Battle of Britain Print

"Stuka over Steephill Cove"

Now featured on jonzflicks : Hit link at bottom of this page

H: in the series "Echoes of the Home Front by John Howard Worsley

August 8th 1940: The first enemy plane to crash on the Isle of Wight.
Alan Twigg lets fly with his air rifle as it banks overhead. A Dead German airman is
given a funeral with full military honours. Includes other wartime tales of Steephill Cove.

Extract from the Story-Sheet:

During the afternoon of the 8th August 1940, the battered merchant convoy CW9, code-named 'Peewit', was a mile or two off Ventnor. At dawn on that day, the convoy had suffered its first casualties at the hands of German torpedo boats in the eastern English Channel. Having set off from the Medway the previous night, the twenty vessels, laden with coal, were to be escorted to Dorset by nine ships of the Royal Navy. The Germans, who had just completed their version of radar, had detected the ships off Dover and a full-scale attack was put into operation. After the torpedo boats' surprise sortie, the full force of Luftlotte 3 was planned to both destroy the convoy and to entice the RAF into battle. "Our mighty will we do. Come and fight us if you can," was the implied taunt. The German aims were to clear the skies of British fighters to give them air mastery for their possible invasion of Britain.

By 4.30pm, a great battle was raging. As waves of vulture-like Stukas of the Luftwaffe screamed down, others were banked in black swarms high over the ships. Through a window in the cockpit floor, each pilot watched his prey and synchronised position to be ready for his turn. The Ju87 was the earliest German terror weapon. It carried a formidable array of death-dealing weaponry. Small bombs under its wings, one large bomb slung to a launching trapeze under its belly, machine guns which were housed in its rugged wings and the added psychological nightmare-effect of twin sirens which were activated in its near-vertical dive as it set upon its victims. In the rear of the cockpit, a defensive gunner faced the tail, vigilant for British fighters and waiting for that sickening backward fall, the ear-splitting scream, the jerk as the bomb trapeze lowered its massive burden to clear the aircraft's propeller and then the moment of release as the missile went. The immense brain-blacking gravity of pull-out from the dive; at this stage, even if the pilot lost consciousness, an automatic device would operate at a pre-determined height to level the aircraft. The Stuka had proved itself in the German Blitzkrieg of Spain and Poland but, it was built like a tank and it flew like a tank. This was to be its downfall and this day was to be the start of that downfall.

In the course of the day, seven RAF squadrons had been scrambled. Now again, it was to be No. 41 of Tangmere and 145 of Westhampnet which was led by Squadron Leader JRA Peel.

The Stukas came on. With their escorts of Messerschmitt 110s and 109s, they blackened the sky. The din of guns, exploding shells, bombs and aircraft engines, echoed back from the hills behind the seaside town. Percussive waves of sound rattled windows and beat the chests of many service and civilian onlookers.

As 145 approached the maelstrom, to Sqn. Ldr. Peel, the Stukas were a swarm of little black dots. As he got nearer, the dots grew larger. Then, when his pilots were about to attack, they were jumped by Messerschmitt 109s from out of the sun...........

There is a lot more to this story-sheet and if you'd like to see some other stuff aboyt Steephill Cove and
how it looks today, first hit link below and follow its other links. Use browser back-button to return.

Steephill Cove, John's Grandfather and JMA

Available as hand mounted prints 10" x 8" , 14" x 11" & 20" x 16".

Also available to order as Canvas Repro'

See YouTube movie on this subject