Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

I am searching for information about the Luftwaffe career and any other details or pictures of Oberleutnant Karl Waterbeck born in 1915 in Coesfeld Germany and his crews. I understand that they flew Fw 200 Condors with KG 40, possibly out of Trondheim-Vaernes Norway, before retraining on He 177's at Fassberg in 1943. Waterbeck was shot down and killed in He 177-A3 Werk Nr 535747 CJ+FU, F8+HH at Whitmore Vale in England on January 21st 1944 in the first raid of Operation Steinbock. His was the first He-177 shot down in England, and his aircraft was brought down by the 151 Squadron Mosquito crew of Howard Kemp and Jim Maidment. His crew at this time was: Ogefr Jann Bikker (POW), Ofw Erwin Marbach (POW), Ofw Georg Six (POW), Ogefr Werner Doge (POW), Gefr Johannes Conrad (Killed). He was awarded the DKG in November 1943, but as he was transferred I understand for He 177 conversion in early 1943, I am not sure if this was for earlier operations with the Fw 200 or subsequently with the He 177. He appears to have flown with Oberfeldwebel Jurasch (Bordfunker) whilst in Norway, but am unclear if Jurasch was in his crew on 21st January 1944, although it appears that Jurasch was interrogated asa POW in England with Intelligence noting his and Bikker's morale was high.

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Waterbeck flew as a 2nd pilot & then became a Kommandant on 3./KG 40 flying Fw 200s from mid-1941 onwards. He was commissioned & awarded the DKiG. He then converted to the He 177 but was shot down on his first operational flight with the new ac. Kemp & Maidment were killed in action on 11 Apr 44 but that is another story

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Thanks very much Chris much appreciated. I hoped to get a bit more personal information on Waterbeck and his crew members as his He 177 crashed at the bottom of my garden. I have quite a bit on Kemp and Maidment and the April 11th 1944 clash thanks largely to your very helpful book Bloody Biscay.
Andrew

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

All I can add is he was born 1 Jan 15 in Coesfeld, service number 53632/50 and this is what I have included on him in my forthcoming book:

and one crew, commanded by Fw Karl Waterbeck of 3./KG 40, reporting to have sunk an unidentified patrol boat south of Iceland on 26 April 1942. 27 year-old Waterbeck was one of the new breed of Condor NCO Kommandants. He had flown as a second pilot, predominantly with Lt Robert Maly, from 1 April 1941 and was by now an experienced Kommandant himself. He would be awarded the Ehrenpokal on 15 February 1943 by which time he was a Lt and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 25 November 1943 by which time he was an Oblt and still flying with 3./KG 40. However, by then he was converting to flying the He 177 after which he joined 1./KG 40 but his luck finally ran out on his first operational flight on 21 January 1944. Tasked to attack London, his He 177 was held by searchlights and then attacked by a Mosquito crewed by Fg Off Howard Kemp and Flt Sgt James Maidment of 151 Sqn. With his aircraft badly damaged, he ordered the bomb load to be jettisoned and three crew baled out, two of them, Ofws Erwin Mirbach and Georg Six, had flown with him on Condors. Waterbeck tried to carry out a belly landing near Hindhead in Surrey but crashed into trees. Although the rear gunner crawled from the wreckage with minor injuries, both Karl Waterbeck and another gunner were killed. Waterbeck would be promoted posthumously to Hptm

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Thanks Chris, once again very many thanks and look forward to getting your new book in October!
Andrew

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

The ship Waterbeck attacked on 26.4.42 was the Icelandic trawler "Surprise", it was not damaged in the attack.

Regards,
Johann Palsson

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Thanks Johann. It would appear that during the back end of 1942, Waterbeck's regular Fw 200 crew was Thuringer, Petring, Six, Mirbach, Walter

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Thanks for all the information. Jerry Scutt's book on the Fw 200 mentions on page 137 a Heinz Waterbeck being involved in the attack on the ships Selis and Isbjorn on 14th May 1942 by 3 aircraft from 1./KG 40(others Major Dazera and Bernard Jope)during Operation Fritham, is this also Karl Waterbeck?

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

There are some dreadful errors in this book. On the same page it talks of an Uffz Ozud Abollig and Uffz Rudolf Melbig on 1 May 42. There was nobody called Abollig in the crew (nor, I would think, in the Luftwaffe) whilst Melbig was Helbig. As to Fritham, there were 4 Condors, 3 of which came from 3./KG 40 and were flown by Hptm Bernhard Jope, Fw Karl Waterbeck and Oblt Rudolf Heindl. There was no such officer called Maj Dazera but there was an Edmund Daser. Fritham and the accounts of all 3 pilots are in my forthcoming book

Re: Karl Waterbeck KG 40 Fw 200 and He 177
 

Thanks for the clarification!