Having spent a considerable time trawling the net and finding nothing, I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of a raid on HMS Collingwood in Fareham on 18 October 1940.
It was a dull day and so no major raids took place but individual aircraft made attacks. Something (and I am hoping to find out what) dropped bombs on HMS Collingwood. A George medal was awarded for bomb disposal on 18/19 October 1940 there. There was one casualty at Collingwood that day but is not necessarily connected.
I have tried Blitz, Then and Now, which is where the date came from and lots of internet trawling. Are there Luftwaffe records that could be looked into? I would love to spare the time to go to Kew and look at the diaries etc, for Collingwood but do not have the time.
Any ideas?
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 17th September 2012 at 19:08
Interesting to see the report on the raid on Grange, which is in between Gosport and Lee on Solent. Dad lived in Lee but was working that day at the brewery in Titchfield. He could hear the raid going on as it was only a couple of miles away.
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 17th September 2012 at 19:04
Hi Melvyn,
I would suggest a visit to the Portsmouth City Records Office, located during my last visit, within the main library building near to the Guildhall.
No time to do that at the moment, and I was hoping something might spring to someone’s mind. The Collingwood records should be available at the National Archives.
Lastly, just a long shot, maybe that Heinkel was the one on its way to HMS Collingwood (at 200ft!), and the date may have been the 8th of October rather than the 18th:rolleyes:, —of course this is only a personal assumption,—-I could be wrong;)
I am pretty sure the 18th is a better day. It was a foggy and misty day and that checks out. It was also a single raider and not a bigger raid. ‘The Blitz Then and Now’ lists single raids on 18th with ‘a naval base in Fareham’ listed, well that has to be Collingwood, and there is a report of a UXB.
Thanks for the input, but I still think 18th
Melvyn
By: Arabella-Cox - 17th September 2012 at 18:02
The 8 October 1940 raid involved He 111 aircraft (3 x) of KG55, with one of the a/c shot down at Stansted Park near Chichster during a low-level attack and all crew killed. I don’t think they attacked Collingwood, but they did have a go at Thorney Island and, as I recall, Ford. I think they dstroyed a Havoc there….but that is from memory. I knew the Bordfunker on one of the two surviving He 111 aircraft, Fritz Pons, and visited him several times in the 1970s and stayed with him for a few weeks in August 1976 at Grafenhausen – I thus got the story of the attack first hand. Pretty sure they didn’t ‘do’ Colingwood, but delighted to see this detail of 8 October 1940, anyway.
PS – when I lived in Hastings I had an end-of-terrace town house, but it was only end-of-terrace due to the fact that about four houses in a long terrace were taken out…..on 8 October 1940! I never discovered the culprit, but it is possible that the three KG55 He 111’s hit it as they flew down the coast, westward, marauding as they went. I know they shot up Worthing, for example. Not sure where they crossed in, but it would have been weird if it was KG55 and Fritz Pons and his pals because Fritz visited me in the 1980s and parked his Merc where the houses were taken out on 8 October 1940…but I didn’t tell him!!!
By: Gerry R - 17th September 2012 at 17:54
HMS Collingwood raid 1940
Hi Melvyn,
I would suggest a visit to the Portsmouth City Records Office, located during my last visit, within the main library building near to the Guildhall.
Below is what I found trawling through the local records, this is a certain report titled :- 2/11/9/C 5th A/A Division. The nearest date I found to your enquiry is the 8th October 1940, when the A/A battery at Holbrook (just southeast of Fleetlands), fired on a Heinkel HE111 flying at 200ft, this would be about one half mile from HMS Collingwood.
The records are from the Gosport area for 1940, as you know, Collingwood was within the Fareham district. I found the details here very interesting and your query gives me an excuse to air and share this with yourself and others, rather than remaining unseen in my file. Not only does it give detailed raids by the Luftwaffe during that year, but also the performances of the various A/A defences in the area.
Lastly, just a long shot, maybe that Heinkel was the one on its way to HMS Collingwood (at 200ft!), and the date may have been the 8th of October rather than the 18th:rolleyes:, —of course this is only a personal assumption,—-I could be wrong;)
Best regards, Gerry R.
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September 15, 2012 at 4:48 pm