Death of Maj Kurt Schede I/KG 50

[Adriano Baumgartner]

According to Dmitry Degtev and Dmitry Zubov (item 30 of Chapter 4 of the book “Hitler's Air Bridges: The Luftwaffe's Supply Operations of the Second World War”): “the fate of Major Kurt Schede became clear only after seventy-four years. At the end of 2016, the wreckage of a He 177 was found on the ravine near the village of Talovaya Balka (Svitlovodsky district of the Kirovograd area, now in Ukraine)”.

According to the Russian historians, only small fragments of the German bomber were found, but some included the nameplates and badge of the pilot, thus confirming this was the machine of Major Kurt Schede and his crew. Due to the bad weather at Zaporozhye, the crew may have opted to land at the reserve field, in Kirovograd. Apparently, the Bordfunker radioed that the airplane was fired at by anti-aircraft guns (AA), near Polyakovka, and crashed soon afterwards. The probable cause of their loss would be, therefore: “friendly fire”.

Does anyone knows the Historians who have dig out the remains of Major Schede and of his machine? Are there images of those items found on the place where the wreckage was found? Was he re-buried accordingly? What are the news from the Ukraine area about this He 177 finding?

Adriano