On the morning of 27 November 1942 Charles Gilbert in Tank Engine No.2365 was travelling towards Lydd at a sedate pace of 25mph when Heinz Bierwirth banked his aircraft and dived towards it.
Shells and bullets poured into the engine, steam shot into the footplate area, badly scalding the fireman. The pressure blew the locomotive boiler apart, it tore away the chimney, dome and safety valves.
A cannon shell from the ‘plane burst the D3’s boiler just at the precise moment the boiler exploded Heinz Bierman’s aircraft was passing overhead 20 feet above. The plane crashed, the pilot was killed whilst the train and driver survived! The explosion was so powerful the dome landed in a field 100 metres away and a portion of the top rim of the chimney almost a quarter of a mile.
Tank Engine No.2365 got it’s revenge on the Focke Wulf for the terrible damage it had suffered.
The dome landed in a field 100 metres away. it propelled a portion of the top rim of the chimney almost a quarter of a mile.
An eyewitness saw the pilot, still in his seat, fall into a nearby field. Heinz Bierwirth was buried with military honours at Hawkinge Cemetery A local newspaper reported that it was the New Romney line’s most famous day when a train brought down an enemy fighter!
Found on http://ryesown.co.uk/german-bomber/
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