Meaning of name "Herlha" on a KG27 He111 possibly down in the Netherlands?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Today on eBay a photo of an He111 was auctioned with the name or partial name "Herlha" painted below the cockpit, and an elaborate drawing of a crusader-type knight on the fuselage before the cross. It is captioned by the source as being FL in Holland. I know that this "knight" insignia has been illustrated in the Walter Waiss book on KG27 (Boelcke-Archiv), Vol III, P.267. Does anyone have any other photos of this FL, or know the meaning of the word "Herlha" in German? Is this a person's name, a place, or some cultural expression? Any further info on this aircraft would be greatly appreciated, especially any further info on the FL incident. The condition of the trees in the background suggest fall or winter, not the Western Campaign, and the markings are more appropriate to late-1939-early 1940. My notes suggest 3./KG27, which may be supported by a yellow a/c letter in the fuselage code on this eBay image.

The auction info for this FL is:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290308485128


Regards,

[RudiS]

Hi Larry,

please see thsi thread over at the LEMB: http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/fo...topic=7856&hl=

Kind regards,
Rudi.

[Larry Hickey]

Rudi,

Thanks for pointing me to that thread on the luftwaffe-experten board. I've added my own reply to that thread, which has some misinformation. It appears that the photo of 1G+HL force-landed in "Holland," either came down in Poland or near Vechta. As noted in the thread about this, Vechta is situated in N-Germany, some 70 km s/w from Bremen.

Does anyone else have any ideas about this one?

Regards,



Regards,

Larry

[robert]

Hi Larry,

I think this name is "Hertha" for H. Other photos of this seller auctioned at this time showed He 111s from KG4. I think this photo was taken most likely in Germany.

Regards

Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Robert,

Thanks. I think that that is the most likely conclusion. Now to find a candidate for it during the losses for the winter of 1939-40 in our EOE data base.

Regards,

[robert]

Hi,

another E-bay photo reveals that this is most likely G1+HL or 1G+HK with huge emblem of a knight.

Regards

Robert

[robert]

Perhaps this is this He 111, which f/l on 07.09.39 in Insterburg due to flak damages?

Robert