Kampfgruppe 100 Do217 loss France 26.7.44

[Theo Boiten]

Dear all,

Just got a bit more info re. the crash, from a short interview that my German contact did with the pilot Otto Sommer (who's currently in hospital and in bad health):

The Do217 was belly-landed at night, on 26 July 1944, place was in the vicinity of Deauville. The a/c belonged to 3. Staffel Kampfgruppe 100 z.b.V., take off was from Lorient. Otto Sommer stated that the unit had recently been established, the Do217s had previously seen service on the Ostfont and were not equipped with bomb sights. The Second Gruppe of KG100 was stationed at Lorient, the Third Gruppe in Vannes. The name of Sommer's Staffelkapitän was a Leutnant von Spöstrupp (?). During the operation on the night of 26 July 44, Sommer and his crew had attacked pontoons and other Allied sea craft immediately behind the Isle of Wight. His Bordschütze (name not known anymore, but coming from Cochem) was hit by Ack Ack shrapnel and one of his arms was badly burnt.

Sommer has no wartime documents, photos etc anymore, all he has left are his memories.

Perhaps this new info will help in finding out more about the incident, Sommer would especially like to know the names of his crew and what has become of them ..

Cheers, Theo