Story behind photo of B3+LM

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I'm trying to caption a photo of the fuselage of He111P B3+LM which appears on the rear deck of a German ferry, apparently being salvaged and returned to Germany for repair or rebuilding.

According to the KG 54 history, a B3+LM of 4 Staffel, with Oblt. FNU Willerding piloting, was lost on a 21.4.40 mission over the Baltic. This was one of four II./KG54 aircraft that got lost and ran low on fuel during a mission against the Steinkjer RR Yards in Norway on that date. Two or three of these Heinkels force-landed on the Island of Gottland (2 for sure and one uncertain where it came down, but all three crews were interned in Sweden), while a fourth (B3+LM) apparently came down in the sea near the Danish Island of Bornholm, which is in the Baltic sea directly south of Sweden. Apparently the crew was returned to German control. Was that aircraft subsequently salvaged from the sea and returned by ferry to Germany, thus explaining my photo? Does anyone know of any source of eye-witness accounts of the losses of any of these four KG 54 Heinkels? Last September, two photos and a WNr. plate from one of the Gottland crashes was discussed on this board.

Also, does anyone know the full name of Oblt Willerding, and/or the names of any of the other crewmen aboard B3+LM? Thanks for any help concerning this flight and these aircraft and crews.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

After further research regarding the aircraft in this post, I note that there was a series of posts on TOCH on 30.6.01 and 1.7.01, from Lars Larsson, C-J Ehrengardt and Lars Sundin that related to these aircraft. The Larsson post indicates that B3+JM was returned to Germany on 8.6.40, indicating that it came down intact, and that B3+CM was burned by its crew and the remains were scrapped. Lars Sundin on 1.7.01 indicated that B3+FN force-landed near the Swedish town of Marstrand, about 20 kms NW of Gothenburg, after being shot at by Swedish flak, and possibly being strafed and or shot at in the air by a Swedish S-5 (a Swedish built He5 floatplane). The story of this incident is recorded in CJE's Volume 1 of Aéro-Journal magazine.

This might simplify things for anyone trying to answer my post.

Thanx,

[ju55dk]

Originally Posted by Larry Hickey

Hello,

I'm trying to caption a photo of the fuselage of He111P B3+LM which appears on the rear deck of a German ferry, apparently being salvaged and returned to Germany for repair or rebuilding.

According to the KG 54 history, a B3+LM of 4 Staffel, with Oblt. FNU Willerding piloting, was lost on a 21.4.40 mission over the Baltic. This was one of four II./KG54 aircraft that got lost and ran low on fuel during a mission against the Steinkjer RR Yards in Norway on that date. Two or three of these Heinkels force-landed on the Island of Gottland (2 for sure and one uncertain where it came down, but all three crews were interned in Sweden), while a fourth (B3+LM) apparently came down in the sea near the Danish Island of Bornholm, which is in the Baltic sea directly south of Sweden. Apparently the crew was returned to German control. Was that aircraft subsequently salvaged from the sea and returned by ferry to Germany, thus explaining my photo? Does anyone know of any source of eye-witness accounts of the losses of any of these four KG 54 Heinkels? Last September, two photos and a WNr. plate from one of the Gottland crashes was discussed on this board.

Also, does anyone know the full name of Oblt Willerding, and/or the names of any of the other crewmen aboard B3+LM? Thanks for any help concerning this flight and these aircraft and crews.

Regards,

As Denmark was occupied by Germany at the time, both crew and aircraft was returned. The He 111 was sailed back on the deck of Flugsicherungsschiff "Günther Plüschow"!

Junker

[Larry Hickey]

Junker,

Thank you for this information. Do you or does anyone else know any details of the sea landing by the crew of this aircraft or the recovery of the aircraft from the sea?

Can anyone translate the ship type of "Flugsicherungsschif" for me? From the photo, it looks like it might be some kind of automobile ferry.

Regards,

[ju55dk]

I do have a lot on details on this landing. But you have to wait a bit! I'm going to publish a booklet on Luftwaffe-Losses over Denmark 1939-45 late this year or early next year. It will contain the fruits of about 20 years of research.

Junker

[Soren Flensted]

Have a look:
http://www.flensted.eu.com/g194037.shtml

[vzlion]

"Flugsicherungsschif" translates to "Air Traffic control ship" according to my translator.

Walt

[robert_schulte]

Originally Posted by vzlion

"Flugsicherungsschif" translates to "Air Traffic control ship" according to my translator.

Walt

In this case "Flugsicherungsschiff" means air base vessel.

Quote from another site:
"Flugsicherungsschiffe were originally planned to support float planes in areas where no costal bases were available. The history of the ships in German services can be lead back to those ships used in the 1920s to enable float plane traffic across the South Atlantic for mail services. Some of those early ships were still used by the Kriegsmarine in World War II. Equipped with a huge crane, those ships could take the float planes on board, refuel them or do some maintenance duty. Some larger ships also had a large catapult to launch the float planes with a higher fuel load that would be possible if the planes would start by themselves. Flugsicherungsschiffe were used in their traditional role in Norwegian waters where they launched float planes for reconaisance duties over the arctic sea.
During the last years of the war, these ships were also used in different roles, like escort ships, depots etc."
Regards
Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I want to thank all of you for your excellent replies to my questions on B3+LM, and the reference to the excellent "Airwar Over Denmark" website information and photos. I still need the W.Nr. of the aircraft and the full names and positions for the crew. It also sounds like I can get more of the "story" about what happened from "ju55dk" in due course.

I'm still looking for more detailed stories on what happened to the two 4./KG54 He111s that force landed on the Island of Gottland on 21.4.40, and the 5./KG54 He111 that was shot down/force landed by flak/fighters on the mainland of Sweden. If anyone else has such information it would be appreciated.

Regards,