April 1 1941.  
Sorties were flown all that day by the 1st Staffel from its base at Tours; the target was a convoy in St George's Channel.   Just after 1500hr three more Heinkels went out: IG+HH leading, IG+CH on left and IG+LH took right hand side position. They located part of the convoy off Pembroke, and prepared for attack. IG+LH, piloted by Ofw Ernst Lorra, scored on motor tanker "San Conrado". AA fire from destroyer escort badly wounded navigator, Lt Heintz Grau, in the arm.
    No 316 Sqd was based at Pembrey in South Wales and equipped with Hurricane Mk I. It was a busy day for the squadron, with 13 patrols carried out, each one consisting of two planes. Total time flown was 44hr 20min. F/O A. Gabszewicz flew 3 patrols that day in Hurricane V7000, on each occasion with a different #2. His last patrol of the day took of at 1705hr. His #2 was P/O B.Anders in V6635, and they were instructed to patrol at 1500ft from Worms Head to Linney Head. An hour later they arrived over Linney Head and received a message that bandits were in the area to the south, attacking part of the convoy. F/O Gabszewicz found the ships after some minutes and noted that one of them was burning. Turning slightly, he saw three Heinkels below him. His height was 1200ft and the cloud base was 4000ft over the sea and 150ft over the land. He called Tally Ho and attacked (5 times), selecting IG+LH. 
    Effect was devastating. The starboard engine caught fire and the hydraulics were shot away, which caused the starboard u/c to drop. He also noted hits to the starboard frame of the cockpit, and the engine cowlings were shot away, disintegrating asthey were blown away.
    The Heinkel pilot turned his damaged a/c and headed for the Welsh coast, dropping to 300ft and to safety of the clouds. Gabszewicz estimated that the probable crash site would be within a 3 mile radius of Pembroke or Milford Haven. He decided not to pursue the Heinkel because of low cloud over land and the barrage balloons in the area. Furthermore the convoy would be unprotected from the air.
    P/O Anders had followed Gabszewicz into attack, firing from line astern. He then turned and made his second attack from the port side. During this attack he noticed the other two He 111's gaining altitude so that their lower gunners could protect the damaged a/c. After a steep left-hand climbing turn firing at the German a/c, once again he turned his attention to IG+LH and fired 2sec burst just as it entered the clouds and disappeared. He then returned to the convoy and stayed with it until the end of the patrol. Both pilots landed at Pembrey at 1850hr.

F/O Sawicz and F/O Gabszewicz durign early days of No. 316 sqdn.

   Ofw Lorra reached the safety of the cloud and assessed the situation. Lt Grau was wounded and bleeding heavily from his arm, but at least the fire in the engine was extinguished by the remote controlled extinguisher. However, the u/c leg was creating such a drag that going back to France was out of the question. The sole option for the crew was to make for neutral Irland. At 1905 the lookout post on the South Wexford coast observed the stricken Heinkel moving west and overland. They crash-landed uphill in a field at Ballyristeen in County Waterford. Attempts to destroy the aircraft failed. Crew ended up in Curragh Internment Camp. Lt Grau was repatriated via Sweden in 1943.

 Heinkel 111 H-5  from KG 27  IG+LH  (c/n 3635). Source: "Aeroplane Monthly" June 1988.

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