The Welney Website

The late Ernie James, a well known Welney wildfowler, ferry operator, raconteur and 'fen-tiger' recalled in a book 'Memoirs of a Fen Tiger' that during WW2 he saw a Heinkel that was shot down by an RAF plane and crashed in flames in the Welney Washes.

The crew had baled out, the pilot gave himself up at Suspension Bridge and the others were picked-up later. Unfortunately he didn't give a date or exact location and internet searches have only provided one reference that might be connected with Ernie's sighting.

Bizarely, it was a cutting from a New Zealand newspaper, the Evening Post of 20th June 1940:

"People in Cambridgesire villages watched three German airmen descend in moonlight by parachute after their Henikel had been destroyed by a fighter. They............were made prisoners..........."
(source: National Library of New Zealand)

If you can provide any further details about this incident or those involved, please contact the Webmaster using link bottom right. Thanks.