KG26 august 1944
 

Hello,

On its site, Nick Beale (I cannot apparently contact it by e-mail) speaks about the losses of 19 August 1944 :
" Apart from the Do 217, known Luftwaffe bomber casualties for the day were 5 men of I./KG 26 killed while from II./KG 26 there were 9 dead, 2 wounded, 1 wounded and taken prisoner. This would be equivalent to four crews (plus one passenger) although both Gruppen were equipped the Ju 88 so it seems likely that VOF-1's aircraft recognition was at fault on this occasion."

Does one know which plane were lost according to the German sources? Ju88 or He111 ?
"One passenger" : is it possible that it is a woman?
"known Luftwaffe bomber casualties" : which are these known causes?

Thanks in advance.
CMH

Re: KG26 august 1944
 

The email link on the front page of the site has been successful for others, so I don't know why you had a problem. Sorry.

The information on the KG 26 losses comes from Rudi Schmidt's book "Achtung Torpedos Los!" (more details of the book are on my website). He only lists the names of the casualties and their Gruppe, plus the country in which they were lost. All appear to be men. A woman might have been on the plane unofficially but then reports would probably not include her name because her presence was not known to the German authorities.

The German aircraft loss reports for 1944 have been missing since the end of the war. The personnel loss reports are protected by German privacy laws unless you are a family member (or you obtained copies of the reports before 1991 when the law changed). These reports usually tell you which aircraft type was involved but I don't have them for KG 26).

Re: KG26 august 1944
 

Ok. Thanks Nick
Your site is a very good site. I have just made him "publicity" in France ;-)

it was not the ideal moment to take along a lady in walk.
was the normal crew in He111 or Ju88 : 4 or 5 people?

it would be well if it had lists like Tony's wood combat claims or the site Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots

Best Regards,
CMH

Re: KG26 august 1944
 

The crew of a Ju 88 was normally 4; the crew of an He 111 was usually 5.

I. and II./KG 26 had only the Ju 88 by August 1944. If any Heinkels were encountered in the area concerned they probably belonged to transport or training units.

Re: KG26 august 1944
 

yes, it is what also the site http://www.ww2.dk/ says.
it remains to find which unit were the three he111 cut down by the vof-1 on this date...

Re: KG26 august 1944
 

Bear i mind that it is entirely possible that they were not Heinkels at all.

Mistaken identification happened all the time in combat, even among pilots with much more experience of hostile aircraft.