South Shields, wreck of German Junkers bomber

1941 wreck of a German Junkers bomber thought to have been shot down 2 miles SE of Tynemouth. It was on a bombing raid from Amsterdam to the north-east of England. On the evening of 2 June 1941 three aircraft from 3/106 took off from Amsterdam-Schiphol each armed with four 250kg bombs. An air raid warning 'Red' was received at 23.50 by the crew of a drifter (the Marcia) on the Tyne's North Buoy to which a balloon was moored. RAF Corporal W.V. Armstrong was the NCO in charge of the balloon crew. He was on deck with the drifter's skipper, John Redpath Burn. Judging from the sound of the aircraft, it was assumed to be flying at low altitude and the silhouette resembled a Junkers 88. The aircraft dived towards the Marcia. Armstrong opened fire with the Lewis gun at a range of 200 yards. The aircraft passed to the west of the drifter then climbed into the clouds. The crew saw a flash just below the clouds about 2 miles SSE of the South Pier and then saw a large burning object dropping into the sea. Thus Fighter Command credited 936 Balloon Squadron with the 'probable destruction' of the enemy plane. Examination of the Luftwaffe Loss Returns shows that the Junkers 88 A-5 M2 + BL (w/nr 6180) of Kustenfliegergruppe 3/106 failed to return from operations that night. The builder of the plane was built by Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG. The 4 crew were missing: Oberfeldwebel Hans Vieck, pilot; Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Maschmann, observer; Unteroffizier Gerhard Emmerich, wireless operator; Unteroffizier Walter Boerge, gunner.