Messerschmitt 110 loss - May 1940, Sercus, France

[Andy Saunders]

Larry

I tend to rather favour the von Neumann loss at this stage, and in the absence of any other contender.

Whilst NE of Calais is a bit of a distance (and over the sea) do we know that the loss actually occurred there? Or was it just where the engagement took place?

It is only a theory, but if he had been hit then he may have been trying to get back to German lines and got as far as Sercus. It is possible, maybe, that he had been hit by fighters but was finished off by flak - as per the evidence found on the wreckage.If British and French forces were still on the ground in the area of Sercus then they perhaps picked up the survivor and took him with them to Dunkirk, where all ground forces were then converging?

Only a theory, and there is a danger of making something 'fit' when it could be way off track.

Do we know the last date that 2889 appears in the Flugbuch, Larry?

[Peter Cornwell]

Andy,

As far as I know, the German advance went through the Sercus area between 26-28 May 1940 so a tentative date of 27 May for the crash there seems like a good working hypothesis. If we also accept the potential 'hard evidence' of the suspected WNr.2889 and the fact that this can be linked (via the ALTMANN Flugbuch) to I./ZG52 two months earlier then there are four losses to consider on that date. I currently have these documented as follows:

Stab I./ZG52 Messerschmitt Bf110C. Shot down in combat with fighters of Nos. 56, 145, 601, and 610 Squadrons north-east of Calais 7.20 p.m. FF Lt Christian-Friedrich von Neumann (Gruppenadjutant) killed, BF Uffz Hermann Laudemann baled out and captured wounded - admitted to hospital in Dunkirk and later released. Aircraft 100% write-off.

I./ZG52 Messerschmitt Bf110C. Shot down in combat with fighters of Nos. 56, 145, 601, and 610 Squadrons north-east of Calais and abandoned over German-held territory 7.20 p.m. Crew baled out unhurt. Aircraft 100% write-off.
Possibly the aircraft excavated at Sercus, south-west of Hazebrouck. Werk Nummer ‘2889’ found on wreckage identifying it as on the strength of 1./ZG52 in March 1940 when coded A2+LH.

2./ZG52 Messerschmitt Bf110C. Shot down in combat with fighters of Nos. 56, 145, 601, and 610 Squadrons and crashed in the sea off Dunkirk 7.20 p.m. Possibly that claimed by S/L Franks of No. 610 Squadron. FF Lt Gerhard Borrmann and BF Uffz Hans Riebesell killed. Aircraft 100% write-off.
The body of Gerhard Borrmann was washed ashore near Calais on June 8, that of Hans Riebesell coming ashore near La Panne eleven days later.

2./ZG52 Messerschmitt Bf110C. Shot down in combat with fighters of Nos. 56, 145, 601, and 610 Squadrons off Dunkirk and crashed onto 125 Veurnestraat at De Panne 7.20 p.m. FF Uffz Karl Kübler and BF Obergefr Fritz Günther both killed. Aircraft 100% write-off.
The aircraft demolished the house killing 16 inhabitants. The bodies of Karl Kübler and Fritz Günther were subsequently recovered and now lie in Block 42 at Lommel in Graves 299 and 367 respectively.

Two of these can be discounted immediately while that of NEUMANN, in my opinion, also went into the Channel. To the best of my knowledge he remain 'missing' which would not be the case had he been recovered from the wreckage at Sercus. His gunner, LAUDEMANN was apparently treated in hospital at Dunkirk before being released during the German advance. This is consistent with his aircraft being lost somewhere over/off the coast.

So the identity of the 110 at Sercus remains elusive. However, it strikes me that if a body was indeed recovered from the wreckage there it should have received a local burial which opens an entirely new line of enquiry.

[Andy Saunders]

Peter

All very interesting.

On the basis of that, it would seem that none of the aircraft in your list can really be tied (even tentatively) to the Sercus crash.

I am convinced we have at least one casualty in the aircraft - although there was no evidence apart from one Luftwaffe flying-boot.

It is possible, of course, that any recovered body may have been buried as 'unknown'. (Thinks: Could that put Neumann back in the frame??)

I am going to ask my local French speaking researcher to visit the area again and speak to people in their native tongue who we visited previously in order to see what further clues we can perhaps establish, or else may have missed.

[Yellow 3]

Hello Andy,

Did you get any nearer a conclusion re. the identity of this Bf 110 since your last post?

I ask as I met a guy who told me about a Bf 110 wreckage recovered from a pond in the Bourbourg area of France in recent years, and I think it was probably your one at Sercus (20 miles SE of Bourbourg) as the details seem to be exactly the same (the farmer had put the wreckage in his pond, from where it was recovered, etc.)...and how many have been found in ponds in that area of France in recent years?! He had a section of wing spar of said aircraft.

He said he believed it was Oblt. Martin's aircraft of I./ZG1, 26.05.1940 (in which Martin (FF) was killed and Fw Kraft was captured wounded). I see that Oblt. Martin's aircraft was mentioned as a possibility early in this thread but prior to Larry's additional info on Wnr 2889. Martin's aircraft was recorded as belly-landing along the route to Gravelines, so I would not have thought the Sercus find was that one(?)

Hence my interest in this crash. I would be very glad to hear any additional info you have gleaned since Feb. 2012.

Regards,
James