Squadron.

The observer, Uffz. Hans Goschenhofer and gunner, Uffz. Gustav Hubel, were killed and the pilot, Oblt. Robert Zehbe, ordered the remaining crew, Ogefr. Ludwig Armbruster and Uffz. Leo Hammermeister, to bale out.

Zehbe then set the aircraft on auto-pilot and baled out himself.

As the unmanned aircraft flew over Central London Holmes came across it and turned for a head-on attack`. 

 

 

Intrigue, intrigue....... 

 

 

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You may find interesting the following extract from one of my books on the BoB (Bitter Harvest Volume 2, p.153) which was the result of my own and many others' research on this KG 76 Do 17. It doesn't help your camo colour options but perhaps lends a background flavour to the story behind Ray Holmes' position during these historic times.

+++++++++++++

While not perhaps central to the tales of the casualties that came down in Kent and its surrounding coastal waters, the Victoria Station Dornier is interesting for at least three reasons. Firstly, it was probably over northwest Kent that Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe initially encountered the Hurricanes that had been sent to follow up on the initial interception by 72 and 92 squadrons’ Spitfires. One of Zehbe’s engines had been performing below its best, so the strong northwest wind, against which all of Lindmayer’s bombers were struggling, was particularly difficult for this 1stStaffel bomber. It had fallen inexorably behind the remainder of the tight defensive formation that afforded welcome mutual protection. As a straggler, Zehbe’s Dornier became a magnet for all the British fighter pilots that came across it, offering a lower risk of concentrated return fire. For this reason as much as any other, Zehbe’s Friedrich Heinrich (coded F1+FH) eventually became the subject of at least nine RAF pilots’ claims, perhaps one of the extreme examples of multiple claims that were far from uncommon. Hurricanes from 310 Squadron, the Czech unit that was part of Bader’s Duxford wing, seem to have sealed the bomber’s fate when one of their attacks left the Dornier with its left engine in flames. They were followed by Spitfires from 609 Squadron which had been temporarily frustrated as they were forced to wait for the Hurricanes to complete their attacks before the Spitfires could have a go.

The other interesting facet of this particular aircraft’s demise was that by the time it was finally damaged, causing its tail section to break off and triggering the final spin that broke off the outer wing sections, it was flying on auto-pilot. The surviving crew had by then baled out, including Zehbe himself. His fate was doubly unfortunate. He had already been wounded and then he was attacked by outraged civilians as he dangled in his parachute from power lines near the Oval in Kennington. He died of his injuries the following day, the whole violent incident described by a lorry driver from Streatham.

When the siren sounded, our bus came to a halt and I took cover in a doorway opposite the Oval underground station. Above us there were a lot of aircraft and a dogfight started, one of the bombers disintegrated in the air and three crewmen baled out. One of the crew came down beside the underground station. His parachute caught over the electric power cables and he ended up dangling just above the ground. People came from all directions, shouting “Kill him, kill him!” They pulled him down, they went crazy. Some women arrived carrying knives and pokers and they went straight in and attacked him. I felt sorry for the young lad but there was nothing one could do. In the end, an army truck arrived and the half-dozen soldiers had to fight their way through the crowd to get to him. They put him in the back of the truck and drove off.

The final interesting element of this action is the apparent controversy over the final moments before the Dornier’s tail section was severed. Sergeant Ray Holmes of 504 Squadron is acknowledged to have given the final coup de grâce, and popular belief would suggest that, out of ammunition, Holmes purposely brought his Hurricane in to ram the Dornier, gently moving up against the tail section of the German bomber. The Dornier fell into its terminal spin, as did Holmes’ Hurricane from which he baled out, landing safely not far from Victoria Station.

The confusion seems to lie in Sergeant Holmes’ combat report where he reported that he’d made at least four attacks on the Dornier. The last of the German aircraft’s crew baled out as he made his third attack and, during the last pass, he felt a bump which caused his aircraft to fall into an uncontrollable spin. Over the years this apparent unintended “bump” seems to have been transformed into an intentional collision. Whatever the facts, Sergeant Holmes was clearly performing with the courage and determination that most of Fighter Command’s pilots showed, often several times each day, throughout the hectic days of that 1940 summer.

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I hope this doesn't detract from Ray Holmes' bravery and dedication, something where I'm sure I'd have fallen short at the age he was in September 1940.

Cheers

Paul

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Paul:

A well written account that and much more factual than numerous other accounts of the incident that have appeared over the years. If memory serves, I believe it was first put into proper perspective by Peter Cornwell's entry in 'The Battle of Britain - Then and Now' in the early 1980s.

 

tc2324:

Camouflage was standard 70/71 upper splinter pattern with blue 65 under surfaces. The aircraft letter 'F' was in the Staffel colour of white and repeated on the top of each wing also in white. There's a photo out there in a published B of B book that shows one of the outboard sections of a wing being carried where the white F is quite visible - sorry, but I can't remember which book, maybe Paul will know? The 1. Staffel emblem of the bomb dropping demon/devil was carried on the port side of the nose and possibly on the starboard side also although I don't recall seeing a clear period photo of the starboard nose of a 1.Staffel Do 17 to show one way or the other. As to the shade of pink of the bar I have no idea.

