6/KG4 Heinkel He 111P-4 (3085) - Crash 1941

[obdl3945]

Hi, Neil...

I was just browsing through some earlier postings and noticed you hadn't had any responses to this.

The undernoted information is from the colourfully named South Shields Sanddancers site, which is seemingly a forum for local news and information relating to that area of the country:

http://forum.southshields-sanddancer...t=1797&p=29793

You can find quite a lot of information if you do Google searches, albeit you have to spend some time juggling names, details etc before you're lucky enough to get a result. I simply entered: Heinz Styra, KG4, and it led me to the site. The undernoted is from the second posting when you scroll down:

...aircrew who were lost on February 16th, 1941. The aircraft was a Heinkel He-111P-4, Wnr.3085 and coded 5J+GP. The aircraft was from II /KG 4 and was listed as was missing at February 14th, 1941. The aircraft was hit by AA fire then struck balloon cable. It then crashed at Bent's Park, South Shields. Obfw. Beetz baled out but was killed when he landed on trolley-bus wires.

The crew were -

Hptm Heinz Styra
Ofw. Wilhelm Beetz,
Uffz Karl Brutzen,
Uffz Helmut Jeckstadt,
Gefr. Franz-Friedrich Janeschitz,


All of this information is according to the German Loss List

I tried the subsequent link given on the posting, but it didn't relate to anything obviously helpful in respect of a German loss list. The aircraft code of 5J+GP narrows it down to an aircraft of 6.Staffel, II.Gruppe/KG4, which carried the title 'General Wever'. Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945, Vol.1 by H L de Zeng and D Stankey (Midland Publishing), states that II.Gruppe/KG4 moved to Soesterberg, Holland, at the end of September/beginning of October 1940 and remained there through to late March 1941, prior to relocating to Wien-Aspern in preparation for the Balkans campaign.

Given the amount of detail relating to this crew's (and the aircraft's) demise, though, it may be that someone else on this forum would be able to oblige you as to where the machine was manufactured, and perhaps some further information about the crew. Hopefully, by way of this posting, it will prompt others to dig a little deeper for some info/photos. Happy hunting... !

Regards...