Embedded Files
Pilot Officer Charles Alec Bird
Born 1 March 1917 Kirkstall, Leeds
Who destroyed the Junkers bomber?
The incident at Oakridge on Thursday afternoon of 25 July 1940, has been written about many times over the years but with varying details and different opinions on the outcome. Here the evidence is presented as completely as possible, contradictions highlighted, and a probable final resolution outlined.
From an early age, Charles Alec Bird was determined to learn to fly. His passion for aviation may well have been inspired by his father, Richard Bird, a decorated Royal Flying Corps observer during the First World War and recipient of the Military Cross.
He was educated at Leeds Modern School and Leeds Technical College, finding employment with Appleyards as a motor mechanic. As soon as he was able Alec secretly paid for flying lessons, at St Yeadon aerodrome (now Leeds Bradford airport) without telling his family. His determination led him to join the Royal Air Force in October 1938, where he was granted a Short Service Commission as a Pilot Officer on 14 January 1939.
He married Majorie Wilmshurst on 2 September 1939 and that same day was posted to No2 Ferry Pilots Pool at Filton, Bristol. His task was to ferry Hurricanes and Blenheim bombers to airfields in France.
First Blood 16 May 1940
First Blood 16 May 1940
Pilot Officers Bird and Robert Bicknell had just touched down at Gilsey Aerodrome near Amiens, France, delivering two replacement Hurricanes, when the airfield suddenly came under fierce attack from seven Heinkel He 111 bombers.
The two ferry pilots immediately took off in the two Hurricanes. Bird wrote in his report of 16 May 1940; ‘I took off in Hurricane P2726 … and climbed to 300ft. gave chase after the E.A. which were heading in a N.E.ly direction. After 30 minutes of climbing, I was able to reach the enemy height and overtake them. One was lagging about 1,000 yards behind the rest and I carried out an astern attack on it but had not enough speed to make a good attack.
I then climbed up until I was about 1,000ft above it and vied down coming up under its belly I fired three short bursts. At the second burst his port engine started to smoke and at the third burst it caught fire. The last I saw of the machine it was descending at an angle of about 300 with its port engine well alight. He disappeared in the clouds just afterwards and I lost sight of him.
Heinkel He 111 H is similar to those that attacked Amiens airfield, France
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-647-5211-33/ photographer: Wilzek / Licence CC-BY-SA 3.0
I then attacked the other 6 machines and I received three bullets through my starboard wing. I then broke off the flight as I was almost out of petrol and as the Heinkel had reached 22,000 feet and I had no oxygen.’
Bird and Bricknell’s Commander Squadron Leader F W Wild wrote ‘that the action of these two officers is deserving of the highest praise and that in view of their initiative and energy in dealing with an unexpected situation some recognition should be given. At the same time it is fully understood by all pilots in this unit that they must not seek action and that their duty is to deliver aircraft to their destinations taking all reasonable precautions to achieve this.’
The outcome of the attack on the Heinkel He 111s of I./KG 54 was never confirmed, but Anson I R3411 which had landed to collect the ferry pilots was destroyed in the bombing.
Above Hawker Hurricane Mk1 R4118 delivered 17 August 1940. During the Battle of Britain it flew 49 sorties with a score of five enemy aircraft. Hurricane Mk1 P3271 flown by P/O Bird was taken on charge on 22 February 1940.
Guy Ellis collection
Junkers Ju88A this one over France in 1942
By Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-363-2258-11 / Rompel / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79721525
Hurricane vs Junkers 25 July 1940
Hurricane vs Junkers 25 July 1940
P/O Bird was then posted to No. 4 (Continental) Ferry Pilot Pool based at Kemble. On 25 July 1940 P/O Bird and P/O R G Manlove had been detailed to man the Station Defence Flight. Manlove wrote that ‘at approx.. 1,45 hours E W Wooten reported seeing an aircraft proceeding northwards.’
We know that at about 14.25 P/O Bird, climbed into Hawker Hurricane P3271 of the No 5 Maintenance Unit and according to witnesses the Hurricane appeared to take time to start before the flight of two aircraft could take off. PO Manlove does not mention any delay in his report but recorded that they climbed to 12 thousand feet where they sighted an enemy aircraft heading north 5000 feet above them.
As discovered later it was a Junkers JU88A 9K+GN of 5 Staffel Kampfgeschwader 51 Edelweiss based at Orely, Paris, with a four crew aboard.
Bird’s Hurricane, fitted with a Rotol propeller was able to outclimb Manlove and reached the same height as the JU88. Manlove wrote ‘The enemy aircraft turned west, dropped a stick of approx. 6 bombs and the headed approx. s.s.west. Anti-aircraft fire then started bursting between me and the enemy aircraft. P/O Bird was then at the same altitude as the enemy aircraft - approx. 18000 feet and closing in on an astern attack.’
