Need info on He111Hs of 1./KG26 that carried a suitcase dangling from the unit lion insignia

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

In the recently revised insignia book "Luftwaffe Emblems 1939-1945" by Barry Ketley P. 83 is an illustration of the standard I./KG26 lion insignia with a brown suitcase dangling from a rope below it. The caption says that this was used in 1940 by ground crews as a statement about how the unit was constantly moving from base to base

http://ihra.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Po...MCN15077-M.jpg

I've located photos of one or possibly two different a/c carrying this insignia. One is 1H+BH up on a wooden scaffold with the a/c either undergoing repair or salvage with the wings, engines and tail removed. It has the standard I./KG26 white and black lion unit insignia and a 1939-style fuselage cross. However, the "dangling suitcase" is white, rather than brown as in the Ketley illustration. The other photo shows an He111H from the same unit with a port main undercarriage collapse. The fuselage cross appears to post-date the mid-October, 1939 insignia change, so this would have more likely have been taken in Norway, whereas the first one may have been at a salvage dump on a German base. The second photo also shows a white suitcase dangling by a rope beneath the unit insignia.

I'd like to do a color profile of one or both of these a/c, but I need more information on the time, location and specifics of these two incidents.

Can anyone help?

Regards,