On Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:12:31 EDT, Csgen50@aol.com wrote: >I've joined this list in the hope that I can start to put together my late >fathers RAF service record... >He joined the RAF in 39 and did his basic training at Catterick in >Yorkshire. One of his first duties was to stand guard over the 1st German aircraft >shot down in WW2. I have a photo of him with the rest of the guards but >unfortunately it doesn't state where or when it was taken. >Can anyone help with some details please, I've not had any luck with >reference books etc. There were quite a number of "firsts" relating to German aircraft, and the precise wording of the claim is important. For instance, the "1st German aircraft shot down in WW2" seems to have crashed quite far out in the North Sea, after being shot down by a naval pilot! The following claims are taken from a variety of books: First German aircraft to fall to British guns and/or first German aircraft to be shot down by any British aircraft - 25 or 26 Sep 1939 (depending on source) when a Dornier 18 flying boat was brought down into the sea by a Sea Skua of 803 Sqn Fleet Air Arm. First enemy attack, and first attack on ships of the Royal Navy - 26 Sep when a Junkers 88 carried out an attack on the Home Fleet in the North Sea during the recovery of HM Submarine Spearfish. First shots in the air war over Britain, and first British pilot to go into action against the Luftwaffe in a Spitfire - Flg Off Pinkerton of 602 Sqn against a photo-recce Heinkel at about 1021hrs on 16 Oct 1939. First air attack on the British Isles - 1435hrs on 16 Oct 1939, when a German bomber dropped two bombs during an attack on two cruisers near the Forth Bridge. First enemy aircraft brought down over Britain - early afternoon of 16 Oct 1939, after the above attack, when two German Junkers 88s or Heinkels (depending on source) were brought down in the Firth of Forth by Spitfires from 602 and 603 Squadrons. First enemy aircraft to crash on British soil - About 1022hrs on 28 Oct 1939, when a photo-recce Heinkel 111 was brought down on a hillside at Kidlaw Hill, near Humbie, East Lothian, after damage by a shell from a ship in the Firth of Forth, and then attack by Spitfires from 602 and 603 Sqns. As this last encounter was the first downing of a German aircraft on British soil, it's likely that this is the one he was guarding. You say you have a photo of him with the rest of the guards, but is the German aircraft in the picture as well? I have several photographs of the "Humbie Heinkel", some with crowds of onlookers, and can send you some to compare with your photo, if you wish. Forrest -- Forrest Anderson, Edinburgh, Scotland. E-mail: forrest@military-researcher.com Website: www.military-researcher.com Forrestdale Research - Military Genealogical Researcher