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| If you were
out and about in The Eversdens approaching midnight 8th
September 1942, you would have witnessed an almighty explosion on
the hillside alongside Rectory Farm on the way to Orwell. At 11.38pm
the German Dornier Do 217E-4, heading away from random bombing
attacks on Cambridge, was shot down by the crew of Mosquito Mk1
DD699 out on routine patrol from Wittering. The explosion was so great that fragments of the aeroplane were scattered over the hillside and every year the ground still yields pieces of mangled metal. Julian Evan-Hart has made a lifetime investigation of wartime aeroplane crash sites and this is one of his favourites. His findings are about to be published in a book |
 Items of clothing recovered in 2007 |
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The book has fascinating reports of incidents all over Cambridgeshire. This one on our doorstep is covered in great and gruesome detail. Perhaps your Grandad talked about it? If you have heard of this incident and wondered, the answers to all your questions are here.
There may be someone (late 70s or older) around who wasn't tucked up asleep that night and remembers the bang and the glow in the sky. Four men died a horrible death out there on the hillside, a drop in the ocean for the times but tragedies for families nevertheless. Looking at our clear blue skies and the field of waving wheat, it's hard to picture such carnage and harder still to accept that such events could be in living memory. If this is your interest, get the book. Dedicated metal-detecting and research such as Julian Evan-Hart's deserves success. (Ed.) POST SCRIPT This account reminded David Ellis that his parents told him of a blazing plane hitting the hill above Little Eversden. This in turn brought to mind an earlier incident involving Dorniers (click) 26.7.08 |
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WAR-TORN SKIES - CAMBRIDGESHIRE. Published by: RED KITE PO Box 223 Walton on Thames Surrey KT12 3YQ www.redkitebooks.com Price: £14.95 available from book outlets in early August |
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