Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hello,

We're recently added to the EoE loss DB the following entry:

"9 June 1940 Western Front: Stabsschwarm II./KG54 Heinkel He111P (2901). Returned to Cologne-Butzweilerhof on one engine with tail and rudder both badly damaged in fighter attack over Evreux (France). FF Fw Fritz Specht and rest of crew all unhurt. Aircraft B3+AC damage state not recorded.

1) Can anyone ID the specific He111 subtype from this W.Nr.?

2) This is believed to have been caused by a French fighter attack. Can anyone ID the specific incident and fighter unit involved in this attack? The specific time of the attack isn't known.

Thanx for any help.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

According to Koos, WNr 2791 to 3000 were He 111 P-2 made at Rostock....although I have several He 111P-4 in this range?

Ian

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hello,

A photo of B3+AC appears here:

Luftwaffen-Story 1935-1939.
Ries,Karl.
Mainz:Verlag Dieter Hoffmann,1974.
p.249.

The caption reads:

A twin-tube SKAV 10-106 installation into the tail of an He 111P of II./KG 54. Fin and rudder of the B3+AC, W.Nr. 2901 with the crew of Fw. Specht have been hit by an enemy fighter on 9 June 1940 over Evreux.

Col.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Larry,


According to the book of Arnaud Gillet "Les victoires de l’aviation de chasse française - Tome 3, 5 juin 1940 - 24 juin 1940 : La bataille de France", there are any He 111 claimed by French BUT Polish of GC 1.1/145 claimed a Do 17 over Louviers (23 kms north of Evreux) and this kill is not matched with any loss of D017. Could it be this He 111 ? Time of dogfight 1430-1530.

HTH

Bertrand

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hello all: thanx for the comments:

Ian or anyone else: does the twin-tube SKAV 10-106 installation in the tail of this a/c provide any clues as to whether this is a P-2 or P-4?

Col: thanx for your reference to the Ries photo & caption. Yes, we're aware of that. This incident was also written up in a German magazine back in the 1980's, but we've found no reference to it in the German QM returns.

Bertrand: Your reference to Gillet provides a serious possibility for the identity of the attackers. The problem is we don't know the time when this happened, so it is still impossible to match this incident with an attack report on the Allied side. Who has more info that would help?

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Larry,

according to the Flugbuch of Fritz Specht the operatinal aircraft of the group were transferred from Köln to Merville 7:50 - 9:05 in the morning. At 14:25 they took of for their mission to a target somewhere north of Paris. Over Evreux they were attacked by fighters and Specht returned to Köln where they landed at 18:06.

The distance Köln to Merville is roughly 350km, the flight took 75 minutes resulting to a velocity of 280km/h. The distance Merville to Evreux is roughly 260km, assuming the same velocity II./KG 54 was over Evreux round about at 15:20.

“According to the book of Arnaud Gillet "Les victoires de l’aviation de chasse française - Tome 3, 5 juin 1940 - 24 juin 1940 : La bataille de France", there are any He 111 claimed by French BUT Polish of GC 1.1/145 claimed a Do 17 over Louviers (23 kms north of Evreux) - Time of dogfight 1430-1530.“

Both units were in the Evreux area at the same time.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hi Merlin,

Eh eh good match it seems ! I think what you wrote is very close of the reply of the EoE Project Coordinator's request !

Bertrand

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hello,

Thanks all! What type of a/c was the Polish unit GC 1.1/145 flying on that date and are there any combat reports from that action by this unit? Merlin, does Arnaud Gillet describe that action in any detail?

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Merlin,

Your analysis is persuasive. Does the SPECHT Flugbuch provide details on the rest of the crew ? Many thanks.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

GC I/145 "Varsovie", 3/06 - 10/06 Dreux-Maison La Blanche, 14 missions de combat, 5 missions de Défense aérienne de Dreux et sa base, MS 406, Caudron C 714.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Hi all,

According to Radtke, I & II./KG54 converted to Ju88 from June 3rd 1940 onwards while III./KG54 remained operational with He111 untill July 13th 1940.

So or Radtke has got it wrong, or Specht did not fly with II./KG54 but with another Group or Geschwader which received the old He111's of I & II./KG54 and didn't have time to apply the proper tactical codes.

Can anyone shed some light on this? Maybe Merlin can have a look in Specht's flugbuch for the tactical codes of the other He111s Specht flew?

Regards,
Rudi.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

As combat report of GCI/145, maybe in " 9 juin 1940 du sous-lieutenant Jerzy Godlewski" Icare N°183, La Bataille de France (XVI), Les Polonais, in French.
Regards, Thierry

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Id welcome any further information on Specht and his Flugbuch or a/c flown. Do we know his subsequent career/ fate?

Best regs,
Steve.

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Larry,

It seems that there is no combat report but in the history of GC 1/145 (written in 1950 by Lt Col Salesse) there are some details.

Check your mailbox

Bertrand

Re: Seeking French fighter unit that attacked an He111 over Evreux, France, on 9 June 1940
 

Rudi is right with his objection.

Specht was a member of 5./KG 54 during 1939. On 1.Feb.40, when the III. Gruppe was formed, he was transferred to 8./KG 54. So the B3+AC was a former II.Gruppe aircraft taken over during early June when this Gruppe was in progress to convert to the Ju 88. His last flight took place at Handorf on 13.Jul.40 with the B3+FC (also a former II.Gruppe aircraft). At the same date the III. Gruppe became disbanded.

Specht made during the summer 1940 some flights at the Fluglehrerschule Briest and continued his flying career in the spring 1941 with Flugbereitschaft/Luftflotte 1.