September 6th or 7th 1940 - Loss of He 111 6912 A1+AB of Stab/KG53

[Peter Cook]

I am trying to establish the correct date for the loss of He 111 6912 A1+AB of Stab/KG53. Parker, Parry and several other sources locate it on September 6th 1940, stating that it was attacked by fighters and crashed into the sea. But there were no claims for He 111s on this date, except for a misidentification of a Ju 88 by Sgt Karubin of 303 Squadron. The He 111 pilot was Ofw Martin Winter, and author Heinz Kiehl reproduces a lenghty account by Winter in Kampfgeschwader 53 "Legion Condor", p. 90-1, in which he clearly states that he took part in the attack on the King George dock in London on September 7th. I believe that the confusion occurred because Winter and two other survivors were rescued from the sea and became PoWs on September 9th.

Any thoughts?

[Chris Goss]

Quartermasters state loss was 7 September 1940 and the unit, as per code, was Stab I./KG 53

[Stig Jarlevik]

Which rather begs the question why the authors you quote stated the 6th.

Just repeating earlier errors such as Mason perhaps?

Cheers
Stig

[Peter Cook]

Thanks Chris, and I think you are right Stig, that it began with Mason, but Parker's Luftwaffe Crash Archive is usually pretty accurate because he used RAF Intelligence Reports, based on PoW crew interviews. The report may have been an example of misinformation because Parker states 'Started from an aerodrome in northern France at 16.30 hrs with a mission stated to be weather reconnaissance over East Anglia' – but Winter's own account clearly describes him taking part in the attack on London on the 7th.

[robert]

Hi Peter,

it had been lost to the RAF fighters of 257 Sqn during the mission to attack London on 7.9.40 between 16.05-19.17 hrs (German time).

Robert