Following on from the first house to be hit in Swansea during the Second World War and keeping in the skies, this article will be about the German pilot sabotaging a French plane, Dewoitine D520 The piece with have accounts from people who were there at the time.
The date is 10th July 1940
Sharon James told me a family story involving her grandfather, Thomas Davies of Fleet Street, known as ‘The Fish’ who had the rights to the fishing nets of Swansea. ‘My mother, Silvia and her aunt, Olive were pulling in the nets with Tom who had come home for a dinner break from the dock. When a plane came over [The Slip] circled and shot at the docks. They fell on the beach in fright and pulled themselves up the beach to safety. When Thomas returned to work, two of his best friends were among the 12 that had been killed in the attack. If he hadn’t gone back home, Tom could have been killed’
‘Dinner time, 10th July 1940’ Mr Arthur Grist remembers ‘I was running home from school, when I noticed a plane circling over Castle Graig, Plasmarl. It was silver and glistening in the sunshine. The siren had not sounded so I thought it was a friendly plane. Suddenly it descended over the docks area and began machine gunning. It was reported that 12 dock workers were killed before it left. Later, someone living in Port Tennant said it had French markings on the body of the plane. A Spitfire based in Pembrey gave chase and shot it down before it reached the French coast. The pilot was reportedly killed.’
10th July 1940 is a notable day as it marked the beginning of the Battle of Britain. The RAF, who recorded the weather for that day, stated it was raining – some things never change! The RAF also reported that there were 30 casualties at Swansea on this day. I made a further enquiry with the Registrar of Cemeteries and Crematorium, as to where the 12 men were buried. Sidney George Beynon is buried at Cwmgelli Cemetery. Charles Harold Billington, Percy Gwyne Crocker, William John Quinn and Thomas Charles Stiens are all buried at Danygraig Cemetery, St.
Thomas William Arthur Dennis, David Evans, Richard John Nichols, David John Phillips, John Phillips, Henry James Rees and Aeron Stock – their resting places couldn’t be found within the council municipal cemeteries. I contacted the German equivalent of the CWGC and it will take them several months to find the identity of the German pilot. Watch this space.
Sadly I didn't get a response from the German CWGC
This blog is an extract from the article that I wrote for The Bay, May 2016