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This is a story that my mother related to me of an incident, which took place while she and my dad, who had got married in April 1941, were living in a country cottage near RAF Debden, where he was stationed. Sometime later that year, news leaked out from the camp that a GERMAN aircraft had landed the night before on the airfield! It had been guided down by signalling lights. The pilot and co-pilot got out of the plane and asked the signaller (in German) "What part of France is this?" Somehow the crew had got lost over the sea and thought they had made it across the channel. The signaller who obviously understood what they had said, trained his lights on the plane and there were the German markings! Suddenly the enemy airmen realised their big mistake, climbed quickly back into their aircraft and took off, well before any help could be summoned to apprehend them. To say the least, this was an embarassing incident for all involved, both British and German... My mother said she thought she had heard a foreign sounding plane that night, but assumed it was one of the European free forces serving with the RAF out on a mission.
I have often wondered if this was an isolated occurence or if other German aircrew lost their way, landed on British soil, and managed to escape. If they had got caught, it would have been an even bigger mistake!

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