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 The
last moments of the Heinkel had not gone unnoticed on the island; and from
the naval base at North Haven and the anti-aircraft positions on Ward Hill
men were running to the crash site. Jimmy Stout had been nearby as the
plane came over, and with his brother Jerry had dived behind a convenient
wall for cover. `There were three Germans sitting on the grass about 60
yards away when the petrol tanks exploded, recalls Jimmy. 'Then all the
flares went off and the machine gun bullets started to stutter. I went on
the motorcycle to fetch a stretcher from the nurse's house for one of the
Germans, who was wounded.' Soon afterwards, the military arrived, and the,
crew were taken into custody. A search for the missing crew members found
them 600 feet behind the main wreckage, dead. The lower rear portion of the
aircraft had borne the brunt of the impact during the crash, and it seems
they were thrown out and killed as the plane disintegrated. The bodies were
attended to by the islanders.
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Meanwhile, Berry and Watson returned
to Sumburgh, landing at 11.20 a.m. No. 3 Squadron records state:
17/1/41 Sumburgh - Red Section of 'A' Flight at Sumburgh were ordered to
scramble at 10.45 hours. and intercepted and shot down a Heinkel He 111. The
enemy aircraft crashed on Fair Island.' (sic)
The
surviving German crew were taken to the
Pund, which was being used as
barracks by the Navy, and held there whilst a boat could be arranged to take
them to Lerwick.
Their wounds were attended to and they
were given a bed. Being such a small detachment, there was no separate
dormitory or room in which to place the prisoners; so they shared the
servicemen's rooms; on such a small island security was not as tight and
formal as could be, the case elsewhere. For all parties it was the first
glimpse of 'the enemy', so natural curiosity overcame any inhibitions which
may have been present. Luckily Karl Heinz Thurz was fluent in English, and
so could act as interpreter. 'There was a young Londoner whose parents had
lost their home in a raid the week before- he was most kind to me, and we
played draughts that evening.' The next morning Heinz was left alone in the
barracks with a radio for company; it was tuned to the Home Service. 'I
noticed that Radio Bremen was not far away on the dial, so I retuned it and
caught the end of the news, which told of my aircraft being missing!'
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As
soon as the report of the crash reached Mainland an RAF launch was
dispatched from Lerwick;
this was HSL 117, under the command of Flight
Lieutenant Dainty. It arrived at the south harbour on the southern tip of
the island, and lay
offshore as it was found it could not berth due to the force of the sea. In
the evening the wind shifted, and it was decided to attempt a landing in the
north of the island so the launch made its way round. The possible  landing places in the north
are created by the rocky outcrop of Buness being attached to the rest of
the island by a spit
some 25.feet high, forming two small Havens, North and South. Into 'the
South Haven came HSL 117. Driven
by the following sea, she was swept straight onto Mare
Rock, where she was badly holed, forcing the crew to beach her. A trawler,
dispatched from Lerwick to pull her off, arrived next morning.
However, in an effort to get in as close as
possible to secure a line, it too went aground. `The Germans made such an
awful lot of expense', recalled Willie Eunson, one of the islanders involved with getting
the airmen off the island. That night the trawler managed to extract itself
at high water, using its winch, and a further attempt was made to refloat
the launch by the supply boat for the naval camp but the tow-rope parted.
Finally the Lerwick
lifeboat was sent for, entering the North
Haven on Sunday morning, January 19, and the three airmen and two
accompanying Marines, were rowed out by Willie Eunson and his colleagues and
put on board. It was Karl Heinz's 21st birthday; and his lasting memory of
it was being violently seasick throughout the journey, together with his
crew-mates and the Marines!
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