Captured Seaplanes on the Schlei inlet (Schleswig)

[ChristianK]

Here is a nice find from today: http://www.duettundatt.de/coppermine..._display_media
Although at least two of these photos are known, the rest (to me) are not.

The most interesting plane can be found in the background of one of these shots - it's a He 115 from 3./KG 200 and it's a new one! It's not the same which can be seen e.g. on page 89 in Thomas&Ketley's "KG 200", because it doesn't feature the modified canopy and black undersides.
Any idea about its full code or any hints from written sources? Can it be A3+AE perhaps?

Cheers,
Christian

[ChrisMAg2]

Hi,
to me the code looks like A3+DE.

[ChristianK]

Hi Chris,

that's what puzzles me - In their KG 200-book, Thomas and Ketley write that this other, modified Heinkel carried the A3+DE code. I always found that kind of incomprehensible, as the plane in their photo pretty much had an "E" or possibly a "B" in third position ... (By the way: The fact that this one beached Do 24 was also marked A3+EE makes the whole thing not less confusing)

Can it be that a He 115 "A3+DE" appeared in some intelligence document on Schleswig or on 3./KG 200 and the authors just allocated this code to the plane they had a photo of? And that it is actually the plane in our new photo?

Any thoughts or data on this?

[obdl3945]

Hi...

A quick look at Barry Rosch's Luftwaffe Codes, Markings & Units 1939-1945 (Schiffer), p.16, shows that all of the selection of KG200 aircraft listed there, with only a few exceptions, have B, C, D, E & F as the last letter. The types range from captured B17s to an Italian SM75

Might this be one of the many anomalies of the Luftwaffe coding practice? I note that 'traditionally', these letters would have been used to denote I. to V.Gruppenstab flights.

Regards,

Paul

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by obdl3945

Might this be one of the many anomalies of the Luftwaffe coding practice? I note that 'traditionally', these letters would have been used to denote I. to V.Gruppenstab flights.

Regards,

Paul

The structure of KG 200 was definitely an anomaly.

B-17s, B-24, Ar 232 and Ju 290s of the 2. Staffel were A3+_B; Ju 188s of the 4. Staffel's Kdo. Carmen and Kdo. Olga were A3+_D. That makes a kind of sense. But Fw 190s of Sonderverband Einhorn included A3+MA and A3+LX. There are photos of other 190s: A3+LV (Staffel unknown) and A3+18 (11./KG 200).