Lost He111 from Norway of 1941
 

This is from a friend that need some help.

Hello all!
I am trying to track a loss of a Heinkel 111 from Norway in the spring (18 or 19th of march) of 1941.
The aircraft belonged to either KG 26 or 1.(F) 123 (Fernaufklarungsgruppe).
The word is that the aircraft was damaged by flak over Reykjavik Iceland and had to belly land some distance away. The crew escaped the country.
Here it becomes interesting. Captain is supposed to be Alexander Holle, a person of quite some renown. One of the passangers is thought to have been none less than Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr!
Holle apparently had a He111 at his disposal, but lots about this deal seems to have been hushed down. Actually more, for I have yet to find a documented LW loss in Iceland, while there were several! (My next door neighbour has a piece from a FW Condor engine in the kitchen, just as an example, and my mother witnessed a chase where US fighters chased a German bomber to the sea. Much more around)
Anyway, I am trying to trace the loss, and find out more about Holle. It was a recce mission, as so many were, and Holle later had his fingers in the air raids on convoy PQ-17 that actually left from Iceland for Murmansk.
BTW, they are supposed to have flown from Sola airfield.
Anyone there from Norway that could lend a hand?

Re: Lost He111 from Norway of 1941
 

Hello OakTree.

This story seems everlasting. I am familiar with the author of the first written article (appearing in local newspaper decades ago) and asked him many times onto specific details. There are however many problems with this case: No un-indentified He 111 wreck has ever been found - the area is now well travelled and only about 15 km from Reykjavik. I think I have found and recorded all wreckes there that can be found in that given area and been to most of the places (others have been to the others and all are well documented). No known report of any flight SEEN on that date(s) - save one unindentifed heard off the South coast (but that could well have been British - well it had to be seen or heard - if it was fired at and no firing was recorded - or is known to me at least). No known loss for this unit (KG 26) on these dates. Losses for that period are well documented and none is actually listed on these dates. And the purpose of the flight has not come to light. There were several German flights over Reykjavik City, both before and after, (and all of these were seem by many, many witnesses besides the British Army / RAF guarding the area) and no tactical or strategic changes had ocurred in the meantime. So was this flight made? I have no evidence on any part of this story actually happening.

Besides, this topic has been discussed here before and my answer remains the same. No actual hard evidence has come to light, and in my opinion this may well not be a true story.

Best regards.

ed