# German Bomber in the Scottish Highlands



## kswchris (Sep 6, 2007)

My father recounts a story of him seeing a german bomber as a boy in a very small place called Benloit in the Scottish Highlands next to the town of Drumnadrochit near the banks of Loch Ness.

His school, which was basicly a small cottage with one clasroom, sits overlooking Loch Noss. He says one day the air raid siren went off and they were evacuated out into the grounds which were at that time, and now, just a field on a hill overlooking the loch. He said the bomber flew low over the loch where it eventualy bombed an alunminium factory at Foyers. The aluminium was being used to help sustain the war production and metal was very precious to the war effort.

Even now you can walk round the streets of Inverness (nearest large town) and most of the old houses have a small wall seperating the garden from the pavement. On top of the walls you can see there were once railings which were cut off and taken away to be re-smelted.

The only other part of the story my father tells is that the german plane had flown all that way, then was shot down near Aberdeen which is the last city before the safety of the North Sea. When her recounts this I can tell he feels sympathy for the crew. I dont know if there was any survivors or what plane type it was, but it would be most interesting to know.

I recently found this via t'internet which recounts the same story.

http://www.ww2inthehighlands.co.uk/folders/memiors/foyerschildhood.htm


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## johnbr (Sep 6, 2007)

Good story.


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Sep 7, 2007)

I didn't know the Luftwaffe bombed Scotland!!??!!?

You learn something new everyday.


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## Konigstiger205 (Sep 7, 2007)

I didn't knew too...


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## The Basket (Sep 7, 2007)

Yep.
The first raid on the UK was against shipping in the Forth Estuary and the first shoot down over British soil was against a bomber flying these missions. Not got any dates though.

Due to range consideration a bit difficult but possible from Norway.

Heres a bit of a read about the first raids
BBC - WW2 People's War - Marjory's War


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## timshatz (Sep 7, 2007)

In the begining of the war, both sides went after the other's Naval Forces. For the British, it meant bombing Kiel. For the Germans, it meant bombing Scapa Flow. Neither had much luck doing it, the Germans clobbering the British attack while the Brits could usually intercept the German bombers. 

It was a time before the mass bombings of cities that happened later. Both Britian and Germany were trying to be nice in the begining.


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## Erich (Sep 7, 2007)

there were several missions used by LW recon units trying to enable a northern airfield from which as Tim mention KM attacks in the northern waters and using the "eyes" of the LW overhead.


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## kswchris (Sep 8, 2007)

Hi. Just a note that despite my flag I'm scottish just fecked up the settings part of the site and to add this. Thanks for the responses!!

I was brought up in inverness and when i was very small I remember a wellington bomber being pulled from Loch Ness. It was a family day out and I can only just remember it so must have been early 80's. Was a great day and I will rember it forever. Aparrently that plane is now only one of two surviving wellington bombers in the world!

Again I recently found this on t'internet after I thought to search for it when typing the above! 

http://www.ww2inthehighlands.co.uk/folders/crashes/lochness.htm

It's scary that I was on that bank in the distance and I can clearly remember seeing the plane with the rust hanging off the frame., I can remember being a pain and my mother telling me to "just be good" and we would be going home soon. Far out! 

Cricky! Am I that old (27) that I have to reminise on WW2 Webpages!?


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Sep 8, 2007)

Cricky!


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## The Basket (Sep 8, 2007)

No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force unit, which had been allocated Drem as its 'War Station', although the occupation of the aerodrome by No. 13 F.T.S. meant that it was not until 13 October that the squadron moved its Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Mark Is to its new base. The auxiliaries arrived just in time, for it was only three days later that the first air battle took place in the skies above Britain in the shape of an attack on the afternoon of 16 October by twelve Junkers Ju 88 bombers against ships of the Royal Navy in the Firth of Forth. Spitfires of Nos. 602 and 603 Squadrons were scrambled from Drem and Turnhouse respectively, it being the Edinburgh Auxiliaries, No. 603 Squadron, who got the first kill, off Port Seton, followed ten minutes later by Flight Lieutenant Pinkerton of 602 Squadron. These two German aircraft were the first to be shot down over Britain since the First World War and resulted in a message being sent to Drem from the Commander-in Chief of Fighter Command, Air Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, "Well done. First blood to the Auxiliaries!"

Drem aerodrome

The first kills over UK were by Scottish pilots over the Forth.

This wasnt the first RAF kill of the war though.


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## The Basket (Sep 8, 2007)

During World War II Clydebank's production of ships and munitions for the allies made the town a target for the German Luftwaffe: 439 bombers dropped over 1000 bombs on 13th and 14th of March 1941. Of 12,000 homes in the town fewer than a dozen were undamaged and over 35,000 people were made homeless. The raid, known as the Clydebank Blitz, was the worst suffered by Scotland during the war and resulted in 578 civilian deaths, the total per-head of population, one of the highest in WWII was devastating.

This from wikipedia.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 8, 2007)

kswchris said:


> Cricky! Am I that old (27) that I have to reminise on WW2 Webpages!?





Dont think your that old!

We are young compared to some members on this site.


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