This cache is placed to commemorate a little known piece of local history that occurred on the night of the 6th December 1917 when a Gotha Bomber crashed on the golf course whilst returning from a raid over London.
A Brief History of the Airfield.
The airfield at Rochford was established by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during World War I. It was the largest flying ground in Essex, with the greatest number of units. In May 1915 the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) took over, until 4 June 1916, when it became RFC Rochford. It was designated as night fighter station and many sorties were flown against Zeppelin airships & Gotha bombers. In 1920, the airfield was closed and reverted to farmland but in 1939, the Air Ministry requisitioned the airfield and it was known as RAF Rochford during World War II. A more detailed history of the airport can be found here.
The Gotha Heavy Bomber.
The Gotha G.V was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. Designed for long range service, the G V series was used principally as night bombers.
Specifications
Crew: 3
Length: 12.42 m (40 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 23.70 m (77 ft 9 in)
Height: 4.5 m (14 ft)
Wing area: 89.5 m² (963.6 ft²)
Empty weight: 2,739 kg (6,039 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 3,967 kg (8,745 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Mercedes D.IVa inline engine, 260 hp (191 kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph)
Range: 840 km (522 miles)
Service ceiling: 6,500 m (21,325 ft)
Armament
2 or 3 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine guns
Crash of Gotha GV 906/16
During the early hours of 6th December 1917, Gotha GV 906/16 crewed by Gemeiner J. Rzechtalski as the pilot, Lt. RWO Wessels who was the observer and Vizefeldwebel OEA Jakobs as the gunner, were returning from a raid over London that had killed 3 people and injured 15 others, when they were been hit by anti-aircraft fire at 04.20 hours over Canvey island, a burst which destroyed the port propeller after which the crew set course to Rochford aerodrome. Fortunately a full account of the incident is given by Cecil Day Lewis (Father of the film star Daniel) who was stationed at Rochford at the time:
“The Gotha had seen the flares of the aerodrome and came in to land, firing a Very (signaling) light (which happened by chance to be the correct colour on this night). However, not knowing the aerodrome, the pilot overan, hit a tree and crashed to a halt on the adjacent golf course. The mechanics rushed to the scene, thinking it was a British machine, only to find the German crew, quite unharmed, climbing out of the wreckage. There were taken prisoners.
Some other officers from the aerodrome came to the scene to remove the bombs together with a Very Light pistol. The machine was a wreck, the tanks had burst, and petrol had flooded the ground around. The equipment officer had taken the Very Light pistol and put it into his pocket. As he walked away, he pulled the gun out of his pocket to show a colleague, the trigger caught on his pocket flap, and the pistol went off. The white-hot magnesium flare bounced along the ground towards the wreck, reached thepetrol soaked ground, sending the whole lot up in flames”
Excerpt from “Sagittarius Raising”.
This would have been a very valuable prize for the authorities who would have hoped to have learnt details of the Gotha’s armaments etc. however, as can be seen from the pictures below taken on the following day, there was not much left.
The best way to find this cache from the parking location is to follow public footpath 16 south to the boundary of the churchyard, where you’ll find a track that runs east across the golf course which is a public footpath.
I hope you enjoy finding this cache, any problems please PM me.
Happy Caching.
John.