Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Hello,

Does anybody have information about a Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar and coded "+RH" that was shot down and made a belly landing in May 1945 (possibly on 8 May)? Possibly 1./KG 26?

Thanks,
Roger

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

1/KG 26 did not have any Ju 88/188 in may 1945. It was stationed at FlH Vejle/DK equipped with Fw 190 F.

Junker

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Thanks Junker, I was aware about Vejle, but not that they had Fw 190 F at the end.

It could well be that it was not an operational Ju 88 anymore, but one that was available for a flight to safety in the final days of the war. I doubt that they wanted to fly a torpedo mission on 8 May 1945.

Which other unit would have operated Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar in 1945? Probably not so many.

Roger

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

A flight to safety seems most likely. Whatever aircraft that were available ferried as many personnel as they could to get away from the Russians.



Ed

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar and coded "+RH" that was shot down and made a belly landing in May 1945 (possibly on 8 May)?

Do you have a picture so that we can identify the airfield/area ??

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

It could be a recce aircraft.

Junker

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar and coded "+RH" that was shot down and made a belly landing in May 1945 (possibly on 8 May)?

a. Are you sure that the Ju 88 was shot down and 'only' crashlanded ?
b. Are you sure that crashlanded in May 1945 ?
c. Do you have any location for the plane (Norway, Denmark, Northern German ) ?

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

That's most probably the Ju 88D-1 WNr. 1285 4N+RH equipped with FuG 200.

This former 1.(F)/22 aircraft was operated since February 1945 by the II./KG 26. It was flown on 8.05.45 by the crew Deutschbein & Heine after an evacuation flight to Courland to Kalmar in Sweden.

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Hello Gerhard,

That sounds like a match! The only thing that seems not to match is that the wreck is examined by US soldiers, which would seem odd if it made it to Sweden.

The aircraft was claimed by the 204th US AAA and the photo caption says 8 May 45. The 204th was in France, Belgium and Germany as far as I could find out.

May I ask what the source for you information is and if there is more information available?

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Hi Roger,

From this site:

http://www.ahs.no/forumv3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=144

"Losses with the Halbstaffel 1.(F)/120"

...
08.05.1945 Ju 88 A-6/U 4N+RH Kella airfield, Eschwege
...
08.05.1945 Ju 88 A 4N+RH (damaged by AA-fire over Germany)

I presume it was involved in "Ziel Courland" from Norway on 8 May 1945.

best regards,

Jim Geens

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Roger take a look here http://luckysorrentino.com/photography.html

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

All: How many times do this have be repeated: No Ju 88 A-6/U per se existed. Period.
Plane 088/1285 is Ju 88 D-1/D with Fug 200 (Search Radar) and Gondola removed.
Merlin: The 088 1285 was coded 4N+CH !

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Hi Ed,

Of course it's a D-1/D. I was just quoting the same source you quoted and corrected back in 2013. See post #7.

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=33544

Further research shows that Fw. Hans Hasenmueller of 1.(F)/120 took off from Vaernes, Norway at 05:30 hrs. on 8 May 1945, overflew Sweden and landed at Cirava in the Courland pocket at 10:30 hrs. He then took off at 11:00 hrs. (his flugbuch
says this was his 932nd flight) and flew across half of Germany. After five hours he "landed" at Kella airfield, Eschwege, across the river from Russian occupied territory.

Ed, would you be so kind as to supply the Werknummer for 4N+RH?

best regards,

Jim

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Roger,
are you happening to referr to these photos from an ebay sale some three years ago? This is/ could be a ??+RH of May 08, 1945.

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Jim. Have not found many of these, and not this, these "last ones of 1.(F)120 and "Halbstaffel" came from consolidating of 1.(F)/120, 1.(F)/22 and Stabstaffel/KG 26, retaining codes.
As I have said before: I am not working Ju 88´s on operational unit level (yet), just production list, history and known fates. But have pets...

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

@Jim, thank you for the additional information. Do you have a copy of Fw. Hans Hasenmueller's Flugbuch? Why did they fly from Norway to Cirava and then back to Germany? Did they pick up people in the Courland pocket to evacuate them?

@Gerhard mentioned that two of the crew were Deutschbein & Heine. Who was the pilot and what was the role of the two others?

@Snautzer, thank you. I came across the same link while searching for 204th AAA and noticed the Fw 190 D-9 in the photo series that is known to have been found at Eschwege. So that seems to confirm that the 204th AAA was indeed in Eschwege.

@Ed, thank you for the info regarding the type and W.Nr.

@Chris, I was not referring to these particular photos, but your photos show the same aircraft and I can confirm that the code on the fuselage of this aircraft was +RH

So in summary, is the following correct?:

Ju 88 D-1/D
4N+RH
W.Nr. unknown
Former 1.(F)/22, at the time of loss attached to Halbstaffel 1.(F)/120
Crew: Deutschbein, Heine, Hasenmueller

Unclear to me:
- What were the roles of the crew members.

Just found the following account by Orv Iverson, 926 Signal Battalion, Company A, who was at Eschwege on 8 May 1945 (http://home.earthlink.net/~iversonom/veday1.html):

"The 3rd day after V-E day. A couple of these(ed:Stuka tank bombers) flew in and landed at our field at Eschwege. Both were short on fuel and exceedingly happy to have made it to an American airfield. (Eschwege airfield is just across the river from what was then Russian territory.) These 2 Ju-87s had been based on a island off the coast of Norway and used against allied convoys to Russia. Later the same day, a Ju 88 came stooging across the field but, in that he neglected to lower his gear, our field AA opened up on him. (Usual poor shooting) but he dropped below a nearby hill and bellied it in. --about 8 jerries were out waving white flags when our L-5 flew over."

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Also the travel map of the aaa bat notes Eschwege as a destination.

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Hi Roger,

Sorry, I googled Hasenmueller's name and found that his flugbuch is extant and that the final flight was "Flug 932 am 08.05.1945" but I do not own a copy.

The purpose of "Ziel Kurland" was to fly as many aircraft with minimum crews to airfields in the Courland pocket and evacuate as many troops as possible. I think I read of one Ju 88 carrying 16 persons. I found no information as to the numbers Hasenmueller rescued.

Deuschbein and Heine were the crew of 4N+CH that landed at Kalmar, Sweden at 10:02 hrs.

best regards,

Jim

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Marc-Andre Haldimand has just posted in #533 of Snautzer's threadRe: eBAy: Captured german planes a link to a first-hand account of the events at Eschwege on 8 May 1945 including the number carried by the Ju 88.

Jim

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

I have old note on (4N)+RH departed from Kjellar, but Halbstaffel(F)/120 surrendered Vaernes and Gardermoen. Now logbook page must be brought out, please ....

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

Unfortunately, the link above doesn't work anymore. I checked the unit history of the 926 Signal Battalion and they were at Weimar on 8 May 1945. Orv Iverson even described the landing of the Me 262 Lotfe bomber there on that day. Hence, I don't know why he mentioned Eschwege in the account I copied from his website in November 2017. Has anybody saved a copy of that website?

Google still has a cached page of his VE account, but Eschwege is no longer mentioned and the URL is slightly different.

Roger

Re: Ju 88 with Hohentwiel radar "+RH" loss May 1945
 

I could solve the "mistery": Via the web.archive.org website I could retrieve a screenshot of the page when it was still online. It turned out that the recollection was not that of Orv Iverson, but that of I.G. Madison, 67th Tac Rcn Gp, which was indeed stationed at Eschwege between April and July 1945.

Roger