| Original United States caption: “Youthful Nazi Flyers Downed in England – British soldiers guard three of Germany’s ‘boy airmen’ who were captured when their plane was brought down in a southern coast air battle. Photo passed by British censor, cabled from London.” These 3 Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) flieger (“airmen”) are probably the crew of Junkers Ju-88A-1 B3 + DB of I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 54 Totenkopf (KG 54), which was shot down while attacking RAF Farnborough on August 13, 1940. Adlertag (“Eagle Day”) was the 1st day of Unternehmen Adlerangriff (“Operation Eagle Attack”), an operation by Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe (air force) intended to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF). 1,485 sorties were launched by the Luftwaffe, intending a synchronized, overwhelming blow against RAF Fighter Command. But English weather intervened, turning Adlertag into a series of staggered, piecemeal raids, without clear targeting. B3 + DB, piloted by Oberleutnant Josef-Maria Ostermann (March 16, 1915 – August 13, 1940) from Münster, thought they were hit by anti-aircraft artillery while on a reconnaissance mission. B3 + DB took off from Gűtersloh, Germany, at 0500 Hours, carrying extra fuel tanks. After encountering the rest of KG 54 returning from the air strike on RAF Farnborough, Sergeant Herbert James L. Hallowes (April 17, 1912 – October 20, 1987) of Number 43 Squadron and Pilot Officer Howard C. Mayers (January 9, 1910 – circa July 20, 1942), Royal Australian Air Force, of No. 601 Squadron shot the Ju-88 down. Hallowes was in Green 2 in B Flight, and the attack time was at 0645 Hours. He attacked a Ju-88 from about 300 yards (275 meters), “apparently with about two o’clock lead” according to his after-action report. The Ju-88 dived into the clouds, so he made further attacks on Ju-88s or Me-110s. He noted return fire, probably from the top turret. He used all his ammunition and landed at about 0700 Hours. He claimed “one Ju 88 probable” in his after-action report. Mayers was Red 3 in A Flight. The flight took off at 0630 hours. After about 10 minutes, he saw about 24 Ju-88s escorted by Messerschmitt Me 110s and Me 109s, and attacked. After 1st engaging a Me-110, Mayers saw a Ju-88 below him, dived on it, fired a full-deflection burst, saw it explode behind the pilot, and watched it go down in flames. 3 crewmen parachuted. Flight Officer Michael D. Doulton (December 19, 1908 – August 31, 1940) of Number 601 Squadron described its loss in an excerpt from his after-action report: “When my ammunition was finished, I watched a Ju-88 hit and set on fire by a Hurricane, three of the crew jumped and their parachutes opened above cloud, I believe, five miles north of Goodwood the Ju-88 half-rolled and dived almost vertically in flames.” Doulton was shot down over the Thames a few weeks later. Ostermann held the burning aircraft stable long enough for the 3 crewmen to get out before it crashed and exploded in Phillis Wood, Treyford. The wreckage was quickly secured by the military, but not before souvenir hunters claimed 1 of the propeller blades, which still exists today. Meyers was shot down later in the day and almost drowned; his Squadron Leader saw him and others in the water and signaled a nearby Motor Torpedo Boat that rescued him. Years later, he was shot down over Egypt and was presumed killed when he was a passenger in a Junkers Ju-52 as a Prisoner of war sent to Germany. The surviving crew of B3 + DB: Unteroffizier Franz Rösler (1922 – November 2, 1946), Obergefreiter Kurt Brieger (???? – ????), and Unteroffizier Kurt Seltz (???? – ????), parachuted to safety without injury and were taken prisoner. They were taken by train to Victoria Station, where they were paraded before the press. 1 of the Luftwaffe fliegers shot down that day was 15 years old, according to news accounts. Ostermann’s body was not recovered in the wreck of B3 + DB. A small marker was erected at the site of the crash. Rösler was eventually sent to Castlethorpe Prisoner of War Camp at Brigg, Lincolnshire, where he worked at Warp Farm, Blyton Carr in Gainsborough. He was killed when he jumped onto a moving lorry and fell beneath the front wheels. He died of internal injuries before he reached the camp doctor. It was ruled an accidental death. Adlertag failed to knock out Fighter Command’s airfields, but losses were heavy on both sides. Both the RAF and the Luftwaffe overcompensated for their actual claims. The British claimed 78 kills but actually shot down 48. The Luftwaffe claimed 70 fighters and 18 bombers destroyed in air combat and another 84 on the ground; actual losses were 24 dogfight kills and 47 destroyed on the tarmacs. The Luftwaffe failed to develop any focused strategy for defeating Fighter Command. At 1st, it attempted to destroy RAF bases, then switched to strategic bombing by day and night. It tried to achieve the destruction of several British industries at the same time, switching from bombing aircraft factories to attacking supporting industries, import or distribution networks, such as coastal ports. An attempt was even made against unrelated targets, such as destroying the morale of the British population. They never prioritized the radar stations or understood the British ability to replace aircrew and airframes. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0308.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.45 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2139 x 1674 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 14, 1940 |
| Location | Victoria Station, Westminster |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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