Me 110 expert help wanted!!!

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Excellent photos. I don't see mountains in the background, so I can't ID it as Norway, although the unit went there after the Battle of Britain. This is definitely an "ace" with 5./ZG76, probably in the late summer or fall of 1940. The white/yellow gun bay cover on the nose was first applied during the Battle of Britain in early September, 1940, and was also used later by the Gruppe as well. So this is not earlier than the first week of September, 1940. W.Nr. 3441 identifies it as a C-model, but John Vasco can probably home in on the subtype better than I can. I'm guessing that this was taken during the Battle of Britian about early to mid-Sept, 1940. The seven victory tabs narrows down the possibility of who it is by a lot: Oblt. Wilhelm Hobein and Fw Karl Langenberg would both be possibilities. Hobein reached his 7th victory on 4.9.40, then went on to claim an 8th on 7.4.40, so he had 7 victories for a very short time. Langenberg, scored his 7th on Sept. 11th and then got an 8th on 15.9.1940. Thereafter neither scored any more during the Battle of Britain. On initial look, it appears that this aircraft carries seven victory tabs, but on closer examination, it may have an 8th. If it, if fact, carried 8 tabs, then this could be anytime from early Sept., 1940, into the fall or even early winter of 1940 in Norway. The aircraft of Hobein and Langenberg are not well known, so your photos are definitely important. I would appreciate the opportunity to obtain a higher quality scans of both. Please contact me on the Personal Message board on this site.

Regards,