Thank you Brian and Alan for your responses to my post. Brian wrote: >That must be the sanitized "official" version of the story. In truth is that this was an early case of "friendly fire" or "blue on blue" >as the military prefer. As I report at <http://www.ne-diary.bpears.org.uk/Inc/ISeq_02.html#D110> http://www.ne-diary.bpears.org.uk/Inc/ISeq_02.html#D110 Roy Ripley and yourself must have carried out significant research to obtain the details you have published in the North East Diary. Could what the source was for the information you gave your post? You quoted: >"A British Hampden bomber, shot down in error by Spitfires of 602 Squadron, crashed on to the Church of Christ, Togston Terrace, >Amble. The church was demolished. One person was killed and one was injured. Of the bomber's crew, one was uninjured, one was >seriously injured and two were killed." Do you have any details of the person killed and the one injured? I do know that one of the crew killed was Sgt S H POTTS, age 23. He is buried at Chevington Cemetery. I did some further research and came across the 49 Squadron Roll of Honour (http://www.49squadron.co.uk/Roll%20of%20honour/Roll_PQ/Potts_SH.html) and the entry for Sgt POTTS reports the following: "THE 'DEUTSCHLAND' December, 1939: At 21.00hrs on 20 December the squadron received instructions to bomb the pocket battleship 'Deutschland', which had been reported in the vicinity of the Norwegian coast. They were then required to return to the Scottish base of Leuchars. The following day, the 21st, twelve Hampdens took-off from their Scampton base. Over Lincoln they met up with twelve Hampdens of 44 Squadron from Waddington and under the command of W/Cmdr Sheen, the formation headed towards the North Sea, passing over Skegness. On reaching the Norwegian coast, they turned northwards and spread out in line abreast as they hunted for the 'Deutschland'. But the search was in vain, and at the limit of their range the Hampdens turned and headed for Scotland. Sleet and rain showers reduced visibility on the return flight and the two squadrons became separated. The Scampton flight made landfall in Northumberland where it was intercepted and recognised as friendly by twelve fighters of 43 Squadron. By 15.47hrs most of the formation were landing at nearby Acklington. Meanwhile, 44 Squadron had crossed the coast south of Dunbar. Hurricanes of 72 Squadron intercepted them and informed control that they were Hampdens. No 602 Squadron Spitfires from Drem (the same base as the Hurricanes) were also scrambled, and without at first recognising the aircraft, proceeded to shoot down two of the Hampdens. At Acklington, one of 49 Squadron's aircraft short of fuel was having problems. Piloted by Sgt Marshall it crashed into a Chapel at Broomhill on the edge of the aerodrome. As a result, the pilot was seriously injured and sadly two members of the crew were killed. Also injured in the crash was the 2nd pilot/navigator, P/O J.M.D. Irvine. Hampden L4072 <http://www.49squadron.co.uk/Roll%20of%20honour/Roll_H/Humphrey_EH.html> AC1 E. Humphrey (Killed) Sgt S.Potts. (Killed)" This contradicts your information slightly as it would appear that the Hampdens shot down by "friendly fire" were from 44 Squadron, and not 49 and were intercepted south of Dunbar. The Hampden, from 49 Squadron, which crashed into the Church of Christ was one of those intercepted by fighters of the 43 Squadron and recognised as friendly. I am interested in the local "heroes" who came to the aid of the Hampden's crew. I must admit that I was not aware that anyone (other than crew) had been killed or injured. I understood that no-one was in the Chapel at the time. Thanks again. Dee

Dee > This contradicts your information slightly as it would appear that the > Hampdens shot down by "friendly fire" were from 44 Squadron, and not 49 and > were intercepted south of Dunbar. The Hampden, from 49 Squadron, which > crashed into the Church of Christ was one of those intercepted by fighters > of the 43 Squadron and recognised as friendly. I'm not the one who researched this or wrote up the item, but I know that Roy's initial source for this item was this snippet from "The Blitz Now and Then" Vol 1 Pge 61: "...A British bomber crashed on the Church of Christ, Todston Terrace, Amble. The whole church was demolished. Casualties, one killed, one injured. The British bomber mentioned above was Hampden L4072 of No. 49 Squadron shot down by Spitfires of 602 Squadron. RAF records list the crew as Sergeant Edward Marshall (pilot, seriously injured); Sergeant Samuel Potts (crew, killed), and ACI Edward Humphry (crew, killed).." It's a little geographically challenged - Todston Terrace instead of Togston Terrace and Amble instead of Togston or North Broomhill - but this is common in official records (which the editors of BTN used exclusively), so that's no reason to doubt the veracity of the piece as a whole. Our rough notes, compiled from a variety of sources, tell me that the bombers from 49 squadron which were escorted to Acklington by the Hurricanes did not represent the entire squadron, just a group which had become separated from the main body. My precis of the notes in my previous post was badly worded. > I am interested in the local "heroes" who came to the aid of the Hampden's > crew. I must admit that I was not aware that anyone (other than crew) had > been killed or injured. I understood that no-one was in the Chapel at the > time. At first I wondered if the "one killed, one injured" might refer to to crew - but there were two killed on the plane, so the reference must be to people on the ground. The phrasing also suggests that the "one killed, one injured" were separate from the crew casualties. However we could find no other reference to these ground casualties and no record of a civilian war death that day, so we were far from convinced. Nonetheless we weren't in a position to argue with the details in what has always proved a reliable source, so we left it in. Brian -- Brian Pears (Gateshead, UK) http://www.bpears.org.uk/ Joint List Admin NORTHUMBRIA Genealogy Mailing List GENUKI Northumberland Maintainer