Another witness in the air at the time had a very different view of events. This was Flight Lieutenant Peter Prosser Hanks. He had fought in France where he was credited with eight confirmed victories. On his return to Britain, he had been posted to 5 OTU as an instructor and had been awarded a DFC on 16 July 1940.
In 1985 he recalled the events of that afternoon. ‘I took off from Aston Down in Spitfire P9501 with a pupil pilot in a Hurricane to practise fighter attacks. When I first saw the JU88 he was well above me as was being chased by a Hurricane. I went after them, my pupil got left a long way behind. When the JU88 entered cloud, Bird’s Hurricane was 800 yards astern of it and followed it into the cloud. I was still about 1000 feet below. I think it was foolish of Bird to enter cloud - there was no way of shooting anything down in cloud! I carried on below cloud in the general direction the JU88 had taken.’
When interviewed by aviation author Kenneth Wakefield, Wilhem Hugelschafer, the bomber’s observer recalled many years later confirmed that Störflug, or harassing attack was to be on the Gloster Aircraft Company Factory. They had taken off from their airfield at Orly, Paris planning on a direct flight to Hucclecote. By the time they reached the English coast they had reached 18 600 feet. He said ‘It was a splendid summer day with no cloud below us and only a very little cloud above. We were in high spirits and sang aloud as we cruised along. We reached a point to the east of our target and tried to circle around to pass directly overhead, but this proved fatal. Only shortly before I remarked “If we fly around like this we’re certain to attract fighters!” Hardly had I said this when Walter Theiner called out “We’re being attacked.”
Manlove’s report continues: ‘While I was converging from the enemy’s port side, I saw P/O Bird close right in and deliver his attack from a very close quarters, then break away upwards and to the port – at the top of the break away his machine went into a spin. The enemy turned on his side and I delivered an attack from a range of approx. 500 to 600 yards. The starboard engine flew to pieces and the Junkers went into a flat spin, and parachutes left the machine. Thinking this was a feint I followed it down until another parachute left it. Then I left him still diving and looking for P/O Bird, who I found still spinning at about 5000 feet!'
The Luftwaffe crew were: Observer Unteroffizier Wilhem Hugelschafer (23) from Obernbreit in Bayern, Wireless operator Gefreiter Gottfried Treue (19) from Beielfeldthe, Pilot Unteroffizier Friedel Dörner (25) from Guten in the Rhineland, and not in the picture was Flight engineer Unteroffizier Walter Theiner (26) from Breslau.
Image Severnside Aviation Society
Witnesses on the ground reported hearing gunfire and seeing a Hurricane strike the tail of the Luftwaffe aircraft
Observer (Navigator/Bomb aimer) Hugelschafer had made eight operational flights over France and three over England, he knew what to do. He recalled, I quickly jettisoned the bombs to lighten the aircraft as we dived for cover in what little cloud there was. Almost at once I felt a severe jolt in the back – I believe we were rammed.’
Friedel Dörner found he could not control the aircraft and ordered the crew to bail out. The observer told Kenneth Wakefield, ‘I believe I was the third to leave the aircraft, by which time I would estimate we were down to 4000 metres (12,500feet). While I hung suspended beneath my canopy some fighters passed quite close to me.’
Flight Lieutenant Peter Prosser Hanks stated that after a while the enemy aircraft ‘broke cloud about 1,000 yards ahead of me. It looked to be flying quite normally, and I saw no damage to it or pieces falling off. I managed to close with it and started firing – I must admit I was surprised not to receive any return fire and almost immediately the crew started to bail out. It is quite possible that Bird had collided with it in the cloud and damaged it in some way, but if he did it would have been accidental as he would have been unable to see in the cloud.’
Fl Lt Hanks logbook has a note ‘Shot down Ju 88 over Charlford’. On the other hand, Manlove was adamant in his report, noting ‘there was no Spitfire or any other British aircraft anywhere near the enemy aircraft, other than P/O Bird who was in my sight all the time.’ Fl Lt Hanks claim did not receive official confirmation.
Capture
Capture
‘It seemed like ages before I finally reached the ground’, Hugelschafer said, ‘and I was then astonished at the speed with which I landed. I was in a field of corn or wheat, but I have no idea how long I lay there before I released my parachute harness. Eventually, I made my way to a nearby roadway, but not without difficulty as I had lost my fur-lined boots and my right thigh was quite painful.’
He had come down in what was known as Finch’s Farm at Tunley. It was not before the airman saw ‘landworkers’ carrying pitch forks coming towards him and at the same time a car with policemen. He was taken to an airfield where he met with two of his crew, Dörner and Treue. His lost shoe was replaced with an old gym shoe, and they were given tea. In the evening, they were taken by a lorry to a prison and eventually sent to Canada only returning to Germany in February 1947.
