During the summer of 1940 a pilot from I Gruppe JG 52 based at Coquelles near Calais filmed the images that follow on his 8mm camera. Depicting as they did the daily routines of a Luftwaffe fighter unit during the Battle of Britain made them fascinating enough. But the Wingleader team were further intrigued by a clip towards the end of the film showing a downed RAF pilot and the smoking wreckage of an RAF aircraft. Chris Goss, owner of the film, had according to the commentary, always assumed that this snippet of film showed a downed machine from 1941 - with the RAF's 'lean-into-France' good numbers of Spitfires and RAF medium bombers were brought down over France. In addition, only four Spitfires put down on French soil during the Battle of Britain, of which three were extensively photographed - no images of the fourth were known. So was this the missing Spitfire R6966 flown by Sgt. Philip Wareing of 616 Sqd downed on 25 August 1940? A single click on the red start button to view here.
Below; A line up of JG 52 Emils seen in Coquelles just outside Calais, the site today of the Tourist traffic waiting areas for Channel tunnel Le Shuttle traffic..note the clock tower of the town hall ( le Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville ) on the skyline..click to view large.
Luftwaffe fighter units based on this (open expanse of grass) airfield; source ” Les pertes de la chasse de jour en France ” by Pierre Watteeuw (Luftwaffe day fighter losses in France)
– I./JG 52 from 3 August to 31 October 1940
– I./ JG 51 from 9 March to 25 May 1941
– III./ JG 26 from 19 October 1941 to 7 April 1942
..and from the current Peter Petrick archive sale, P/O Roberts 64 Sqd Spitfire belly-landed at Calais-Marck on 15 August 1940 after Luftkampf with fighters of I.(J)/LG 2, one of just four Spitfires to come down over France during the Battle of Britain...
