Posted on 04/08/2011 7:13:28 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Shot down as the Battle of Britain raged, the German bomber disappeared beneath the murky waves never to be seen again – or so it seemed for 70 years.
In fact, the doomed Dornier 17 has weathered the ravages of time and tide far better than it did our fighter pilots’ machine guns.
New underwater images show the plane lying 50ft deep in the English Channel, remarkably well preserved except for damage to the forward cockpit, observation windows and propellers. Some of its undercarriage tyres are still inflated.
Yesterday Ian Thirsk, head of collections at the RAF Museum in Hendon, north-west London, said: ‘This aircraft is a unique aeroplane and it’s linked to an iconic event in British history, so its importance cannot be overemphasised, nationally and internationally. It’s one of the most significant aeronautical finds of the century.’
Records show that on August 26, 1940, this one – number 1160 of the Germans’ 7 Squadron – was part of a large formation intercepted at midday as it attempted to attack Debden and Hornchurch airfields in Essex.
RAF fighters destroyed at least six, losing three of their own planes.
The pilot of stricken 1160, Willi Effmert, 24, made an emergency landing on Goodwin Sands, a ten-mile sandbank, at low tide.
Two of the crew died, while Effmert and another were captured. As the tide came in, the wreck sank and came to rest on its back, gradually becoming covered by sand.
The RAF Museum, which has been working with Wessex Archaeology to survey the site, hopes to put the plane on show as part of a Battle of Britain display and is bidding for cash from heritage organisations to cover the costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The Do 17 was a very elegant aircraft. The Do 217 upgrade, not so much.
A straight Do 17 is also very rare.
Very cool.
Too bad great German engineering was stained by the fascism that murdered millions.
From the sonar images, it appears to be amazingly intact.
I wonder, how many German servicemen were actual nazis? How well known were the concentration camps and death camps to the troops serving in far off places like Africa and Russia?
Is there any books or anything on the subject?
The Dornier 17 was an early model first flown in 1934. It was faster than most fighters when it entered service but was obsolescent by 1940 and suffered heavy losses over England and France. Less than 600 were put into service.
Awesome find. I thought to myself, today, if my father-in-law just HAPPENED to be the one who shot it down. He was a gunner on the Southwest coast of the UK.
IDK the precise answer to your question but the fact is, the Army was a strong institution outside Hitler's power base, which he had to woo.
Eventually he succeeded. His elite guard the SS were incorporated into the military, thus the party and military were integrated under party control. individual soldiers were most likely motivated by nationalism more than ideology, at least in the main.
A fascinationg book about the Luftwaffe which includes much institutional history and personal history of Luftwaffe pilots is by Adrian Weir, The Last Flight of the Luftwaffe, Cassell & CO., 1997.
3 Ju-88s and one flying pencil Do-17.
Remarkable that a plane landed on a sandbar could end up in 50 feet of water without breaking up.
Only a minority.
How well known were the concentration camps and death camps to the troops serving in far off places like Africa and Russia?
It's fairly well documented that in Russia, actions of the Einsatzgruppen caused morale problems amongst front line troops who didn't see much heroism in shooting at a person unable to shoot back.
Is there any books or anything on the subject?
Yes but it's been so long that I can't give you any names
There are plenty of German servicemen that were simply motivated by the need to serve their country in time of war. Most were neither Nazi or even political. What does a 17-yr old understand to politics anyways? It’s silly to paint them as demons and Hollywood villains.
You can read the memoirs of remarkable men that served under the Third Reich uniform and were completely honorable.
I’d recommend two books
1. the amazing tale of a soldier forced into the Wehrmacht: “The Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer (at amazon). Highly recommended.
2. the story of a U-Boot commander (I even tracked down the reference: Schäffer, Heinz, U-Boat 977: The U-Boat That Escaped to Argentina 2005 ISBN 1-84145-027-8 )
As usual, the worst of the Nazis were the bureaucrats and the civilians who ordered the senseless carnages.
The German soldiers genuinely believed they were the good guys in the fight to save Western Civilization from the Bolsheviks. As such, they might have been misguided, but they certainly were not the devils that they are often painted as.
Hope it helps.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that"
Well, at this time of the war - the concentration camp “mechanized death factories” were not yet started, though the attitudes and hatred that sprung them was full-bloom. However, the nationalism and loyalty of the German army was absolutely not doubt. Their mission was to conquer Europe. All of it.
A person couldnt be a Nazi party member and a German Solider in WW2. The Whermacht didnt want the army infested with Nazis so they insisted on that. If a man was a Nazi, he had to join the Waffen SS.
That isnt to say that there wasnt a lot of guys who believed in what Hitler spoke. But in the end, most Soldaten didnt fight for Germany or Hitler. They fought for themselves and their Comrades.
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