Cullercoats, wreck of German Dornier bomber

1943 wreck of a German Dornier bomber which was shot down in flames off Cullercoats while on a bombing raid on Hartlepool. The aircraft was Do217 E-4 U5+CR, werk nummer 4393. The crew was missing: Feldwebel Fritz Flohr, pilot; Obergefreiter Erich Tomuschat, observer; Obergefreiter Johannes Knecht, wireless operator and Gefreiter Johannes Menzenbach, gunner. The Luftwaffe's IX Fliegerkorps mustered 50 aircraft for an attack on the shipbuilding and repair centre of Hartlepool on the night of 22-23 March 1943. 44 bombers reached their target by 23.22. Berlin Radio announced that 3 of the aircraft failed to return. One was shot down near Hartlepool. The Scorton-based 219 Squadron gave chase and the combat ended at 1500 feet, 11 miles east of Usworth (12 miles SE of Cullercoats). Tyne and Wear Archives have a map (T383/345) which marks the spot where a Dornier 217 crashed just off the north pier at Cullercoats on 22 March 1943. The builder of the plane was Dornier-Werke GmbH.