He-111 crash 16.12.1943 Croatia

[raus_punk]

oi!

I'm new on this forum and I need help from You.
We found crash site of one He-111 north of town Crikvenica. From Partisans sources we know that this He-111 crashed on 16.12.43 and that 5 man were killed. Does anyone know something more about that plane.

thanks
Raus

[raus_punk]

oi!

Sorry is not 1943, but 16.12.1942.

Raus

[Brian Bines]

Hi,

I do not know if this one would fit listed as lost under Oberbefehlshaber Sud missing on Feindflug following fighter attack - 16-12-1942 He111A-3 ( Perhaps a missprint H-3 ?) B3+DY of 10/KG54 wn 3204 Ff Ltn Konrad Fritz, B.Gef. Otto Westholz, Bf Uffz Kurt Fally, Bs Gef Heinrich Wagner, Bm Uffz Josef Nupppepeter all missing.
Not certain if this would have been lost over Croatia but it was the only He111 I could find on 16-12-1942,

Source:- Luft QM's returns dated 30-12-1942

Regards

Brian Bines

[Stig Jarlevik]

Brian

The Wnr certainly fits the He 111H-3 range but I wonder if the mistake was due to the fact that the unit also operated Ju 88A? Perhaps even the A-3 model?
According to www.ww2.dk the main base was Grottaglie in Italy which is pretty way south. At this time Croatia feels a bit "opposite direction" if you know what I mean, but I suppose anything is possible.

Cheers
Stig

[Brian Bines]

Hi Stig,

Checked Radtke's book in the crew losses he has Uffz Niggemenn listed as 1.Wart and mission as Versorgungsflug Tripolis. In the aircraft loss section he has He111-? 3204 B3+OX ( definitely B3+DY in QM losses) unknown/crash in sea by Tripolis. Looks like the wrong one,

Brian Bines

[Larry deZeng]

I have a day-to-day record of all air activity in Croatia involving the Luftwaffe, the Croatian Air Force and the Allied air forces (notice the absence of one key player). There is no record of any aircraft coming down in northern Dalmatia on or around either date (16 Dec 42 or 16 Dec 43).

My guess is that this is an Italian Air Force plane (the missing key player from my records) that was misidentified by the Partisans.

L.