4 Unknown German Airmen

The metal plaque below states:

Now known to be:
Obergefreiter  Gerhard Freude  Pilot
Oberleutnant  Dankward Birkenstock  Observer
Unteroffizier  Rudolf Paul Schulze  Radio Observer
Gefreiter  Franz Becker  Gunner

This memorial is located next to a Hampshire By-way and remembers the crew of a Ju 88 crew (I/KG54) shot down during the Battle Of Britain. The memorial is located some two miles away from the aircraft crash site and is incorrectly dated as the aircraft was shot down on 21 August 1940 at 2.15pm. The crew were all killed and the aircraft burned out.

Spitfires of 234 Squadron from Middle Wallop made the interception the pilots being Squadron Leader O'Brien & Pilot Officer Bob Doe. P/O Doe visited the site of the crash and was horrified when he saw the remains of the crew and the results of the interception.

An element of mystery surrounds the crash as there appears to be no known burial place for the crew. The remains of the crew were removed from the site in the back of an army truck but no one appears to know where they went.

Efforts to raise a memorial in the village to the crew after the war have not materialised. However, in the summer of 1951 Mrs Flora Firbank of Hoplands Estate offered her land to erect a small memorial. This is the memorial we see today and is located below the flight path of the Ju88 at the end of its final flight.