A good story is even better if it can be authenticated above and beyond what can often and disappointingly be just an urban myth.
I had come across a book of the experiences of children during the second world war and blitz and amongst the first hand stories of evacuation, rationing, air raid shelters and wartime education was a great tale from the North Sea coast town of Withernsea from about 1941.
An enemy aircraft, a Heinkel or Dornier returning from a bombing raid on Hull or the further west industrial areas of South Yorkshire had crash landed in fields just south of Withernsea. No mention was made of the fate of the crew. The wreck remained reasonably intact and in order to protect the landing site for intelligence gathering a small guard party were assembled amongst RAF personnel stationed in the local area.
A cordon was erected to keep sightseers and the morbidly fascinated away.
The combination of a remote field and chilly coastal weather soon persuaded the guardians to take refuge in a farmers barn out of clear view of the fallen aircraft. This lapse in discipline allowed a large group of local children, who had never been more than a few yards beyond the cordon, to swarm over the plane.
Initially the attraction was in play-mode each taking turns to be pilot, navigator, nose and tail gunners and , as a matter of improvisation, cafe owner for the serving of enemy refreshments overhead from the adults in such mysterious and guttural terms as 'Ersatz Coffee' and 'Bratwurst' and all sorts of turnip based snacks.
Boredom, even with such a lifesize plaything ,soon prevailed and the attention of the children turned to the next project of securing souvenirs.
The prized items went to the larger, stronger members of the group. The control column from the pilots position, a portion of the mangled tail with pockmarked spider-like emblem and pieces of the clear canopy from over the cockpit. Smaller items filled pockets to bursting.
A large but well motivated gang of the younger children managed to wrestle clear of its mounting a very heavy and cumbersome machine gun complete with live magazine and lots of loose ammunition. Someone had the idea to test the weapon and with a squeeze of the trigger a stream of tracer bullets streaked out towards the cliff top. This startled the group but there was no reaction at all from the direction of the sheltering guards.
Children in wartime can feel a bit sidelined and belittled by the participating adults. The plan with the machine gun was to smuggle it up the Church tower in the town centre and prepare to fire it in anger against the regular waves of Nazi aircraft crossing the North Sea coast.
The downed bomber was left in situ now considerably lightened and depleted of its equipment and ordnance.
The investigation by the embarrassed authorities upon discovery of the stripping out of the plane was swift and merciless. The Vicar's son, a key participant in the project was first to crack but only after his father found some of the live ammunition in the Vestry storage cupboards behind the hymn books. The children were hauled in front of the convening Magistrate and persuaded to relinquish their treasure trove. The adults in the Court House spoke in very formal terms but the children sensed some restrained amusement in their eyes. The poor guard contingent however faired less well and the lessons learned from their lackadaisical actions were enforced through the Service from that day.
I recalled my enthusiasm for this story during a work appointment at a house in Withernsea only a couple of years ago. The occupiers were born and bred in the town over at least three generations. They remembered the story very well because their late father had been one of the co-conspirators and it was all completely true.
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