THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE ― These Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and are progressively growing to be the only record of life around Findon, West Sussex, England.  Everyday stories about real people..... in fact, a potted history of the village.  The topics today, are the history of tomorrow. 

THE SALVAGE CREW AND THE HEINKEL — and how to find the crash site today

Copyright Valerie Martin

The remains of the stricken German Heinkel remained in position for a few days.   Eventually the salvage crew from the haulage firm of Arthur V. Nicholls and Company from nearby Brighton arrived.   This local haulage company was contracted by the Air Ministry during 1940 to recover the wrecks of shot down aircraft throughout Sussex.   Any crashed/wrecked British or German aircraft from Southern England ended up at No. 49 R.A.F.  Faygate near Horsham.

Disaster struck more than once during the salvage operation.   The enemy aircraft had to be first cut into manageable chunks for the flatbed trucks and the salvagers managed to set light to the wreckage by accident.   Black smoke billowed over the field.    A 999 call brought fire engines racing to the scene.   The only problem being that they attempted to access the Heinkel by driving up Cote Street off the A27, instead of approaching via Honeysuckle Lane (no Sat Nav in those days).     After negotiating Cote Street the vehicle found the Chalk Pit on the left between the fire engine and the crash site.   The salvage crew attempted to improvise by getting water from Cote Bottom Farm in buckets of water passed one to the other up the lane.   This proved too slow and by the time the fire engine eventually arrived (successfully negotiating Honeysuckle Lane this time) the Heinkel fire had burnt itself out.   Red faces all round.

After reaching Faygate, the mangled Heinkel pieces travelled their last journey by rail to be melted down for re-use by our aircraft industry.  It seems rather ironical that enemy aircraft (minus the bits and pieces salvaged by souvenir hunters) aided in the manufacture of much needed British aircraft.

Fancy finding the Heinkel crash site today?   Nothing today remains on the hillside to show exactly where the bomber landed.   The field in which the Heinkel ended its days is easily accessible.  If you park at the car park at the top of Salvington Hill you can walk south west from the car park down a sloping field towards a hedgerow.   It is somewhere in this long hedgerow that the unfortunate (for some) Heinkel came to a grinding halt on that day when Findon was under attack by enemy aircraft with the intention of attacking Heathrow.    If you visit the field, stop for a moment and spare a thought for the inhabitants of our village on that day back in 1940.    The downland view is very much the same as it was then..... the trees are just a bit larger!

Fancy seeing a relic of the High Salvington Heinkel today?    An oxygen bottle and Kuvi bomb-sight equipment from the enemy aircraft can be seen in the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum.   When you see the bomb-sight just remember it is the very one on which the German technicians had lined up on Heathrow on the fateful 16th July 1940... a sober thought to remember.

Continue to read  Memories and Records of the Heinkel

 Back to WWII Air Crashes Index

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE —  is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.