History can be found all around us, we just have to look in the right places.  The local pub is a good place to start!

Thanks Doug...wonderful to read unexpected stories like that

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

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Settle down now Bjorn. It was the aircraft that was stripped down, not the occupants.
Sadly one of the crew did not survive but I'm sure they were well-treated despite doing their best to wipe out as many of us as possible. That's the strange thing about war but enough of that.

It does seem a shame that the aircraft was not salvaged but it would probably have been reduced to scrap. Material was in very short supply & for all I know some wrecks might have ended up as Spitfires.

My first thought was that the local Dad's Army didn't do a very good job of guarding it. If the truth be known I suspect they were the main culprits, after the boffins at Farnborough had taken everything they wanted. I expect the golf club members were complaining about it blocking the 16th fairway anyway & would have been glad to see the back of it. The country might have been in immediate danger of invasion but nothing interferes with the important things in life. That would never do old boy.

I believe this was the last time the Ju 87 was used on the Western front. It was highly effective as this attack & the one that badly damaged the nearby radar station at Poling on the same day demonstrated but it was too vulnerable to the modern RAF fighters. After suffering heavy losses in a short time the Stuka was temporarily withdrawn from front-line service, although I believe it was later used in the East. Only a few days after the photo was taken the Luftwaffe changed tactics & the London Blitz started.

PS. I recall reading that the oxygen cylinders from the He 111 were in great demand for air bottles for RN frogmen at one time. We didn't have anything suitable or the ability to manufacture them. Not a lot of people know that.

I'm sure if you looked you'd find most of that aircraft in the attics of sussex.

Pretty exciting stuff Doug, alas no-one downed a Spit round here (of course flying inferior machinery like the 109 didn't help )

Mark

That is cool, its amazing what history you can find when you look. Theres a ton of history round this area dating back to the civil war i believe (or war of the roses, whichever i wasnt paying to close attention

LOL yes thats the one:) Thanks Doug, theres alot of old musket holes in the walls of the churches round here, and apparently the Kings wife or mistress or whomever stayed at a local pub, the building is still standing today. I will try to get some pictures the next time i am that way.

We actually went a few weeks back. Very expensive though, didnt help it was bloody freezing. I didnt know i was going so i didnt have my camera on me, however my mum wants to go so chances are we will be going back after christmas so i will get pleanty of shots when we do.
I actually hope we do as i didnt get to see it all, was a nice day out though..

WOW, i had to do a quick look into that, and came up with this. The man was crazy:)
http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/man.htm
I am going to have to go hunting for this memorial after christmas (way too busy right now)

Thanks for the recomendation:)

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The Russians hat Spits. And Hurris...for a short period of time. Arrival on the eastern front - first mission - written off, since badly damaged by german fighters. 

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I imagine the UK Government could have easily got upwards of $US500,000 for each from enthusiasts (given that a "used" Spit or P51 goes for up to a million).

As for the JU87 in the golf course, I suppose there's a possibility that the pilot landed the aircraft with very little damage in order to get medical attention for his then mortally wounded comrade???? (In a Stuka, it would have taken him at least 3 days to get back to France  )

Seriously, my first thought was that the 'Dads Army' crew didn't do a very good job of guarding it. As someone said, it was probably left unguarded after the Airforce got what it wanted (if anything) - How would the engine have gone in a Morris???? 

Interesting Pic and story, Hagar, my man!! (I can just make out the serial of 5167 on the tail plane, so the article about the "crashed" plane at the golf course is obviously about this one.

"Crashed"???? Doesn't look very crashed to me!! Doesn't even look like a forced landing (of course, engine trouble etc is not obvious on the outside....). As I said earlier, looks like it may have been a perfectly good and purposeful landing, for good reason.

"Crashed"???......It seems that News reporters were the same type of creature in 1940 as they are in 2005. Blind, deaf, dumb and very excitable!!!!