A German Plane comes down near St Johnston and Carrigans!
I interviewed Phonsie Brown from Ard Baithin, August 2010 (then 79) and May 2012. I was picking his brains about the time a German one man plane came down between St Johnston and Carrigans during World War Two.
There is a lane called Joyce Moores Lane that goes from the St Johnston and Carrigans road down to the Foyle. Joyce Moore was a man who lived there.
One day during wartime, two men, Paddy Brown and Paddy Ross, were down there ferreting. Suddenly they heard an engine running and looked up at the sky. It was a small German one man plane. It crashed in Joyce Moore's field. The occupant was trapped inside. The men rushed to his assistance knowing there was a danger of fire or even an explosion. They had bars to use for ferreting. They wielded these bars to break the cockpit and helped the occupant out. The guards were sent for and duly arrived. And the Irish Army came as well.
They were satisfied that the plane carried no bombs.
The plane and the occupant were taken to Baldoyle in Dublin.
The pilot was thought to have been a spy who got lost and he didn't know where he was. The unfortunate pilot had good enough English to convey the sentiment, "I've landed in Hell!"