Do-17 - Mer om historien bak nedskytningen

Last flight of the 'Flying Pencil': How Dornier bomber recovered from sea bed off Kent coast was shot down during Battle of Britain forcing crew to land belly-up on sandbanks

It was recovered yesterday after 70 years lying on the bottom of the English Channel, but the German Dornier 17 rescued from its watery grave was originally shot down at the height of the Battle of Britain.

The aircraft, which historians believe is the only remaining example of the 'flying pencil', was raised from the sea bed in the biggest salvage operation of its kind in British waters.

But the bomber was originally part of a large enemy formation which was intercepted by RAF fighter aircraft on August 26, 1940, as they attempted to attack airfields in Essex.

The plane was forced to make a belly-up emergency landing on the Goodwin Sands, in Kent, at low tide following a firefight in the skies above which left crew wounded and both engines damaged.

Attempting a wheels-up landing, Feldwebel (Flt Sgt) Willi Effmert managed to touch down safely and the aircraft sank inverted.

While Effmert and his observer were captured the other crewmen died and their bodies were later washed ashore.

A notable aspect of the battle was the enormous bravery of the RAF Boulton Paul Defiant fighter pilots, who took on the Dornier 17 in outdated planes which had already suffered many losses in the early stages of the Battle of Britain.

The two-seater planes, which had space for a rear gunner, were considered obsolete by the time the Battle of Britain was in full swing and the type was eventually withdrawn from front-line fighter duties to be converted to a night fighter role and later a drone tug.

The Do 17 was one of the principal bombers used by the Luftwaffe in the early years of the war, including during the Blitz.

It was part of a combined formation of Dorniers sent to bomb Debden and Hornchurch airfields before the battle in August 1940.

It is believed seven aircraft started to bomb an aerodrome, thought to be Debden, causing some damage. However, accounts of the aircraft's loss vary between sources.

According to the original PoW Interrogation Report, the Do 17 became separated from the rest of the formation while flying above clouds before reaching its target.

It was then attacked by fighters, believed to be one of the recently arrived RAF Hornchurch, Essex-based Boulton Paul Defiants of No.264 Squadron RAF led by Flt Lt Banham.

The attack is thought to have hit both engines and the cockpit. Reports suggests the Defiants brought down between one and six Dorniers in the fight, while losing three of their number.

Of the four crew of the Do 17, two became Prisoners-of-War in Canada - wounded Pilot Feldwebel Willi Effmert and Bomb Aimer Uffz Hermann Ritzel - and two were killed - 27-year old Wireless Operator Unteroffizier Helmut Reinhardt and 21-year old Bomb aimer Gefreiter Heinz Huhn.

Their bodies were recovered later and buried in Holland and the UK, in the Cannock Chase German cemetery, respectively.

The recovery of the aircraft from the seabed is a £600,000 project by the RAF Museum in North London. Its team were able to raise the aircraft by placing metal cables around the strongest part of the frame and lifting it whole.

Experts at the museum say the plane, was found on Goodwin Sands by divers in 2008, is in 'remarkable condition', particularly considering the events surrounding its downfall and the effects of spending so much time under water.

Peter Dye, of the RAF Museum, said: 'The discovery and recovery of the Dornier is of national and international importance. The aircraft is a unique and unprecedented survivor from the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

'It will provide an evocative and moving exhibit that will allow the museum to present the wider story of the Battle of Britain and highlight the sacrifices made by the young men of both air forces. It is a project that has reconciliation and remembrance at its heart.'

Apart from being covered with barnacles and teeming with marine life, the Dornier is largely intact. The undercarriage tyres remain inflated although the propellers were damaged when the aircraft crashed.

Sonar scans by the RAF Museum, Wessex Archaeology and the Port of London Authority confirmed its identity.

The recovery was backed by a National Heritage Memorial Fund grant of £345,000.

A two-year restoration will take place at the RAF Museum's site in Cosford, Shropshire, and it will later go on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, North London.

The plane will eventually be restored and go on display as an 'evocative and moving' reminder of the young men of both sides who lost their lives in the battle for air supremacy in 1940.