© Philip Harvey; no reproduction without permission, please.
Account of Mr. John H. W. Watson
At the time I was fourteen years old and had just started work at The Old Cricketers garage at the junction of Cranes Farm Road and, at that time, Nevendon Road - at the time we were making torches.
I could see and hear aircraft very high. Something fell into the centre of the junction and Mr Ryder, the proprietor of the shop on the corner, ran out and picked up what turned out to be a 303 bullet. As I looked up I saw an aircraft coming down. Part of the wing of this aircraft was missing and it was accompanied by a Spitfire wing. I was certain that I saw a complete Spitfire with it's wing cut off, both tumbling down together. The wing came down in the direction of Wickford; the aircraft I believe may be the one which came down about 75 yards North of the present junction of Courtaulds Road and Archers Fields, on land now belonging to Essex Water and part of the treatment works. I could see a parachute coming down in the direction of North Benfleet.
As all this was going on, my attention was drawn to a Messerschmitt 109 which was also coming down in a perfect tail spin and on fire. This aircraft came down in a hedge by a footpath about 1000 yards to the North of the Gun Inn, near Little Chalvedon Hall. I looked back just in time to see the British aircraft crash down nearby.
As soon as I finished work, I was able to visit the crash site of the aircraft North of Courtaulds Road which I now understand was a Hurricane. The Hurricane had been badly damaged on hitting the ground and I was not able to get too close by the time I visited the site. Just after, I was on my way home to Rectory Road, Pitsea. I had just turned into Rectory Road from Burnt Mills Road. I had reached St Leonards Avenue about 100 yards down Rectory Road. I saw a large number of German bombers escorted by fighters coming from the direction of Southend. As they came overhead they turned South towards Pitsea Church and bombed Thameshaven Oil Storage tanks.
After I had been home, I visited the wreck of the Messerschmitt 109. As I approached I could still hear ammunition exploding. When I arrived at the site of the wreck, firemen were damping down the smouldering remains. I looked in a Westerly direction and could see two or three people about 60 yards away, looking down. I went over and on the ground there was a slight impression in the short grass. The pilot had hit the ground spread eagled. The outline of the body, outstretched arms, legs and head could clearly be seen. The body had bounced as the contents of the skull lay two or three feet away and we covered it with soil. As I returned home, columns of smoke could clearly be seen drifting towards Southend from Thameshaven.
The only other parachute I heard about, I was told Roman candled near Wickford Drive, close to Bedwell's farm. I was told at the time that this was German. I have spoken to someone whose Bungalow faced Bedwell's farm and although they were only five or six years old at the time they are of the opinion there may have been a marker of some kind.
Account of Mr. Sam Armfield
I was just twelve years old when the war started, so I would have been nearly thirteen at the time of the first daylight raids. We were living at The Old Cricketers, Nevendon at the time. I remember watching hundreds of German aircraft following the Thames, the noise of the AA and machine guns, aircraft diving in flames and thinking "this just cannot be true, I have read and read about it and now I am watching it happen all around me". Our parents marriage had broken up and mother was caring for us alone, she was at work all day, so my sister and I were left to take care of ourselves. A lot of the time we were scared out of our wits, but the excitement of searching the fields for things that had fallen from the sky more than made up for it. We never reported our finds to anyone, the less the grown-ups knew the better. I kept a rough diary of the raids; if only I had bothered to record every detail it would be of such interest now.
I remember 'our' Spitfire because my childhood friends and I played in it for several days without anyone caring. We even took our bicycle spanners over there in an attempt to get souvenirs. I remember trying to tear out the joy stick with the firing button in it but it wouldn't budge. We also had a go at trying to get one of the machine guns out of the wings. We 'found' the Spitfire in scrubland known as 'The Police Bushes' as they were on the opposite side of the Arterial road to the Police Station at Nevendon, near Noke Wood. We were on our way through the bushes to fish in a nearby pond. We found the Spitfire lying on the surface virtually intact, except that the engine and propeller were missing. The Spitfire obviously couldn't be seen from the main road, otherwise soldiers or Home Guard would have been guarding the aircraft. I don't recall any signs of bullet or cannon holes and no blood or anything in the cockpit - we would have looked for that sort of thing. The tailwheel was clear of the ground and we all commented on what a good wheelbarrow wheel it would make. None of us could remove it. We all took turns to climb in the cockpit and pretend to fly it, but we were all reluctant to press the gun firing button on the control column. We were able to remove the gun inspection covers and discovered that all the ammunition had been exhausted and the webbing belts were slightly frayed from passing through the guns. We would rush home from school each day to play with our Spitfire and to try and remove souvenirs, until one day we arrived and the plane had been removed.
