BoB, He111 brought down after being rammed by Anson! New one to me.... though not to everyone

[Troy Smith]

While searching for some info regarding a Bf109,  looking at the listing here 

https://www.battle-of-britain.org.uk/history/august-1940-day-by-day

18 August (The Hardest Day, I don't recall this in the book though)

 

"He 111P (1408) of 5/KG27 was rammed by Avro Anson L9164 flown by Sergeant B. Hancock of 6 FTS at 23.50 whilst about to bomb Windrush aerodrome.  The aircraft crashed at Blackbitch Farm, Aldsworth and Oberfw A. Dreher, Uffz R. Schmidt, Uffz H. Rave and Uffz E. Cohrs were all killed."

 

Just mentioning this as I don't recall mention of it, which is strange as I would have thought a ramming attack by an Anson would be more famous.? 

 

Of course, when I stick Anson L9164 into google

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/141383

 

and 

 

 

 

 

Anyway....  maybe of some interest  for others like me who have not heard of this unusual Bob incident, and I was unaware that the Luftwaffe had started night raids at this point as well. 

...now where is my copy of The Hardest Day.....

[Black Knight]

   Sgt Bruce Hancock

He was of a different breed of men from that time

[Spitfires Forever]

Nice little piece of more obscure WWII history, my favorite kind! All the best to you and yours this holiday season. Cheers

Spitfire Addict

[AndyL]

As a ex member of the Severnside Aviation Society, we did a dig on the He 111's crash site ( in the long gone days of aviation archaeology ) and found these plates - they were recovered from where one of the engines had broken free from the bomber as it broke up in mid-air.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tim R-T-C]

On 12/25/2021 at 6:13 PM, Troy Smith said:

Just mentioning this as I don't recall mention of it, which is strange as I would have thought a ramming attack by an Anson would be more famous.? 

 

Of course, when I stick Anson L9164 into google

 

 

 

Funny isn't it, like when you find a fascinating obscure scheme for an aircraft in an old book that you could swear you've never seen modelled and that would make a perfect, unique piece - then look on Hannants to find someone has made a full decal sheet for it.... 😏

[Retired Bob]

It seems very strange that a brave act of self sacrifice went without any official commendation ie a gallantry medal and has also remained so obscure.

 

R I P Sergeant Bruce Hancock  

[FinnAndersen]

1 minute ago, Retired Bob said:

It seems very strange that a brave act of self sacrifice went without any official commendation ie a gallantry medal and has also remained so obscure.

 

R I P Sergeant Bruce Hancock  

Quite.

 

But then again, if you were in an Anson, at night, and toyed with the idea of ramming an adversary, you must have known that the chances of getting out alive would be almost non-existing.

 

From what I have read, it seems that the RAF thinking at the time dismissed the idea of a trainee pilot being able to do this deliberately and regarded the incident as accidental.

 

Shame, as true heroes were rare, even in the BoB.

 

/Finn 

[AndyL]

9 hours ago, FinnAndersen said:

Quite.

 

But then again, if you were in an Anson, at night, and toyed with the idea of ramming an adversary, you must have known that the chances of getting out alive would be almost non-existing.

 

From what I have read, it seems that the RAF thinking at the time dismissed the idea of a trainee pilot being able to do this deliberately and regarded the incident as accidental.

 

Shame, as true heroes were rare, even in the BoB.

 

/Finn 

 

His cause of death in his casualty file does not mention a ramming; the RAF stated he was shot down by the He 111 and the assumption is that both aircraft collided. IIRC the He 111 did open fire on the Anson, but the story has always been he rammed his attacker.

[Tim R-T-C]

12 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

It seems very strange that a brave act of self sacrifice went without any official commendation ie a gallantry medal and has also remained so obscure.

 

R I P Sergeant Bruce Hancock  

 

I suspect the RAF at the time would have been wary to make a big deal of this.

 

Firstly to avoid encouraging pilots to make ramming attacks - which could often be fatal to the pilot and almost always lost an airframe at a time when both were in short supply.

 

Secondly because the British public might have got the impression that pilots were being sent on suicidal missions to ram German planes - it would give the impression of sheer desperation and could well have severely damaged morale.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Tim R-T-C