He 177 lost over Corsica in Jan/Feb 1944

[mjbollinger]

A He 177 from II./KG 40 crashed near Novella, Corsica sometime early in 1944, most likely in the last week of January while heading toward Anzio on an attack mission. It may have been shot down or it may have had other problems.

I'd like to try to identify this aircraft. It might be one of the following:

23 Jan
1: Hpt Kobrink / 4./KG40 / aircraft unknown: all missing
2: Oblt Paul Dietrich / 4./KG 40 / F8+AM: 5 POW 1 missing; shot down by two Beaufighters

24 Jan
1. Hpt Ebersberger / 5./KG40 / aircraft unknown: all missing
2. Oblt Fritz Hoppe / 5./KG 40 / F8+NN: 1 POW 4 missing 2 returned to German lines; shot down by Beaufighter

26 Jan
1: Lt Siegfried Bonacker / 6./KG 40 / aircraft unknown: all killed; engine failure
2: Hptm Paul Hofmann / 6./KG 40 / aircraft unknown: all missing

Can anyone shed light on this?

Thanks

Marty

[Chris Goss]

Unfortuntately, the only locations are Hoppe's 2km north of Nettuno and Dietrich's off Corsica

[Brian Bines]

The 'K' report states that the surviving crew of Oblt. Dietrich's aircraft said their aircraft came down in the sea near Cape Corso (crew taken POW next day near Bastia), but French reports said remnants of an aircraft believed to be the same one came down on land near Urtaca Corsica. A local researcher said parts of this aircraft have been used to repair some out-buildings near the crash site, and that local people reported at the time that the aircraft was coming from the direction of Cape Corso prior to the crash. Looking on the Google map Novella and Urtaca are next to each other,

Regards

Brian Bines

[mjbollinger]

Chris / Brian,

This is excellent. It fits with the known facts.

The aircraft was carrying two Hs 293 missiles which were recovered (in pieces) and which provided important clues to the development of advanced countermeasures.

Thanks

Marty

[Nick Beale]

National Archives file AIR24/950:

Technical Intelligence Report 950

He 177 with two Hs 293 crashed in Corsica approx 19.50 hrs. on 24 January 1944.

Picked up on radar at 19.15 heading west. Beaufighter achieved visual contact at about 10,000 ft., after two bursts the He 177 caught fire and crashed. There was a loud explosion and the sky was brightly lit for some time (possibly through the ignition of flares on board). The aircraft fell on the west bank of the River Ostriconi, 4 miles north east of Palaoza [?].

2 dead and 5 prisoners.

The aircraft was marked F8+AM (the F8 being overpainted on a large "P").

[mjbollinger]

Thanks, Nick.

Many thanks to all of your for your help.

By the way, my book is 98% done. Working title is "A Year of Warriors and Wizards: The Development and Defeat of German Radio-Controlled Glide Bombs in WWII." Just finished calculations for multipath interference -- something the German designers didn't understand but which vastly reduced the effectiveness of the Kehl-Strassburg system.

If anyone has thoughts as to potential publishers, please let me know. I plan to send it to Naval Institute Press but I'm always on the lookout for other publishers.

Finally, if anyone wants to review the draft manuscript for potential errors, let me know as well. It now runs almost 400 pages including bibliography and endnotes.

Best regards

Marty