Location: Blackwall Bridge, near Peasmarsh, Sussex, England. R.3244 (War Revision 1940)

Pilot: Oberleutnant. Josef Volk. - Captured

REASON FOR LOSS:

This aircraft was separated from the rest of the formation and suddenly was attacked from behind, the aircraft caught fire, the pilot bailed out and the aircraft dived into soft ground on the banks of the river and was almost completely buried. No bullet strikes to be seen in fragments of wreckage above ground. Pilot Josef Volk captured slightly burnt and feeling ill. Shot down by F/Lt A. Ingle in a Hurricane of No. 605 Squadron.

Note: This aircraft was subject of a first recovery by the Ashford & Tenterden Recovery Group. Site later excavated by Andy Saunders when part of the engine and complete propeller hub were found.

Oblt. Volk pictured on the left with leather flying jacket. (Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

Crash site of Oblt. Volk’s Bf 109E-8. The aircraft has buried itself in the soft ground. (Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

Believed to be the second recovery made by Andy Saunders. Note the propeller hub, aileron/rudder fabric and a piece of
wreckage with stamped aircraft serial number of 4888. (Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

The complete propeller hub is recovered. (Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

Doped control surface fabric from the ailerons or rudder surfaces in remarkable condition.
(Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

A vital piece of evidence of the aircraft’s identity, the Werke Nummer 4888 (Pat Burgess Collection/Saunders)

Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless. Thanks to Nigel Parker and special thanks to the late Pat Burgess and Andy Saunders whose excellent material helped create this page. March 2015

The British Library is preserving this site for the future in the UK Web Archive at www.webarchive.org.uk All Aircrew Remembered on our Remembrance pages, are therefor not just remembered here, but also subsequently remembered and recorded as part of our nation’s history
and heritage at The British Library.