109

In july 1997 along with my friend D maude , we had driven a few miles from home & were near cock crowing stone above meltham in the peak district national park .
As ornohologists we had intended to study larger birds of prey such as red kite & buzzard . we walked a short distance from the vehical & into some barron peat boggy area which overlooks a small lake we call the blue lagoon . it was a clear sunny day & we made a number of interesting bird sightings . Returning to the van we heard the throaty rumbling of an aircraft . I was gobsmacked as it appeared from the haze & very low it was a bf 109 in a tattered condition & waggling as if the pilot were struggling to control it . It was so low we could clearly see where paint was chipped off , it was a desert camo kind of lion/fawn colour , I particularly noticed the struts which supported the tailplane , so as an aviation buff I deduced it was an emil E (the later models dispensed with the struts) . As it roared above I excitedly jumped up & down . my friend said its a fucking Messerschmitt . He was right it was . I had used the battery on my camcorder & was kicking myself swearing as it simply vanished . It couldnt have been more than 100 feet away . the first incling it was a ghost plane came immediately thereafter it had roared towards us but became silent as it went directly overhead . As it had wiggled past we had both seen the pilot so near that we could discern the tint of the goggles . my friend said something which still makes me shiver "he had no face"
We immediately went to the local (huddersfield) library . After hours of reading the
only relevant information I could find was that during the so called baedecker raids (on historic citys like York & Chester the luftwaffe had used Blackmoor foot reservoir as a landmark to form up . although a couple of miles away it was plainly visible from the spot .
Remarkably that part of the peak district has been the sight of hundreds of actual plane crashes , many during the war , many more recent .

bf 109
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The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. The Bf 109 was produced in greater quantities than any other fighter aircraft in history, with 30,573 units built alone during 1939-1945. Fighter production totalled 47% of all German aircraft production, and the Bf 109 accounted for 57% of all fighter types produced .

The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Jagdwaffe for the duration of World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 starting in 1941. The Bf 109 scored more aircraft kills in World War II than any other aircraft. At various times it served as an air superiority fighter, an escort fighter, an interceptor, a ground-attack aircraft and a reconnaissance aircraft. Although the Bf 109 had weaknesses, including a short range, and especially a sometimes difficult to handle narrow, outward-retracting undercarriage, it stayed competitive with Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.