THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE - Herbert Dieterle's Parachute

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

A TEDDY BEAR LIVES TO TELL THE TALE.......HERBERT DIETERLE'S PARACHUTE — The night of 3rd/4th May 1941

Published in Sussex Local in December 2009

The war in the air intensified as the Second World War progressed. On the night of the 3rd/4th May 1941, a badly crippled enemy twin-engined Heinkel He 111 H-5 bomber Code 1H+AT, W.Nr. 3626, swooped alarmingly low over the village. Findonians then breathed a sigh of relief as the noise from the engines died away as it headed westwards.

The aircraft was from the Unit 9th Staffel, Kampfgeschwader 26 and its pilot was battling at the controls. Before the crippled plane finally ditched, some of the crew members made a last hopeless attempt to bail out and save themselves.

The bomber finally crashed at nearby Arundel, narrowly missing houses and struck the gravel pit and crashed at Eastergate Corporation Scrap Yard in Arundel at 10.50 p.m. By then it couldn't have chosen a more apt dumping ground. It had a broken back and fires surrounded it on the ground as rescue workers made a bid to recover some 200 incendiary bombs. Other items discovered included a short paddle .... presumably in readiness if an emergency occurred over the English Channel. I wonder if it would have been of any use in rough seas! Last but not least, a teddy bear mascot was more lucky than some of the crew and was in one piece and picked up. In all possibility it had taken pride of place in the enemy cockpit but had not done its job.

The Heinkel was the survivor from a raiding bomber and had been shot down by Wing Commander T. Pike in a Beaufighter from 219 Squadron from nearby RAF Tangmere.

CREW OF THE GERMAN AIRCRAFT:

Leutnant H. Lees	Pilot	Presumed Killed	A little mystery bothers me here because the pilot was never found and nor was his body so I do not know what actually happened.
Feldwebel R. Lekscha,	Observer	Killed	This crew member jumped from the plane and died. He was buried in Lancing but was re-interred in the German section of the Cannock Military Cemetery.
Obergefreiter H. Dieterle	Mechanic	Killed	Dieterle's body was found beside his parachute on the downland just to the north of Cissbury Ring. My friend, Betty Ockenden's brother, the late well-known Findonian, Mick Ockenden of the Ockenden Woodyard in Nepcote, was one of the helpers to carry the German on a sheep hurdle down to the village. He was buried in Findon until the mid-1960s when the remains were removed to Cannock Military Cemetery.
Unteroffizier E. Gerlach	Wireless Operator	Taken Prisoner of War	No more details.
Unteroffizier Alfred Heublein	Gunner	Taken Prisoner of War	This German jumped from the stricken bomber over Lancing and landed unceremoniously in a rear garden. He was wounded but managed to extricate himself from his harness and crawled down the garden path to the gate where he collapsed and was picked up. He was treated in Worthing Hospital for a fractured femur and bullet wounds before being taken into custody. He was to remain a prisoner for the remainder of the war.

It was many years later that Arthur Bewers of The Oval in Findon told me that his father, Claude, who was employed as a carter by Albert Short Junior at Findon Farm, was out working with his team of horses. He was in a field to the north of the Iron Age Fort of Cissbury Ring, near the crossroads on the way to Chanctonbury Ring, when he unearthed an unfamiliar metal object from a depression in the ground. Puzzled he stooped and picked it up, rubbed the earth away and took it home wondering if it had any significance.

This was later identified to be a clasp from Herbert Dieterle's silk parachute.

Continue if you would like to read about The Second World War Years in Findon.

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This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com