Does anyone know info on Hauptmann Hajo Hermann, Staffelkapitan of 7/KG30

[Larry Hickey]

Jim,

We have these two incidents in the EoE Loss DB as:

10 April 1940: 7./KG4 Heinkel He111P. Landed with full bomb-load on short runway at Oslo-Fornebu and overran the end wrecking the undercarriage and eventually coming to rest off Oksenøyveien. FF Oberlt Hajo Herrmann and rest of crew all unhurt. Aircraft 5J+KR damage state not recorded.

We have four photos of this incident in the EoE Photo DB.

18 October 1940: 7./KG4 Junkers Ju88A-1 (4128). Crashed on dusk take-off from Amsterdam-Schiphol due to burst port tyre. FF Oberlt Hajo Herrmann (Staffelkapitän) fractured lumbar vertebra and concussed, BS Oberfw Helmut Stiefelhagen also badly injured, two other crewmen slightly injured – all admitted to hospital in Amsterdam. Aircraft 5J+AR 80% damaged - write-off.

Note that we have this listed as 18 October rather than 19 October. We have five photos of this FL in the EoE Photo DB, showing the a/c with the new 7 Staffel insignia. These photos were sold on eBay on 17.06.04.

Does anyone know the names, ranks and crew positions of the two slightly injured men on the crew of the 18 October incident?

Regards,

[bill norman]

Herrmann led a small force of 3 Ju88s of 7./KG4 against a target in Newcastle on Tyne in the late afternoon/early evening of 2 July 1940.. At about the same time, an enemy aircraft aimed four bombs at oil storage tanks at Jarrow. The bombs missed and exploded in a workers’ residential district, causing a number of casualties.

It is not known for certain whether the aircraft responsible was one of the Ju88s led by Hajo Herrmann. However, Military Intelligence in Newcastle suggested that one of those aircraft had retired out to sea, '..gained height, turned and glided from a bearing of about 70º from Jarrow in a direct line for the oil tanks, which were undoubtedly the target, (but) the bombs were released too late'.

When the three crews returned to Bad Zwischenahn they were interrogated by a Provost Marshal, who informed them that information from Hitler's Headquarters indicated that '.German aircraft had carried out a terror raid on the civilian population of Newcastle at about 5.00pm that day..' and that the Provost Marshal had been instructed to find out who was responsible.

Can anyone shed any more light on this incident: the crew/aircraft responsible, the consequences for the crew responsible...?

Bill Norman
(website: www.billnorman.co.uk)