World War II Database

1.  David Stubblebine says:
19 Nov 2019 12:00:50 PM

Two German bombers were shot down three days earlier during an attack on the Forth Bridge and the nearby Rosyth piers. These were the first German bombers shot down over Britain during WWII and both crashed into the water in the Firth of Forth. The bomber in this photo was shot down a few miles south of the Firth of Forth and photos of it were widely publicized in British newspapers. This gave rise to this photo being mistakenly captioned as the first bomber shot down over Britain after taking part in the attack on the Forth Bridge. Some captions were careful to say this was the first bomber shot down on British soil, which was technically true since the earlier two missed the soil and hit the water. Being the first to be shot down on land and to be in reasonably good condition, this was the first He 111 to be captured and to be examined by the British. So well known were the photos of this bomber that it earned the nickname “Humbie Heinkel.”