The Mystery Schoolboy and the Ju88

PublishedFebruary 19, 2026

Junkers Ju 88A-5
Werknummern (serial): 6245
8./KG 1
Crew: Uffz Heinz Ewald (killed)
Fw Erich Wels (killed)
Uffz Werner Lenhardt (killed)
Uffz Heinz Prochnow (killed)
Date: Night of 1st/2nd April 1941
Place: Brown Clee Hill (“The Wicket”), Shropshire

**A mistake and a mysterious, ‘enigmatic’ schoolboy — now solved**!

The Then and Now publications, long regarded as the benchmark of Blitz and Battle of Britain aviation archaeology research, are being re-examined.

An entry in Blitz for the night of 1st/2nd April 1941 records the loss of an 8./KG 1 Junkers 88A-5, Werknummer 6245, which flew into the slopes of Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire. An accompanying photograph of smashed wreckage and appreciative bobbies was located and published by a local researcher.

It came as a considerable surprise when a Shropshire newspaper later printed photographs of an entirely different — but very obviously Luftwaffe — crash, also labelled as Clee Hill. The images had been found in an album donated to a Shropshire museum, but have since been lost. Each photograph featured an enigmatic schoolboy standing beside the wreckage.

Closer examination showed that the newly discovered photographs fit far better with the crash site at “The Wicket” on Brown Clee Hill, and in fact depicted the hill’s second wartime casualty. The first was Blenheim I K7053, lost on 30 June 1937 — the aircraft that had originally been misidentified in the published image.

**Often quoted as the 1941 Ju88 crash, this is in fact the remains of a Blenheim which came down nearby in 1937**

For some time, the identity of the boy remained a mystery.

Since this was first posted a year ago, a newly published book on Clee Hill losses has resolved the question. The lad in the photographs was Roger Roden of Bridgnorth, near Brown Clee. His father, Walter Roden, was a keen photographer, grocer and, importantly, a Special Constable. Roger’s grandson later contacted the Shropshire Star, finally putting a name to the face in the photographs.

**A mystery solved! Roger Roden at the crash site**

The Ju 88 crash site was investigated in 1978, and tangible remains were recovered. That investigation also led to the erection of a memorial to the 23 Allied and German airmen lost on Brown Clee.

**Memorial to the 23 Allied and German airmen killed on Brown Clee Hill**

Photographs taken during the excavation show the smashed remains of 6245 scattered across the slopes of Brown Clee Hill, offering a stark idea of the aircraft’s final moments.