Trying to ID photo of He111, poss 1H+KK on beach Norway or France? 1940?

[Peter D Evans]

Hi Larry...

Possible candidate from Barry Rosch's "work in progress" Luftwaffe database:

He111H-5, WNr.3782 coded 1H+KK of 2./KG26 - Crashed, cause unknown, Pl.Qu.7 Ost 915, Finland on 5th Sept'41 - Fw.Heinrich Geil (Bm) WIA, rest of the crew OK [Gen.Qu.6.Abt. (mfm #4)-Vol. 6; Valtonen, LW Pohjoinen Sivusta, p.361]

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[Larry Hickey]

Peter,

Thanx. We'll definitely investigate that possibility.

Regards,

[robert]

Hi,

might be:
29.1.40 which crash-landed on Westerland damaged by fighters from no.43 Sqn.

Regards

Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

According to the EoE Luft Loss DB:

January 29, 1940: 2./KG26 Heinkel He111H-3. Crashed on landing at Westerland undercarriage damaged by enemy action during anti-shipping sortie. Possibly that engaged by Hurricanes of Red Section of No. 43 Squadron (F/L C. B. Hull, P/O H. L. North, and Sgt F. R. Carey) south-east of Hartlepool 9.45 a.m. Crew unhurt. Aircraft 20% damaged but repairable."

This one is an H-3 and down at Westerland on the island of Sylt, in the North Sea off the NW coast of Germany. The crash a year-and-a-half later in Finland was an H-5. Can anyone look at the posted photos and tell which subtype they show? I agree with Robert that the 29.01.40 loss is a good candidate. Does anyone have any further information on that incident which would support a decision as to whether this could be the loss in question? Clearly it would have been coded 1H+_K. The eastern edge of the modern AF at Sylt (next to Westerland) is only about 500 meters from the beach on that side of the island, so a pilot trying to land there with a damaged undercarriage might well have elected to set down on the adjacent beach.

Regards,



Regards,

[ChrisS]

Yes Larry KG26, my dyslexic mistake .

Hard to tell in any of the photographs which H model it is. In particular there is no side armament showing but there is also no nose MG, so my guess is that they have both been removed post pancake. If the side MG17 was present then I would have said H-3 but.........

[Delmenhorst]

Sylt, January 1940. The terrain looks like Sylt and the painting of the plane is a very early type. Besides that, I think that I have seen the picture somewhere before (from my childhood and I grew up just across the border).

[edwest]

I have no photo to add, but this fragment of information:


http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=22344





Ed

[Larry Hickey]

Demenhorst,

Thanx for your comments. The camo and markings also look to me to be very early. I think that Robert has the most likely solution with the 29.01.40 forced landing at Westerland. Somewhere out there must be some further info/photos of this incident. This will make an excellent color profile if we can confirm the date. We are unlikely to learn the names of the crewmen, but I'm ever hopeful. The 20% loss reported for thatd date looks consistent with the damage seen in the photos. The rifle caliber bullet holes in the starboard fuselage side are also consistent with damage in an air combat with British fighters. It seems to me to fit.

Ed, as always, thanx for your comments as well.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello all,

Peter Cornwell has now evaluated all the evidence on this one and concluded as follows:

"January 29, 1940: 2./KG26 Heinkel He111H-3. Belly-landed on beach at Westerland on return with undercarriage damaged in action during anti-shipping sortie and believed that engaged by Red Section of No.43 Squadron (F/L C.B. Hull, P/O H.L. North, and Sgt F.R. Carey) south-east of Hartlepool 9.45 a.m. Crew all unhurt. Aircraft 1H+KK 20% damaged but repairable."

The additional photo provided by Chris S, which we had in the EoE photo DB but had not previously associated with this incident, proved decisive, and Robert's research settled the issue for Peter. This is a great example of how the mutual cooperation of many people working together can settle issues that no single researcher can hope to resolve on their own, at least in any reasonable time frame This will probably now be one of our EoE Profile a/c, representing 2./KG26, for the "Phoney War" in the EoE book series. Thanks to you all for your help.

Regards,