The young Wireless operator Treue landed in the garden of a house and fell forward onto a metal sundial. The Oakridgearchives site has a letter from the maid Mavis Young. She wrote ‘I was ironing in the outhouse and my brother Roy was helping in the garden, he was 17 and I was 19. The Junkers was in trouble and the airmen were coming down by parachute. One landed near us and knocked his mouth on the sundial by the front door. He gave me his gun which I put on the dining room table. Roy helped him off with is parachute.’ The homeowner requested Mavis to offer the airman a whisky. She recalled ‘So I carried it down, the young German said, ‘spirits’ I nodded and he kissed my hand.’
Mavis also noted that Mr Weston, head teacher of Oakridge school and the local Home Guard came to the house very soon after Treue landed. However, Margaret Weston, aged 14 and the daughter of the school head wrote, ‘I was standing outside my house when I saw two men jump out of a plane. One came down on the lawn, and I ran up and asked him if he was OK and he answered me in German. I then realised he was an enemy airman, so I called my father. He came over and the German immediately took out his revolver and handed it to him. The commander of Aston Down arrived to arrest the first German prisoners to be captured in Gloucestershire’ Margaret Weston went on to become the first female director of a national museum.
There appear to be no official reports or recorded memories regarding the arrest of Dörner, but we do know, courtesy of Hugelschafer, that he was transported to Aston Down.
In a tragic turn of events, the fourth member of the crew, flight engineer Walter Theiner, met a grim fate when his parachute failed to open.
On the left is a picture of his escorted funeral cortege. He was buried with full military honours in the Brimscombe New Cemetery on 1 August 1940. (Oakridge in Wartime)
Postwar he was reinterned at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery - Endgrablage: Block 2 Reihe 12 Grab 240
Image Severnside Aviation Society
Conclusion
Conclusion
Looking at the available evidence, Pilot Officer Bird appears to have engaged the JU88 with his guns, though it’s likely he misjudged his closing speed and made contact with the enemy aircraft. It is possible that he was struck by return fire from the Junkers or that the collision, or damage to his aircraft controls, left him unable to recover from the ensuing spin. No attempt to bail out is evident, but the destruction of the Hurricane and the pilot made it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions. Bird’s identity was established only through an unsigned driver’s license found among the wreckage.
Meanwhile, Flying Officer Manlove certainly damaged the JU88, although the Heinkel crew was already bailing out. While there is a possibility that Flight Sergeant Hanks may have contributed to the damage, it seems unlikely that he was responsible for destroying the Luftwaffe aircraft, 9K+GN.
To qualify for a Battle of Britain clasp on the 1939-1945 Star campaign medal, a person must have served as a fighter aircraft aircrew member during the Battle of Britain between July 10 and October 31, 1940. No. 4 (Continental) Ferry Pilot Pool was not a fighter unit, therefore P/O Bird’s courage and success are not recognised as part of that fabled battle.
The smashed cockpit of the Ju88 where the four crew were housed.
Image Severnside Aviation Society
RAF personnel examining the downed aircraft to gather valuable intelligence on enemy technology, tactics, and operational capabilities. Note the soldiers on guard duty.
Image Severnside Aviation Society
Where they fell
Where they fell
An original map marked by Severnside Aviation Society was the reference for this version created using Google maps
Then and Now
Then and Now
Courtesy of Heather Cook - awaiting confirmaiton
Charles Alec Bird
Charles Alec Bird
25 Jul 1940 (aged 23) Gloucestershire, England
St. John the Baptist Churchyard
Adel, Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Grave 401
Images LJ Odell via https://www.findagrave.com/
He has wings, for as the plane dived deep,
His spirit, free within the realms of space,
On new found wings, flew with a swifter sweep,
Fearless and laughing, to the Throne of Grace .
The inscription is taken from a poem entitled 'Wings' from a book which P/0 Bird and his wife Marjorie found in a bookshop in Cheltenham over weekend before he was killed in action.
References and notes
References and notes
Severnside Aviation Society – efiles provided to me by Allan White, the originals he deposited with Gloucestershire Archives.
Rennison J., Wings Over Gloucestershire, Piccadilly Publishing, London, 1988
Cull, B. BATTLE FOR THE CHANNEL The First Month of the Battle of Britain 10 July- 10 August, Fonthill Media Ltd
Image sources are in the caption.
Bundesarchiv images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license, unedited, and used to illustrate aircraft type only.
SAS images are as supplied to me by Severnside Aviation Society and used with their permission
Guy Ellis images are used to illustrate aircraft type only.
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