Thanks Jeff.
Background Details.
August 15th, 1940, was the day the Luftwaffe attacked the British Isles in strength, with raids being mounted against the south of England, and an attack on targets in the north east being carried out by units from Luftflotte 5 from bases in Norway and Denmark.
For Zerstorer Geschwader 76, the day proved to be disastrous, with II/ZG76 sustaining heavy losses over the English Channel and the south of England, whilst their comrades in 1/ZG76, based at Stavanger, Norway, were equally hard hit over the North Sea and the north east of England.
Messerschmitt Bf110D, W. Nr.3155, coded M8+CH (White C), flown by Oblt. Hans-Ulrich Kettling, with his Bordfunker, Obgfr. Fritz Volk, of 1/ZG76, took off from Stavanger to rendezvous with the He-111's of KG 26, providing escort for the attacks on airfields and other targets in Northumberland, County Durham, and North Yorkshire.
The long sea crossing necessitated the use of the large under-wing drop tanks, which would be jettisoned over the North Sea when empty, as well as the huge, and ungainly, plywood-faired 'Dackelbauch' belly tank, which was not jettisonable.
This tank was greatly disliked by the crews as, apart from it reducing speed, and affecting handling as the fuel sloshed about, it was also highly flammable - a feature which lead to the loss of more than one of the unit's aircraft in the combats that were soon to be fought, as the vapour in the part empty tanks exploded violently when hit by tracer bullets.
As the formation of Bf110s and He-111s approached the north east coast of England at 15,000 feet, they were attacked by the Spitfires of 41 Sqn, from Catterick.
Kettling's Zerstorer was first hit in the starboard engine by fire from the guns of P.O. Ted Shipman. The prop was feathered and the engine shut down, whilst Kettling transmitted a 'Mayday' call and tried to reach the protection of the bombers above him.
Unable to gain height, the '110 started down for the cover of some cloud, when a second attack took out the port engine, shattered the windscreen, and wounded the Bordfunker, Volk.
P.O. Ben Bennions of 41 Sqn followed the '110 and delivered another 3 second burst before Kettling's aircraft reached the safety of the clouds, heading in a south westerly direction.
Emerging below the clouds, Kettling selected a large meadow at Streatlam, near Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, and managed to put the aircraft down, although at fairly high speed.
The Messerschmitt crashed through a low stone wall, hidden by vegetation, ripping off the fuselage behind the cockpit, with the dinghy, stowed in the tail, bouncing along behind the still moving forward section, still attached by its retrieval cable.
When the aircraft finally came to rest, Kettling was able to get out safely and rescue Volk and carry him to safety, before disabling the radios with rounds from his pistol, and setting the aircraft alight with the on-board incendiaries, burning his right hand in the process.
A crowd soon gathered, some armed with sticks and stones, and shouting and threatening, until some Military Police arrived and took control.
Kettling and Volk, who had now partially recovered, were taken to the local Police Station, where their wounds were treated by a Doctor, before they were taken away for interrogation and eventually to a PoW camp.
The photos below show Oblt. Hans-Ulrich Kettling, and his Bf110D before and after the crash. Note that the 'before' shot, which is the same aircraft, W.Nr. 3155, appears to show what is probably a red, outlined white, letter 'C' as the individual code, indicating 2 Staffel, but this aircraft was definitely coded 'White C' on 15th August, as was Kettling's previous Bf110.
As white is the staffel colour for 1/KG76, it is reasonable to suppose that W.Nr. 3155 was transferred to 1/KG76 from 2/KG76.
Camouflage was RLM 70/71 splinter on upper surfaces, with RLM 65 under sides. Unit codes in a semi-gloss black, with white Werke Nummer on the starboard rear fuselage, with white spinner tips.