THE remains of a World War II German airman, shot down over Fernhurst 62 years ago, are to be repatriated to his home country. The news follows an inquest last week into the death of Gunner Franz Huske, after his plane, a Dornier Do 217E-4 belonging to the Luftwaffe, was excavated from a site in Fernhurst in June this year. Having laid untouched for more than half a century on private land and treated as a war grave, a licence was granted by the Ministry of Defence, through the Royal Air Force, and the excavation of the aircraft took place at Reeks Wood last summer. It had followed years of unlawful digs by treasure hunters, pilfering what they could find from the wooded site, and latterly was also the focus of attention from aviation archaeologists. A two-day dig led by aviator archaeologist and archivist, Keith Arnold, from Southern Counties Aviation Research, based at Tangmere Aviation Museum at Chichester, located the plane more than 30 feet below the surface of the boggy woodland clay. Gunner Huske's body was found, still in his uniform in the bomb bay of his plane. The inquest heard how the aircraft, which had taken off with five others from Gilze-Rijen, near Beda in Holland, was on a mission to bomb Southampton docks. Each aircraft carried two 500 kg and eight 50 kg bombs. On Friday of last week in Chichester, West Sussex Coroner's officer Chris Clinch read Mr Arnold's comprehensive report of the circumstances surrounding the failed bombing mission and the 21-year-old flight engineer's death, on March 8, 1943. Mr Clinch told the inquest that the German planes had been spotted by radar as they set a course for Le Havre, in France, flying at 1,300 feet and keeping well inland of the French coast, to avoid RAF detection. The crew, it was believed, said Mr Clinch, intended to make landfall at Selsey Bill, curve round north of Portsmouth to Southampton and make their bombing run over Southampton before escaping. But it is thought that by taking evasive action to ensure they weren't spotted, the crew, by then probably lost, found themselves over Midhurst. At a height of around 11,000 feet they were intercepted by RAF Bristol Beaufighters in a surprise attack The Dornier's starboard, engine and fuel tanks, said Mr Clinch, were set on fire and the pilot and his observer managed to bale out successfully, before being captured as prisoners of war. "The radio operator also managed to bale out of the stricken bomber at the last moment but tragically left his parachute behind and fell to his death quite near to the crash site," said Mr Clinch. The radio operator was buried in Chichester Cemetery. The inquest heard that the gunner from Ammendorf, Halle, near Leipzig in eastern Germany, appeared to have made no attempt to bale out and was listed as "missing in action". His father, thought to be his only relative, died in 1967 in Halle. "The Dornier crashed at about 1-24 am on March 8, 1943, in Fernhurst. It dived to the ground vertically and most of the wreckage was buried and the rest badly burned," said Mr Clinch. A post-mortem examination was carried out on the remains of Franz Huske at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, but proved to be inconclusive. The pathologist, Dr Greg Monteith, gave the cause of death in his opinion as "unascertainable". The coroner, Roger Stone, concluded that Franz Huske had died as a result of being shot down by the RAF. Speaking after the inquest, Mr Arnold said that the intention was to piece together what was left of the aircraft and put it on display at the museum within the next couple of years. Greg Fisher, on whose land the excavation took place, told The Herald: "I am glad that his remains are going back to Germany." Mr Fisher wanted to put an end to the pilfering which had taken place on the site over the past eight years since he had moved into the village.