 

HTH

Cheers

Dave

 

 

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Dave - Most of the accounts that I've tried to put together to knit what seem unrelated accounts of the BoB encounters draw on so many varied sources that I really can't recall whether there was any one source that gave me the chance to construct what may have been the circumstances of this KG 76 a/c's demise. All of us Johnny-come-latelies owe a great debt to the ground breakers like yourself and Peter Cornwell who've produced a well of information that is fantastic background for those interested enough to go looking.

I can't focus on the photo of the a/c's wing and where it was published, but I'll dig through my records and see what I can find. Interestingly, in Nigel Parker's Vol 4 of the Luftwaffe Crash Archive from Simon Parry's Red Kite Books, there are 2 photos of what appears to be the right fin with the pink stripe horizontal beneath the hakenkreuz (p 431) and the left fin with the pink stripe vertical from the base of the rudder to about 3/4 of the rudder height and positioned slightly inboard of the rudder trailing edge at the rear and just touching the hakenkreuz at its front edge (p 433). Or maybe I'm kidding myself!

tc2324 - it's an absorbing project anyway and I'll look forward to seeing how you display the two together. Lots of luck.

Paul

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Thanks to all on the comments and helpful information. :yes:  

 

When I create my dioramas, my principle rule is not build something where lives have been lost. (Just my own rule and not a dig at anyone who has or does model incidents where lives have been lost). I`ve struggled about whether I should include two figures, albeit slumped in their seats, to add to the authenticity of the build? I think in this case I may leave the cockpit area empty out of respect for Gustav Hubel and Hans Goschenhofer.

 

Paul, it`s interesting about Ray`s part in this incident. I too, (cant remember where), read a combat report in which Ray states that he `felt a bump` before losing control and baling out. Which would seem to indicate some kind on non intentional collision? However during an interview for the C4 documentary, he clearly states that he did intentionally ram the Dornier. Was the combat report redacted or written down wrong and was suffering that age old researcher problem of `Chinese whispers`?

 

Another problem I have, (yes, this build is full of problems...;)), is how Ray rammed the Dornier? I am basing this build on the two paintings created of the event but an eye witness stated that the Hurricane seemed to go under and then up before the collision. Admittedly memory and optical illusion from the ground is always going to be an issue, but it does make you think about whether you have tried to cover absolutely every aspect of this event.

 

What ever the facts, it makes no difference to the bravery of those involved and I hope I do it some justice.

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tc2324 - I looked up Holmes' combat report and it appears that he had just attacked another Dornier but broke away from that and climbed to approach another Do 215 (sic) which he attacked twice from the beam and the,n a third time when the crew baled out. He then attacked from the port beam and, as he passed over the e/a, a jar shook his right wing and the Dornier went into an uncontrollable spin, after which he baled out. This seems to suggest that he made at least 2 attacks from below during which his screen was splattered with oil, and the final attack was from the left, perhaps in a banking right turn when the tip of his right wing severed the delicate tail structure of the "flying pencil". That seems to be what the contemporary report suggested and I wonder whether the Ch 4 documentary may have stimulated his recollection to be slightly more descriptive than what actually occurred. My own feeling is that the combat report was more likely to have been closer to the truth since I guess the attack on London caught most of the controllers and pilots a bit on the hop, so emotions were running pretty high. Difficult to be too empiracal and we'll possibly never know for sure.

As far as your tableau is concerned, perhaps Holmes Hurri banking sharply over the rear area of the fuselage severing the Dornier's tail section and a certain amount of the Hurri's right wing tip would be difficult to argue with.

Whatever you choose, it'll be an interesting one!

Paul

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Paul,

I think your summation of the incident is likely as close to the actual series of events as we will ever get.

 

Just as an aside, as late as 1976/77, one of the MG 17s from the wreckage was on semi display at Rochester Row police station.

Cheers

Dave

Edited by tango98
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Work is proceeding as planned on the cockpit section and I`m quite impressed with the interior detail. 

 

 

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I have also started work on the damaged wing of Ray Holmes Hurricane. From the footage of the Hurricane heading earthbound, it all looks re-markedly intact, but I don`t doubt the leading edge was damaged in some way. As usual, I`ve gone for tried and tested tin foil.

 

 

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More soon.

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The ICM kits that I've built have all had some nice detail, the cockpits especially. I may be looking for a dornier after watching your build, hopefully there will be another in the for sale section soon. Fantastic project by the way, one of the many iconic picture of the Battle of Britain being brought to life.

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Both builds progressing well with the Hurricane pretty much completed from a paint work point of view. 

 

This evening was all about drilling holes in the right places and getting the angles right.

 


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Thank you all for the kind comments. :yes:

 

Rods and bases arrived today so I finally got the chance to have a play around with the set up.......,

 


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More soon and thanks for looking.

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