KG 54 loss - 10 May 1940

[Stijn David]

Hello,


Are there any losses known for the above named unit? Accordingly local history a plane of this unit crashed near Tielt/Ruiselede after it was severely damaged.


Cordial greetings and thanks in advance,

[Stijn David]

Hello,

According some sources the shot down plane on 10 May 1940 was the one from Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach, Volprecht Konrad (KG 54).

Can anyone give more details on the crash, such as:

* Time it crashed
* Worknr. (iff known)
* Plane Markings

Thanks in advance,

Stijn

[Hans Nauta]

Hello Stijn,

There's some excellent work for your book shelf: The Battle of France Then and Now by Peter Cornwell.

The entry at page 213 shows:

8./KG54 He 111P. Shot down by Hurricanes of Nos 3, 85 and 607 Sqdns during sortie to attack Wevelgem airfield and crashed at Ruiselede 07.30 p.m. Possibly that claimed by P/O Jay of No 607 Sqdn. Obergefr G. Flehmer killed. Oberlt V. Riedsel Fr zu Eisenbach, Fw W. Joest and Uffz E. Kreib captured wounded. Aircraft a write-off.

No Wnr or markings listed, likely also not on GQM returns or NVM's and thus not known.

Regards,
Hans

[Larry Hickey]

Stijn,

8./KG54 was devastated on 10 May, losing seven aircraft on the opening day of the Blitzkrieg, more than 50% of what would expected to be its strength that day. One fell in the Netherlands, but the other six came down in Belgium. Peter Cornwell's entry from the BoFrT&N has been improved and we presently carry this loss as:

"10 May 1940: 8./KG54 Heinkel He111P-2. Engaged by Hurricanes of Nos. 3, 85, 87 and 607 Squadrons near Courtrai during sortie to attack Wevelgem airfield and crashed in a field along the Groene Sprietstraat in Ruiselede, Belgium, at 7.30 p.m. Possibly that claimed by P/O Jay of No.607 Squadron. BF Obergefr Gerhard Flehmer killed, FF Oberlt Volprecht Riedesel Fr zu Eisenbach, HB Fw Werner Joest, and BM Uffz Eduard Kreiß captured wounded – later released. Aircraft 100% write-off."

Rudi Stessens is our KG54 expert for the "Eagles over Europe" Project. Our team has presently identified photos of two of these losses: B3+AS and B3+BS. We have photos of two more that were probably lost or FL on that day, B3+GS and B3+KS, to which we've never been able to assign a precise location or crew. No W.Nr. known for any of these seven losses.

If you either live in or are knowledgable about this area, you might be able to help us assign specific incidents to our photos, either of which could show the crash at Ruislede. What do you know about this crash? Do you have any photos? Do you live near Ruislede?

[Larry Hickey]

Stijn,

Need to make a correction here to my previous post. There were only six He111s lost from 8./KG54 that day. One of them was a duplicate entry in my DB.

[Larry Hickey]

Stijn,

Going over my notes on this one, here is a quote from an email from Peter Taghon regarding this crash:

"(Note: according to a 2/17/09 email from Peter Taghon: “I have never seen pictures of the 8/KG 54 crashes at Ruiselede, Morkhoven and Sluis. I visited the crash site in Ruiselede, and found several locals who seen the plane. They all told me it was set afire and nothing much was left of it."

So it would appear that the a/c was pretty well burned out, but we would still like to locate photos of the wreckage. Very likely at least some remnants remained after the fire, including probably the tail. Hope you can help us locate a photo of the remains of this a/c.

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Thank you guys for the reply. two pictures popped up recently in wich a He 111 that crashed is shown. The amrkings are unclear an dthe discussion is running.

Some persons claims the shown He 111 is the one that landed on 10 May near Ruiselede. Others date it to 27 May.

I will ask the owner to post them here. The pictures show belgian civilians standing arround a He 111. The plane was not set afire and seems quite well preserved. So it remains unclear wich He 111 now is actually shown. I report back as soon as i have more news.

Cordial greetings,

Stijn

[Larry Hickey]

Stijn,

I'm sure that we can ID any intact KG54 He111 down in Belgium, so if you'll post the photos or send scans directly, we can help. I'm sure that we have well over a hundred photos of KG54 He111s that FL relatively intact during the WC, so I'll be totally surprised if it is one that is unfamiliar to us. If I can't ID it for you, Rudi Stessens can. It is probably either B3+BK, B3+FK or B3+GK, if it came down on intact on 27.05.40.

Regards,

[Stijn David]

Hi Larry,

As requested and with the permission of the owner (Thanks - Filip Dumon!). Here are the two pictures of the downed He 111.

Cordial greetings,

[Larry Hickey]

Stijn,

This is what we carry in the EoE LW DB for this incident:

27 May 1940: 5./KG54 Heinkel He111P-2. Badly damaged by Hurricanes of No.56 Squadron over Nieuport and belly-landed between Tielt and Kanegem 4.20 p.m. Possibly that attacked by S/L E.V. Knowles and Sgt R.D. Baker. FF Uffz Erwin Stobbe captured badly wounded - died May 31, BF Uffz Theodor Bolle captured wounded, BO Oberlt Wilfried Gerling and BM Uffz Gerhard Ulke both captured unhurt – all later released. Aircraft B3+FN 100% write-off."

I have the first photo already in our photo DB. It was published in "The Battle of France Then and Now" by Peter Cornwell P387. Our copy is cropped about half way down the fuselage. The second photo is new to me. Would it be possible to obtain high resolution (600 dpi) images of both of these?