Oblt ??? of ZG26 Battle of Britain

[Brian]

Hi guys

Re-reading Armand van Ishoven's The Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain (1998 softcover version) there is an account on pages 32-34 of a ZG26 Oblt ditching his Bf110 in the Channel, and subsequent rescue.

Has the crew been identified (and date)?

Cheers
Brian

[John Manrho]

Brian,

If you can give some details of the account we might find a candidate....

John

[Spanferkel]

Herbert Kaminski and his Bordfunker Unteroffizier Strauch are possible candidates however Kaminski was a Hauptmann at the time of their ditching on 18 August 1940.

They were subsequently rescued from the Channel.

Jeremy

[Chris Goss]

Likewise Kogler on I think 11 Aug 40

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

This may very well relate to the series of photos apparently taken with a powerful telephoto lens from (apparently) the Pas-de-Calais, and which were published in the magazine "Signal" at the beginning of Oct, 1940. There are something like 18 images showing a Spitfire chasing a Bf110C of I./ZG26 with the code either U8+GH or U8+GL (two white victory flashes on the fin). After the Bf110 ditches, the crew is rescued from the water by a He59 with the codes NE+??, which I believe was a SNFlKdo 3, a/c (out of Bouglogne). The Bf110C does not have a white nose, so this is almost certainly in August of 1940.

I'd dearly like to ID this photo sequence, which may, in fact, also match the story in van Ishoven's book. The problem with Kogler is that his story doesn't match the photo sequence. Nor does any other Bf110C loss to I./ZG26 (thin white rear fuselage band used only by that unit during that time). So either the story about Kogler is wrong, or it was someone else. This is an enduring mystery to me that has frustrated me for 20 years.

Here is our EOE Luft Loss DB entry for Kogler:

"Aug 11, 1940: 1./ZG26 Messerschmitt Bf110D-0. Both engines disabled in attack by fighters and ditched in sea 40 km north-east of the Thames Estuary 12.10 p.m. FF Hptmn Johann Kogler (Staffelkapitän) and BF Uffz Adolf Bauer both wounded – took to dinghy, rescued by E-boats off Nieuport, and admitted to hospital in Brussels. Aircraft 100% write-off."

Here is the report on Kaminski, which is the wrong Staffel for the photos and the timing doesn't fit either the photo sequence or the van Ishoven account:

"Aug 18, 1940: 2./ZG26 Messerschmitt Bf110C-2. Damaged in combat with fighters during bomber escort sortie and ditched in the Channel off Dunkirk 5.30 p.m. FF Hptmn Herbert Kaminski (Staffelkapitän) and BF Uffz Heinrich Strauch both took to dinghy unhurt - rescued by Seenotdienst four days later and landed at Dunkirk. Aircraft 100% write-off."

Hope we can resolve the identity of the crew in both van Ishoven's story and the photo sequence, which is one of the most dramatic for that period of the war.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Here is the text of van Ishoven's account requested above:

"Seenot
Air~Sea Rescue
Pg 32-34

“..…What it felt like to have to ditch into the Channel and to be rescued by an aircraft is recounted by an Oberleutnant of ZG26 who had to ditch his Messerschmitt Bf110: ‘It was a formidable experience. A white trail of smoke marked the downward path of a Hurricane that we had raked with our machine guns. But now English fighters were climbing upwards to intercept the German bomber group, which was steering a course towards an airfield south of London. The bombers, however, were able to continue on their way unmolested as German fighters attacked the enemy aircraft like a pack of ravenous wolves. Thwarted by our Messerschmitts the disappointed Spitfire and Hurricane pilots wanted to obtain at least one visible result and the last German aircraft, our Messerschmitt Bf110, became the objective for the British aircraft.
‘The enemy surrounded us on every side and we saw gun flashes to right and left. We shot at the enemy whenever possible but they were too many. Their bullets cracked and banged in our fuselage. The dinghy was already shot to ribbons. This could not go on any longer; we began to lose height. To bale out would mean captivity. If only we could reach the channel!
‘As if our aircraft had guessed my thoughts, the left engine suddenly came to life. The altimeter remained about zero, but, all along jumping from cloud to cloud, the Messerschmitt bf110 flew home above enemy territory at some 230km/h. And there, at last, the sea glistened, the last hurdle. But this hurdle was to be our destiny. Shortly before the coast that would have saved us, an accident happened. The engine conked out. Our machine divided down towards the water.
‘Canopy away! We threw away the canopy and were surrounded by fire, then suddenly water, unbelievable amounts of water. I don’t know what happened exactly, anyway we succeeded in getting free from the machine; maybe we were thrown out, maybe the water snatched us from our seats. It lasted only a few seconds, which I cannot describe, then we were swimming in the Channel, both of us side by side near the French coast which was only 500m away.
‘But now disaster threatened. An upward glance showed how the sinking aircraft’s stabilizer was slowly coming towards us. Swim for heaven’s sake, swim… We took off our flying boots and then, with a few heavy puffs, our life jackets inflated. They supported us while the machine sank. But the coast was still some way off and the water was cold and the current was carrying us away from land. My wireless operator had a good idea – he fired a flare from his Very pistol. That saved us. German fighters saw us in the water and four Messerschmitts circled above us. Despite the cold, the wireless operator and I smiled at each other – even if we were exhausted and injured. The fighters signaled a Seenotmaschine which came and took us aboard a short time later.’
Van, Ishoven Armand. The Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. London: Ian Allen, 1980. Print."

