Crashed He111 at Trondheim

[ianatheling]

At eBay here there is a photo of a crashed He 111H located at/near Trondheim. No other ID details are provided or visible. http://www.rafandluftwaffe.info/ suggests that this could be a He111H of 8./KG 26 from Vaernes which crashed on the 5th May 1940 after possible contact with British aircraft. No other information on aircraft or crew are provided.

The amount of snow/ice on the photo might? rule this out.

Any further details on this crash or other suggestions will be much appreciated.

Cheers
Ian

[edNorth]

Hello Ian.

Kjell Sörensen on Flyvrak hompage has this photo for this one.

http://ktsorens.tihlde.org/flyvrak/storvatnet.html

Best regards
Ed

[ianatheling]

Hi Ed
Many thanks for the information. The link provided gives much more info than that on http://www.rafandluftwaffe.info/ (which records this incident on the 22/04/1940).

The loss is then He 111H F6+HH, WNr.2117 of 1./Aufkl.Gr. 122. On mission from Aalborg West Denmark. Attacked a British destroyer before combat with Gladiators of 804 sqdn.

...although if this is the same incident as that recorded on the 22-04-1940 it is claimed that it was British ground fire rather than air combat.

The crew were unhurt and set the aircraft on fire, helping it to eventually sink through the ice (after the photos were taken).

Confirmation of crew and date would still be appreciated.

Cheers

Ian

[Stig Jarlevik]

Ian/Ed

I doubt any FAA Gladiators had any dogfight with this Heinkel and certainly not those from 804 Sq. HMS Glorious had not departed from Scapa Flow on neither the 21st or 22nd of April (with 804 Sq onboard).
This she did on April 23rd and arrived that same evening off the Norwegian coast.

Cheers
Stig

[ianatheling]

Thanks Stig

The British ground fire report appears then the most accurate cause of the crash. Still have either the 21st or 22nd April 1940 as the date of the incident?
Cheers
Ian

[edNorth]

Hi Stig. You probably are right. I just put up link. Know nothing at all about this.

[Stig Jarlevik]

I know Ed

No worries, just happy you did!

Ian

Wish I could help you there. I also checked yesterday both Shores Fledgling Eagles (not mentioned so perhaps not well known when he wrote that book) and Brian's Flying Sailors at war (not mentioned, and shouldn't be if it has no connection with Fleet Air Arm).

The log of Glorious was from Air Britain's Aeromilitaria way back which lists all Glorious passages during her life time. Never thought THAT would come in handy one day...

The reason for these two dates might be that it was a nightflight where they were supposed to be over the target at dawn, but that is just guessing.

Cheers
Stig

[ianatheling]

Thanks again for your efforts on this one Stig. I was thinking the same myself that it could have been an over night mission. The 21/04 date comes from the KTSorens site, so I don't know where the source info came from. The 22/04 date is presumably from German sources.

Cheers
Ian