I’ve never been much of a relic collector. I decided fairly early on in my collecting career that rusty bits of metal weren’t really what I was into. However, in this case my love of a particular WWII aircraft overcame that lack of interest.

To most people, these artifacts would look like nothing more than some scrap metal out of grandad’s shed. However, the truth behind them is far more interesting, and far more sobering from a historical perspective. I am glad to be able to share these artifacts on the forum, as well as telling the story of how they came to be buried in the West Sussex soil.

These relics were recovered, as previously mentioned, from a field on Honor Farm, close to the village of Pagham in West Sussex. Nearby, just a little ways along the coast, is RAF Tangmere. On 16th August 1940, at around noon, a large formation of enemy aircraft was picked up by the Chain Home RDF stations with their course set towards the English coast from Cherbourg. By 12.45, eight RAF fighter squadrons had been scrambled to meet them.

This formation - consisting of around one hundred and fifty aircraft - was comprised mainly of Junkers Ju-87s of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 ‘Immelmann’, Ju-88 bombers of KG54, and a protective screen of Bf-109E fighters. When the Stukas reached the coast to the east of the Isle of Wight, the leading aircraft fired off signal flares and the formation split into three groups. The smallest headed for Ventnor Chain Home station, and another towards Portsmouth, where they later attacked Gosport.

The largest formation, with which these relics are concerned, headed for RAF Tangmere. They were met by Hawker Hurricanes of Squadrons 43 and 601. Squadron 43’s Intelligence Officer, one Flying Officer Cridland, later reported the action as follows:

“Eleven squadron Hurricanes flown by Squadron Leader Badger, Carey. Woods-Scawen, Gray, Lane, Hallowes, Gorrie, Upton, du Vivier, van den Hove and Noble took off at 1245 hours and intercepted 50 to 100 Ju 87s travelling north off Beachy Head at 1255. The squadron was at 12, 000 feet and enemy aircraft were at 14,000 feet in flights of five, seven, in close vics, the vics stepped up. A head-on No 5 attack was made at once, some turned straight back to France, jettisoned their bombs and the leading enemy aircraft was shot down by Squadron Leader Badger, who was leading the squadron as Green1 and two people baled out. There were escorting Me. 109s at 17,000 feet but they took little part in the engagement, some of the pilots never saw them at all. The squadron then returned and attacked from astern whereupon the combat developed into individual affairs and lasted approximately eight minutes. Some of the enemy aircraft made no attempts at evasion while others made use of their slow speed manoeuvrability by making short steep climbing turns and tight turns – at least one [Hurricane] pilot made use of his flaps to counteract this”.

This was the first time that Tangmere itself had been attacked, and was the fiercest and most destructive attack it would experience during the Battle of Britain. Many Stukas, demoralised by the fighter attack and the lack of protection offered by their own screen [which remained at around 17000 feet and took little part in the defence of the bomber formations] dumped their bomb loads into the sea and turned back.

This particular Stuka, piloted by Unteroffizier Paul Linse and the rear gun manned by Obergefreiter Rudolf Messerschmidt, was one of a few shot down by the Hurricanes of Squadrons 43 and 601. It was brought down at around 1PM, exploding on impact with the ground, and killing both crewmen. The pilot, Paul Linse, was only 23 at the time of his death. The same age as me. He is buried at the German war cemetery in Cannock Chase. I was unable to find out what became of Rudolf Messerschmidt.

And now, the pieces themselves. Four pieces of aircraft skin, a chunk of engine and a slice of armour plate. As the aircraft exploded on impact, there was very little left of it. The crash site consisted of little more than a debris field, with a twisted pile of metal in the centre. Most of it would have been salvaged for scrap. However, there was so much debris that some was bound to be left behind. There are photographs of the crash site, most notably within this book: Luftwaffe Bombers in the Battle of Britain: Rare photographs from wartime … - Andy Saunders - Google Books

The pieces of aluminium are unidentifiable, save for their black paint. I believe the piece with yellow paint on one side is from either a wingtip or the tail, due to the way it tapers to a point. The others are twisted beyond recognition. The armour plate is most likely from the fuel tank, and the piece of engine is self-explanatory. The force of the crash is evident on all of them.

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I don’t yet know how I can display these pieces. I’d like to display them all together, with a paragraph explaining the circumstances of the crash, and commemorating the two young men who died. If anyone lives close enough to Cannock Chase to find Mr Linse’s grave, or who can find additional information on either him or Rudolf Messerschmidt, I would be very appreciative. Some would be happy with the relics themselves. I intend to turn them into a memorial of sorts, to two young men far braver than I, who died fighting for a cause they believed was right.

Regards, B.B.