He115 S4+BK of 2./Ku.Fl.Gr 506

[chrislentzy]

I had a granddad who spent the war years as a radio operator/navigator aboard reconnaissance aircraft of the Luftwaffe.
Unfortunately he near spoke of the war much. The following is what I know of him. If anyone can direct me to where I can find more information, I would very much appreciate it.
His name and rank was Fw Willi Hundertmark, born September 1910. He joined the Riechsmarine in 1930 following the Great Depression. He was stationed at Kiel-Holtenau before the war and lived in Kiel.
He served on board the "Graf Spee" during the Spanish Cival War. Whether this was on board the "Graf Spee" itself as a radio operator or as a radio oparator of one of its sea planes, I am not sure. With the outbreak of war he found himself exchanging his Kriegsmarine uniform for a Luftwaffe one. This was obviously as a result of Goering's statement "everything that flies belongs to me".
From his service days he had 12 photoalbums in total, some of which I remember seeing but now have no access to. I remember that he saw servive in Norway primarily, based at Trondheim. However he was also in France, Sevastapol, Crete, Athens, Stalingrad.
I was suprised to see that he gets a mention in Kington & Selinger's "WEKUSTA LW Meterological Reconnaissance Units & Operations. This mentions a reconnaissance flight to Jan Mayen (North of Iceland). Ironically this is one of the few stories which he told. The plane in question was a He 115 S4+BK of 2. Kusten Flieger Gruppe 506. But this was only one of 4 aircraft (types) in which he flew. Other crew members of this aircraft were Oblt Heydt and Lt Mueller.
In total he had more than 500 hours of frontline flying for which he held the Reconnaissance Clasp in gold. What he received his EK 1. I don't know. The one photo which I have of him also shows him wearing the Narvik shield.
Any source of information which would add to what I know would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Chris Lentzy
Ireland

[ChrisS]

Hi Chris

I have these photos of 2./Ku.Fl.Gr 506, it's ex-eBay and therefore marked but I am certain your Grandfather's aircraft is in the line, perhaps even your own Grandfather in the parade! Third photo is of the next airraft to your Grandfather's aircraft.

All the best!

Chris

[ChrisS]

Hi

Here is a profile of a sister aircraft scanned from the book Perfiles Aeronauticos 6 Heinkel He 115 (1) by Juan Carlos Salgado. Colours are a not quite correct to my eye but ..........

Regards

Chris

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, Chris.

It is possible that your grandfather was on board a He 115 that was slightly damaged by Flak in the Sognefjord in Norway on April 15th 1940.

A Leutnant zur See Müller was wounded in the incident, the aircraft from 2./506 so slightly damaged that it was not reported (well in fact first reported as damaged and then stricken, in Luftwaffe terminology this would indicate a damage of below 10% for the airframe).

Please see the following link for the loss report:

http://www.ahs.no/ref_db/lw_loss_pub...?lossid=116136

It is possibl that the Oberleutnant Heydt mentioned is Hans Heydt that was later reported MIA over Scotland:

http://www.ahs.no/ref_db/lw_loss_pub...?lossid=113836

It is possible that there are others on the board that can add to the last case.

Regards,
Andreas B

[Seaplanes]

On September 12, 1940, He 115 S4+BK of 2./506 left Tromsö seaplane station for Jan Mayen island to investigate why the Norwegian weather station there no longer transmitted weather reports. On board the aircraft was Dr. Erich Etienne, chief of the German weather service in Northern Norway, and the aircraft observer, Lt. Müller. They were apparently the only two crewmembers that actually went ashore on the Island. It proved that the Norwegian weather station had been evacuated and the aircraft then returned to Tromsö. The actual fact was that the Norwegians had left Jan Mayen for Iceland already on September 4, 1940.

[schnellmeyer]

Hi Chris , super post . I told you this was the place to go when you wanted information on your grandfather . Great photos too.

[Adam]

Here is a link to two pictures from the LiF article about the operation to Jan Mayen

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...pboard04-3.jpg

[Seaplanes]

Thank you Adam for these nice shots. It proves that S4+BK was a He 115C because of the MG 151/20 under the nose and the rearward firing MG 17 in the engine mount.