He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Can anyone trace a He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight, as I have a report that an aircraft, said to be an He 111 was shot down by LAA fire on this date. Apparently bits fell off the aircraft when it flew over Christchurch at 14.30 hrs so the gunners knew it had been hit. However they were later told that the crew bailed out over the IOW (or in the sea nearby) and were credited with the kill.

But would a lone He 111 be flying around in daylight at this stage in the war or perhaps it flew over land by accident on it's way home.

It there a record of Luftwaffe POWs to check to see who was made a POW that day?

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Larry,

The closest I have is:

He 111H-6, WNr.7492, Heitmeyer, Uffz. Horst (FF), 7./KG 53, A1+CR (weiße C), 9-Aug-1942, KIA with crew due to Flak., Lfl.3/Kanal, Reference: Gen.Qu.6.Abt. (mfm #6)-Vol.10; The Blitz, Then & Now, III, p.165; location: Worthing, crew: B Gefr. Günther Grüssner, Bf Ogefr. Wolf Richter, Bm Ogefr. Ferdinand Dolezal & Bs Gefr. Albin Wiedmann

I have not investigated the possibility that it was a Ju 88A, however (aircraft recognition being what it is / was)

GRM

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

A1+CR crashed into a house in Lyndhurst Rd Worthing after being hit by AA. Examination of wreckage showed it was equipped with a glider towing device, and it was reported as dropping its HE and IB bombload before crashing. The house it crashed into was being used to billet men of the 3rd. Anti Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery and three soldiers in the house were killed. Mission bombing raid to Birmingham.

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

It was definately on 8th August 1942 at 14.30 hrs in daylight that the LAA gunners shot at the aircraft - though I have to agree that the type of aircraft could have been something other than an He 111.

The crew members were said to have bailed out and been captured but it's possible that the pilot and another crew member stayed on board and flew on back to base. Such things happened in the RAF. And of course the POW's would also believe their aircraft was lost, otherwise they would not have bailed out themselves, thus allowing the Army to claim a 'kill'.

Incidentally bombs were dropped on New Milton that day, as 2 were UXB's.

Does anyone have details of an He 111 that returned with LAA damage that afternoon?

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

A He 111 by itself in daylight in 1942 would have been a very risky mission

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Dear Chris,

I wonder if the aircraft was from a Maritime unit and did not intend to stray over land but did so due to bad weather. I know that there was a fair bit of cloud that day.

Could the aircraft have been an He 111 from III/KG26 as I know the unit was active in this area at the time.

Perhaps the aircraft was from a Reconnaissance unit, though I'm not sure if the He 111 was used for such missions.

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

No maritime unit operated the He 111 operationally at this time;III/KG 26 did not operate over land or the Channel; only A few weather recce units operated the He 111 but never in the Channel

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Dear Chris,

In Luftwaffe Aerial Torpedo Aircraft and Operations in WW2 by Harold Thiele - Hikoki Publications I came across this entry on Page 42:

3/4 August 1942 - ENGLISH CHANNEL

The III./KG 26 mounted its first torpedo operation from Rennes when 11 aircraft attacked a small convoy to the south-west of the Scilly Isles. The crews claimed to have sunk or damaged six ships totalling 20,000 GRT and on 4 August the OKW reported that three merchant ships had been hit. In fact, the British freighter El Ciervo (5,800 GR1) was struck by a torpedo about 13 km off Start Point, but the ship did not sink and it is not clear whether this was due to the same Luftwaffe action. All German aircraft returned to base and III./KG 26 transferred to Banak soon afterwards.

Incidentally Start Point if they mean the one near the Isle of Wight is not too far from Christchurch. So could this unit be a contender?

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Flying Ju 88s not He 111 I believe? I reiterate they did not operate over this part of the Channel & even then by night

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Obviously the LAA gunners could be wrong about the type of German aircraft but with UXB's in the area something must have dropped them though these could have been from the previous night.

However this begs the question - just what kind of air activity was there by the Luftwaffe in daylight over the UK in Aug 1942? None it would seem not even a Recce flight!

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

The Home Office Key Points reports w/e 0900hrs 12-8-1942 show attacks by day :-

5th - Yeovil attacked slight damage to Westland Aircraft Ltd

6th - Truro lightly attacked

7th - Bodmin - some damage reported

8th - Slough attacked without effect, other incidents in Hampshire, Dorset Essex and Northumberland (KG2 book shows a Do217 on an early morning Recon. but no losses )

11th - Deal attacked considerable damage to railway station and slight damage to railway at Salisbury.

'Luftwaffe Fighter Bombers over Britain' by Chris Goss details some of these attacks.

KG54 lost a Ju88 on the 8th targeted to Southend on Sea but this is likely to have fallen to 29 Sqd. at 2240hrs. A Me210 of 16/KG6 is reported as fallen to Flak off the East Coast on the 9th both crewmen missing. The Luft. QM's returns does not offer a ready loss to link to the claim by AA ( unless there is a late entry for an aircraft that returned damaged) and as far as I know no POW's taken to indicate a loss on the 8th.

The III/KG53 lost severel He111's in night attacks against the UK from 29th July to 9th.August. Is there a chance one of their aircraft was on a bad-weather daylight attack on the 8th (see KG53 book page 203), was engaged by AA but got back safe.

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

Thanks very much Brian for the additional info. I'm working on the basis that the E/A was most likely damaged.

Now where would I check if any Luftwaffe personnel had been taken prisoner on 8th August 1942 in the UK?

Re: He 111 lost 8th August 1942 near Isle of Wight
 

If any aircrew had been taken POW, this would have been noted either in the German Quartermaster General's Returns, Namentliche Verlustemeldung or RAF 'K' Reports. I believe that if anyone had been taken POW, this would have been passed to you already. If an aircraft was damaged, it should have been noted in the Returns; I believe that none were recorded. Another case of over-zealous claiming? I wonder if there was the likelihood of friendly fire?