[Brian]

Hi guys

Very confusing to say the least.

How about the Bf110 (3263) of III/ZG26 lost on 25 September 1940? Crew unnamed and therefore uninjured. I'm referencing John Vasco & Peter Cornwell's excellent Zerstorer.

Cheers
Brian

[Spanferkel]

Well Kaminski can definately be ruled out.

In addition to Larry's comments Kaminski and his wireless operator were in the "drink" for a few days before being rescued and his ditching is fairly well chronicled in terms of the events/ditching. If memory serves Kaminski noted having his nose broken on the bridge of the cockpit upon hitting the water due to not being completely straped in, a product of a previous, but unhealed wound from the battle in France.

Jeremy

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

In the hopes of furthering the identification of this dramatic incident, I'm posting here five photos from the Oct 1, 1940 edition of "Signaal" (the Dutch edition of "Signal" Magazine). There are a total of 17 photos in this sequence, from the Bf110C appearing in the distance (photo #1) with smoke trailing behind it and a Spitfire circling overhead. The plane gets lower and lower and finally ditches (Photo #2) in a huge spray of water. The crew is then seen struggling to get out of the cockpit as the tail raises (Photo #3) in the air above the two men. The plane then sinks with the tail almost coming down on top of the two men struggling in the water (Photo #4) then disappears from sight. Then an He59 a/c from the Seenotflugkommando (Code NE+??) comes into view, circles, lands near the two men and taxies to them (Photo #5). The two men then swim to the back of the aircraft where a crewmen comes down the rear ladder and helps them aboard. I've only attached highlight photos with the rest filling in the story between these.

After careful study of this account, I'm almost certain that this rescue is described by the van Ishoven account I posted above. This has to be after the SNFlKdo a/c were camouflaged in late July/early August, and before the Bf110Cs of I./ZG26 were painted with white noses around the beginning of September, 1940. The date of publication is consistent with an August, 1940, event. If the incident is the same, we know that the a/c is either U8+GH or U8+GL of 1 or 3./ZG26 (white I./ZG26 rear fuselage band and white or yellow "G.") The plane carried 2 victory bars and the pilot was probably the unidentified Oblt of the van Ishoven account. The aircraft was obviously a 100% loss, but there is no known incident in late July or August to the beginning of Sept., 1940, that fits all the evidence for this incident. There are probably no more than four Oblt., including possibly two StaKap , serving at this time in 1 or 3./ZG26. The two victory bars would probably ID the pilot if we had complete records for victory claims by pilots of those two squadrons, which we do not. Note that Kogler was a Hptm, so that seems to eliminate him; might have been his temporary replacement though. So who can solve this mystery?

I'd also certainly like to find a source for better quality images of these photos for publication in the EOE Vol 4 (Vol I for the BoB), if anyone knows a source for these.

Regards,

[cbe2009]

Hello!
In John Weals book "Me 110 Zerstörer aces of ww2" it says that the pilot of the pictures above is Fw. Jakob Birndorfer from 6./ZG 76. Whether it is true or not i don´t know.

Best wishes

Christian