He 59 Wnr 1991 NE+TD

[Adam]

Does anyone have any information on this machine's service history?

Thanks in advance

Adam

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Hi Adam,
On 11 Nov 1940 100% in Pl.Qu. 1267. It was shot down by Hurricanes of 249 SQ. (P/O Barclay & P/O Wells). At this time it was with Seenotflugkommando 3. Ofw. Roddey Herbert [b] was declared dead. Fw. Gräfe kurt [F], Obgefr. Fischer Gerhard [Bf] and Fw. Grimmig Rudolf [Bm] all MIA.

Regards,

Norbert

[Peter Cornwell]

11 November 1940: SeenotFlugKdo. 3 Heinkel He59 (1991). Shot down by F/O P.H.V. Wells of No.249 Squadron during search and rescue mission off the Suffolk coast. Ditched with one float on fire and exploded 20 miles east of Frinton 2.30 p.m. BO Oberfw Herbert Roddey, FF Fw Kurt Gräfe, BF Obergefr Gerhard Fischer, and BM Fw Rudolf Grimmig all missing. Aircraft NE+TD 100% write-off.

[Seaplanes]

<P>W.Nr. 1991 was an Arado built He 59D.&nbsp; My first entry for this aircraft is when it served with K.G.z.b.V. 108 during the opening phases of the Norwegian campaign.&nbsp; On 20. April 1940 it was transferred with a large number of other He 59's to form the new 1./706 with bases in Copenhagen-See and Aalborg-See.&nbsp; It is noted with unit code 6I+IK.&nbsp; The reason was that 1./706 had so many aircraft that they had to form locally a second Staffel (2./706) for a short time.&nbsp; During the summer of 1940, the lack of aircraft for Seenotdienst was so accute that 1./706 was ordered to give up most of its&nbsp;He 59's for this purpose.&nbsp; W.Nr. 1991 was then transferred to Seenotflugkdo. 3 with the Stammkennzeichen NE+TD.&nbsp; It served with this unit until lost on 11.11.1940.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </P>

[Adam]

Toall, many thanks for the additional info.

Peter and Norbert:
Are there any indications as to who/what the crew were looking for?


Seaplanes:
when was the formation of a "locally formed" 2./706 (and how long did it last?)
and
when approximately did NE+TD transfer to SNFlKdo 3?

kind regards

Adam

[Peter Cornwell]

Adam,

It was probably supporting the disastrous Italian raid that afternoon.

[Seaplanes]

Locally formed or temporary formed is my translation of the Luftwaffe term "Auf dem Kommandowege aufgestellt". Such formations were done from time to time and normally for a period of maximum six months. If such a unit lastet longer, it was normally "Etatisiert", which means that the unit is made permanent and was granted extra supplies and personnel.
However, for the 1./706 the situation was that the unit had too many aircraft on strength so some aircraft had the unit code 6I+ - H and some 6I+ - K. This was the same as for 1./196 which also had so many aircraft on strength that some were marked T3+ - H and some T3+ - K, although a 2/196 did not excist until late in the war.
The 2./706 did excist for a couple of months only. May be Jörn Junker ca constribute with more info on this. 1./706 gave up about 50 % if their He 59's in mid June 1940, so I would anticipate W.Nr. 1919 to be transferred about then. The aircraft probably first went to Walter Bachmann in Ribnitz to get the most basic ASR equipment installed before being delivered to Seenotflugkdo. 3. I have no excact date.

[Adam]

Thanks for the extra info, both of you.