2nd September 1940 Frith Farm Billericay

Fiery End of an Me 110

At teatime on Monday, 2nd September 1940 a Messerschmitt 110 with prominent sharks teeth markings on the nose came to a fiery end on the edge of Frith Wood, Billericay. The aircraft, werke number 3226, coded M8+DM of 4/ZG76 had been shot down by a Hawker Hurricane serial number V6559 flown by Flying Officer Denis Parnall of 249 Squadron, North Weald. The two man crew of the Messerschmitt, Oblt Karl Wrede and Uffz Richard Kukawka, both perished.

M8+DM was the second Messerschmitt Parnall had hit that day.  Scrambled early in the morning with the rest of 249 Squadron he had damaged another Messerschmitt 110 escorting bombers targeting the docks at Gravesend. In the late afternoon the Luftwaffe returned to English skies, this time to attack the RAF airfields at Eastchurch and Hornchurch, and Parnall was once again one of the 249 Squadron pilots who rose to meet them.

Soon after 4.30 pm 249 Squadron engaged a loose formation of Dornier 17’s with a strong escort of twin engined Messerschmitts near Gravesend. Flying as red 2 Parnall spotted two Me 110’s about a 1,000 feet above him and immediately climbed and turned behind the second 110, giving it a steady burst of fire from three quarters below. The 110 turned to the right through 180 degrees and tipped into a vertical dive, with Parnall following. At 10,000 feet Parnall saw ‘something in the machine blow up’ after which the 110 went into a slow spin. Denis followed it all the way down to 200 feet where he saw it crash on the edge of a wood near Billericay and burst into flames.

On the ground at Frith Farm, eye witness Mrs Buckenham was having tea on the front lawn with her family when her attention was drawn to a Messerschmitt circling over Laindon Common with a Hurricane on its tail. She saw the wings of the Hurricane “sparkle” as the pilot opened fire, then the Messerschmitt swooping down trailing a haze of smoke. It got lower and lower, apparently heading straight for the farmhouse. The family scattered in panic as the 110 passed close overhead before banking gently to the left and careering across a vegetable field. It was Mrs Buckenham’s impression that at the last second the pilot had attempted to land the stricken aircraft. The 110 came to rest upside down a few feet from Frith Wood, and by the time the family reached the scene the cockpit was an inferno.

Arthur “Chick” Lowing from Brentwood was another eye witness. He was out on his bike after school when he saw a dogfight over Laindon and watched a Hurricane exchanging fire with the gunner of an Me 110. After a short clash the 110 disappeared in the direction of Frith Farm dragging a plume of smoke. “Chick” went after it, arriving at the farm almost at the same time as a fire engine from Billericay, which the landowner wouldn’t allow over his prized lawn to reach the crash site, directing it instead the longer way round through the farm. When “Chick” got to the burning wreck he was convinced he could hear the crew still screaming as they died in the fire.

Like Chick, everyone seems to have thought that both men were in the aircraft when it crashed, however an analysis of contemporary Police and Fire Service message suggests that one of the crew may actually have tried to bale out.

Brentwood and Southend Police reported that at 4.40pm on 2nd September 1940 a German Messerschmitt crashed and burned out on the south east corner of Frith Wood. The report added that two bodies had been recovered, ‘one in the aircraft.’ A later follow up message from Police HQ stated ‘German airman baled out. Parachute failed to open, fell at Sudbury’s Cottages, Ninge’s Farm, Little Burstead.’ Separately, Essex Fire Service also reported at 5.05pm that the body of a German airman with an unopened parachute had been found at Sudbury’s Cottages, Ninge’s Farm.

In his combat report Denis Parnall mentioned that something blew up in the aircraft as it fell, perhaps what he had seen was the cockpit canopy being jettisoned and one of the crew jumping out.

Robin Hill