Luftwaffe Air Raids

V7119 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I

This was a relatively new aircraft built in late 1940 under sub-contract by the Gloster Aircraft Company. It had first served with 615 Squadron, defending London, before being transferred to the newly formed 317 (Polish) Squadron at RAF Acklington in February 1941. This squadron soon moved to RAF Ouston in April 1941, becoming the airfield's first operational fighter unit. It is likely that it was inside the hangar at Ouston for maintenance work on the night of 6th/7th May, before being so badly damaged by the nearby Hornet Moth fire that it was declared a write-off. Also, if it was under maintenance, such as being raised on trestles, then it would not have been possible to quickly move it out of harms way. It became 317's first loss to enemy action, and it was not until 2nd June 1941 that 317 got their revenge when they downed a Ju 88 of Tynemouth [see Ouston's only wartime 'kill' on this website]. V7119's official record card states that it was "destroyed air raid Ouston 7/5/41".

In the photo below V7119 is shown in the 'JH' markings of 317 Squadron it carried at the time of its demise. However, it is not known which individual code letter it wore so this has been left off. Note the Polish national insignia painted under the cockpit.

V6582 Hawker Hurricane Mk.1

One of two further 317 Squadron aircraft damaged in the air raid and hangar fire. This Hurricane had previously served with 249, and 46 squadrons, before joining 317 squadron at Acklington and Ouston. Its official record card does not mention the damage caused at Ouston, but it does show that the aircraft was converted to a Hurricane Mk.II, with a new serial number DG639 from May 1941 . This means that the damage was severe enough for the aircraft to be returned to a factory for repair, at which point the opportunity was taken to convert it to a Mk.II. by Rolls Royce. As DG639 it was then shipped to Russia on 9th September 1941 and joined the Red Air Force. There is no further information regarding its service or fate with the Russians.

V6602 Hawker Hurricane Mk.1

This Hurricane had previously served with 32 squadron, before joining 317 Squadron at Acklington and Ouston. It's official record card is then identical to that above, being returned to a Rolls Royce factory in May 1941 (for repair) and converted to a Mk.II, serial number DG638. It was then shipped to Russia on 7th September 1941, and there is no further information from then on.

P1699 Westland Lysander Mk.I

The fact of this aircraft also being in Ouston's hangar is of interest because it belonged to 6 AACU (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit). This large unit was headquartered at RAF Ringway (now Manchester Airport) as part of 110 Wing. They provided target and gunnery calibration aircraft for the whole North West area, with detachments at many airfields. Also headquartered under 110 Wing at Ringway was 7 AACU which served airfields on the East coast, and from April 1941 they formed a detachment at RAF Ouston, equipped with Lysanders. So it is possible that P1699 was in the process of being transferred from 6 AACU to 7 AACU. Or alternatively 6 AACU had been providing Lysander aircraft for use at Ouston, pending the establishment of the new 7 AACU detachment. From the start of the war P1699 had served as an operational army co-operation aircraft with 4 Squadron, and then 241 Squadron, before moving to second-line use with 6 AACU. Its official record card states that it was "Damaged Beyond Repair 6/5/41", and it is other sources that have identified it as being "bombed by incendiary in hangar at Ouston by Ju 88".

The photo below shows how it might have looked at the time it was lost, and none of the AACU aircraft carried code letters at Ouston, they were just identified by their serial number.

The Luftwaffe Unit of the Junkers 88 is not known, and it is likely that a number of different units were operating the Ju 88 and Heinkel III bombers that attacked the North East and Glasgow. The two aircraft shot down that night were a He III near Morpeth, and a Ju 88 on Holy Island, but both had come from the Glasgow raids. (1) (3)

It is of interest that RAF Ouston had been singled out for an accurate attack, so soon after the new airfield had become operational on 10th March 1941. Throughout the war the Luftwaffe carried out very high level photo reconnaissance flights over the British Isles, so they would have been aware that a new airfield was being built to the west of Newcastle. They would then presumably wait until it received its operational aircraft (Hurricanes), to make an attack worthwhile. During this early period of the war, the two other main RAF fighter airfields at RAF Acklington, and RAF Usworth (Sunderland) were also given special attention by the Luftwaffe.

From the ARP description of the attack , the following illustration shows the likely line of the 12 incendiary bombs. Such bombs were small, and intended to cause destructive fires. They were usually combined with larger high explosive bombs which were intended to (e.g) open up roofs and thus provide entry points for the incendiaries to cause maximum damage. The fact of such a fire in the main hangar at Ouston would either indicate that high explosive was involved, or that one incendiary did go through a side window of the hangar. The ARP report refers to a small crater close to the Watch Office (Control Tower), and also to a water main being fractured, so it would seem that a mix of high explosive and incendiaries was indeed involved. The hangar fire was so severe that two outside civilian fire brigade units were called to assist.