JohnT Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 BBC running news item on the first German a/c to be shot down by RAF in WW2 destroyed in British airspace that is. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_...and/8306768.stm lets hope Fl Lt Gifford gets his Memorial erected JohnT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hi John thanks for the linky! To be very parochial, have a nephew in Prestonpans who works at Edingburg Airport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Yes but the Fleet Air Arm beat the RAF to it when a Skua downed a Do.18 first....but as always the Fleet Air Arm goes unmentioned again-typical!! No wonder the general public think that the only warplanes we have in military service are owned by the RAF.......Oh yes I forgot...they are now aren`t they...cannot even write `Royal Navy' on the tail of the `new' Naval Strike Wing (what a stupid name!!) Harriers for fear of upsetting `their Airships'!!! moan over.....and well done Flt Lt Gifford Cheers Tony O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hi Johnthanks for the linky! To be very parochial, have a nephew in Prestonpans who works at Edingburg Airport You are welcome When I was student I worked 2 summers at Edinburgh airport for BA and then Scotia Airport Services. Giving my age away it was at the old Turnhouse and I was on and off Trident3's, Vanguards, Britannia, F27's and the saturday DC3 Fun and games with the short runway in bad/wet weather. I recall we once sent a Trident with almost no fuel on board off to Glasgow to top up with fuel there as it couldn't get off the short Edinburgh runway with enough fuel to get to Heathrow! Tony's right about the FAA - I noticed that too but tucked in the text is the proviso "in British airspace" From memory a wee while later they clobbered some He 111s and that was the first to be brought down on UK soil. Some houses got peppered with .303 when a Spitfire sprayed a 111 over the district of Portobello wile it was beating a retreat. JohnT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Yes but the Fleet Air Arm beat the RAF to it when a Skua downed a Do.18 first....but as always the Fleet Air Arm goes unmentioned again-typical!!No wonder the general public think that the only warplanes we have in military service are owned by the RAF.......Oh yes I forgot...they are now aren`t they...cannot even write `Royal Navy' on the tail of the `new' Naval Strike Wing (what a stupid name!!) Harriers for fear of upsetting `their Airships'!!! moan over.....and well done Flt Lt Gifford Cheers Tony O Was it not later confirmed that the first shootdown was by Sgt F.A. Letchford, an observer/gunner in a Fairy Battle Bomber of 88 Sqdn RAF on the 20th September 1939? Be interested in any discussion on this? Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 (edited) The bullets landing in the street was, IIRC, during the October 16th raid when Colin Robertson of 603 chased a Ju88 across Edinburgh. The He111, which was the first aircraft brought down on the mainland, was the "Humbie Heinkel" brought down later in October. It was an H-2 of Stab/KG26: John Edited October 16, 2009 by John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 The bullets landing in the street was, IIRC, during the October 16th raid when Colin Robertson of 603 chased a Ju88 across Edinburgh. The He111, which was the first aircraft brought down on the mainland, was the "Humbie Heinkel" brought down later in October. It was an H-2 of Stab/KG26:John Humbie is about 10 minutes from where I live. My Mum was a girl with my Gran out in the streets of Edinburgh when they reckon they saw the 16 Oct chase across the skyline. (Her other claim to fame was being in the same class as Sean Connery!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
439tiger Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Was it not later confirmed that the first shootdown was by Sgt F.A. Letchford, an observer/gunner in a Fairy Battle Bomber of 88 Sqdn RAF on the 20th September 1939?Be interested in any discussion on this? Andy I have seen this quoted in three publications, however in the "Air Britain" BATTLE FILE, they say no. In the book "Bombers First And Last" a history of No 9 Sqdn. by Gordon Thorburn, he states that it was F/O Torkington-Leech of No 9 Sqdn who on the 4th Sept 1939 shot down the first enemy a/c of the war . A BF109. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidelvy Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Was it not later confirmed that the first shootdown was by Sgt F.A. Letchford, an observer/gunner in a Fairy Battle Bomber of 88 Sqdn RAF on the 20th September 1939?Be interested in any discussion on this? Andy Sgt Letchford's claim was not confirmed at first, making the Skua victory the first confirmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Humbie is about 10 minutes from where I live.My Mum was a girl with my Gran out in the streets of Edinburgh when they reckon they saw the 16 Oct chase across the skyline. (Her other claim to fame was being in the same class as Sean Connery!) I used to be down in the Humbie/Fala area quite a bit, my sister-in-law was a housekeeper at Whitburgh Estate. My dad was over on the Fife coast on the day of the raid and watched much of the action from Kinghorn cliff top. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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