At the same time we learned of an engine that had fallen near Great Wasketts Farm. The engine was being guarded by the authorities, although it had obviously been shattered by the impact. Small pieces were laying nearby and we were able to make off with a few.
Percy Calcott, who lived at the Cricketers Pub on the arterial road, saw the dead pilot come down and reputedly ran all the way to the scene with his shotgun, in case he was a German. The body left quite an impression in the clay and this was visible for up to a year after the event. Rumour had it that the body fell without a head and everyone speculated as to where it would turn up. We always thought that the pilot was from 'our' Spitfire.
Sam's Diary 5th September 1940
Warning at 9.00 AM about 30 German planes came over. Warning at 5.30 PM German planes bombed Thameshaven Oil Works. Fire lasted 8 hours.
Sam's listing of crashed British Aircraft from his diary
Hurricane 1: Caught on fire while flying over with five other Hurricanes crashed beside Basildon Rectory.
Spitfire 1: Run out of petrol. Made belly landing in field in Honey Pot Lane.
Spitfire 1: Collided with another Spitfire while chasing a Dornier 17, crashed in front of Nevendon Police Station.
Spitfire 1: Collided with above Spitfire, crashed in Wilson's Field beside Nevendon Church.
Spitfire VB: (Clipped wing) run out of petrol, made belly landing in McCheynes field beside Nevendon Police Station. (Now site of new Sainsbury Store.)
Spitfire 1: Caught in heavy wind while flying over at night to see if black-outs were correct. Crashed at back of Basildon Church.
Spitfire VB: (Clipped wing) run out of petrol, made belly landing in Gardiners Lane, in front of Bury Farm Lane.
Account of Mrs. Brenda Toomer
Brenda went around with a group of older boys including Sam Armfield, her brother, and Ron Elmy. When they encountered the Spitfire laying in the Police Station Bushes, all the boys rushed over to the aircraft and attempted to take the 'best bits'. However, Brenda remembers that the cockpit hood was actually closed when they found the aircraft and they had trouble releasing the catch. She recalls that the port wing was severed and she found this on the other side of the bushes approximately eight feet away. The wing had separated at the last inboard gun position and Brenda remembers that the Browning machine gun was exposed. She used the small screwdriver from her sowing kit to take off the ammunition feed chute, which was loose. The other boys were jealous of her find, but then tried, unsuccessfully, to remove the gun itself. Unfortunately, the ammunition feed chute was given away in recent years.
Brenda was adamant that the headless, airman's body they knew off was on the Northern side of the A127 arterial road and had left a deep impression in the clay. She recalls that others spoke of a body found outside the Police Station houses on the Southern side of the A127 arterial road which left no impression in the ground. She had always thought that there must have been two bodies and that the one on the Northern side of the road, which was closer to Great Wasketts farm, was that from the Spitfire she and her friends had found.
Brenda also recalled a farmer, Mr Lambert, who was high up in the ARP Organisation who had his Headquarters in the cellar under his farm in Burnt Mills Road. She also spoke of an elderly gentleman, named Harry, who recalled a pilot landing by parachute near Nevendon cursing that he had been 'shot down by his own side,' following the air battle on the afternoon of 5th September 1940.
Account of Mr. and Mrs. Reg King
Mrs King lived at 'Melrose', in Nevendon Road during the war. Her mother didn't let her go to school during the Battle of Britain as she feared for her safety and wanted her near. Her neighbours, Mrs Ethel Smith and Mr Walter Smith, living at 'Westcroft', found the seat from the Spitfire which disintegrated over the land around their house. The seat was found in a field adjoining Broomfield's Farm and had been used in their household for many later years with the addition of wooden legs. Mr King recalled that the pieces of the Spitfire were spread over a large area and were picked up by many locals. Both Mr & Mrs King were aware of the body which fell by the side of the arterial road and the rumours which persisted regarding the absence of the pilots head.
Account of Mr H. D. Osborne
An Me 109 crashed in the field beside Pitsea Bull. There was an indentation in the very hard ground of the spread eagled pilots body. The older boys I was with got me to lie down in the indentation to see how tall the pilot was.