Enemy’s latest hit-tec plane captured in Pembrey!

That’s the headline you might have read on this day (23rd June) back in 1942 when the Nazi’s latest fighter, the Focke-Wulf 190A was captured in RAF Pembrey!

The Focke-Wulf 190A had only been seen by the RAF over France and had proved a better fighter than the Spitfires and Hurricanes.

What the RAF needed to do was to capture one and analyse it. Luckily, one popped right out of the sky!

This story concerns Oberleutnant Arnim Faber, Adjutant of III fighter Gruppe of JG2. He was out flying and had just battled some Spitfires over the south coast of Britain.

Becoming disorientated due to the ‘dog fight’, he mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel. Too make matters worse, he was short on fuel and landed at what he thought was a Luftwaffe airfield in France.

However, it was RAF Pembrey!

The stunned air traffic controller watched as Faber’s aircraft taxied in. Coming to his senses, he grabbed the only weapon he had, a flare gun, ran from the control tower, jumped on Faber’s wing and took him prisoner!

As Faber was piloting the latest enemy fighter, he wasn’t very happy that he had been captured without a fight, had provided his enemy with an intact plane and was facing a prisoner of war camp!

RAF Pembrey contacted Fighter Command who in no time dispatched pilots and engineers to photograph and return the aircraft to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.

The RAF finally had an FW 190!

RAF Pembrey, brief WW2 history

In June 1940, Fighter Command was using Pembrey as a base for the numerous fighter squadrons caught up in ‘The Battle of Britain’. During this period Pembrey gained honours. It is believed that 25 official kills were accredited to aircraft flown out of Pembrey during the war years.

Between 1941 and 1945 Pembrey was host to the RAF’s Air Gunnery School, after which its activities relaxed a little and it became an air crew holding unit for war weary crews being demobbed.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson of the Dambusters fame was stationed there for a period.

Pembrey has been host to many Squadrons and aircraft types, the following were based there during WW2:

• Spitfires
• Hurricanes
• Beaufighters
• Bolton Paul Defiants
• Vampires, Tempest, Mosquito, Meteors and Hunters

It is a site of one of only five Dome Trainer Buildings (for training Anti Aircraft gunners) still existing in the UK.