KG 53 Heinkel He 111 Crash

[Richard Mills]

Is anyone able to identify the details of the attached Kampfgeschwader 53 Heinkel He 111 apparently crash anded in a field?

Any details as to the aircraft and crew will be very well recieved indeed, many thanks.

Regards Richard.

[Larry Hickey]

Richard,

I've scanned all the KG53 Loss Listings (which include all known FL and damages), for the late fall and winter of 1939-40, and found only this serious candidate:

"7 March 1940: I./KG53 Heinkel He111H-2. Landed outside airfield boundary during night landing at Roth. No crew casualties. Aircraft 10% damaged – repairable."

The a/c in the photo appears to be coded A1+DB, which makes it the Gruppenstab of I./KG53, so this could match. March was a snowy month in parts of Germany so that fits. However, this entry suggests that the a/c might have landed on its wheels and not on its belly, which may well have done more than 10% damage. However, the damage estimates are no always completely accurate. Other codes and markings could be compatible with this date. I don't think that this would have been the winter of 1940-41.

All other entries over the winter of 1939-40 were to the Geschwaderstab or individual Staffel of KG53, and wouldn't fit the unit codes, although there were other belly landings.

Hope we can solve this one.

Regards,

[Chris Goss]

I too have a series of photos of a crash-landed KG 53 ac in a snowy landscape but in this case, it has one leg down and one up. As we have found out already, the problem is KG 53 appears to have been lax in reporting such incidents

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

The Balkenkreuz looks late war to me. Simplified version rather than the black/white standard in 40/41.

Regards,
Norbert

[Richard Mills]

Thank you for your respective replies.

I have attached the remaining photos which relate to the crash of the Heinkel He 111. Hopefully, there might be enough information to say with certainty exactly which aircraft this is.

Furthermore, I can also state that the photos came from the estate of a KG 53 Bordfunker who served with both I./KG 53 (circa Sep-39 - April-41) and also IV./KG 53 (April-41 to March-43).

Regards Richard.

[Larry Hickey]

Richard,

Based upon the career of the source BF, I would opt for Stab I./KG53 during the winter of 1939-40. I./KG53 was active over Britain during The Blitz over the winter of 1940-41, and a/c from this period would almost certainly have carried black night camouflage on the undersurfaces and fuselage sides, which this a/c does not appear to have. It also does not carry any theater fuselage bands for service against the Soviet Union during later winter years. In the original photo, it just may be possible to read the W.Nr. visible on the tail, which would give some clue as to its original manufacture date, if readable. The prop spinners are unusual but consistent with a Gruppenstab with white, red and yellow concentric rings, representing the component Staffel colors.

I've got a photo in the EoE photo DB of a I Gruppenstab a/c, A1+BB, that is dated by its markings as late 1939 or early 1940, and has this same marking on its prop spinners. Although it has a 1939-style fuselage cross, by this time the Gruppe 4th code letter "B" was thinly outlined in white, which the subject of your photo does not have. This suggests to me that it is from the same general period, but was before I./KG53 adopted the practice of outlining the 4th letter in white. On one of my photos of A1+BB the I./KG53 insignia is visible on the starboard fuselage below the cockpit area, which your photo does not display. My two photos of this a/c are probably the same crack up to which Chris Goss refers to in his post above. If he has any info on the date, place and possibly crew of his photos, I'd appreciate knowing this.

Richard, does this source collection contain any FB?

This is my best analysis.

[Richard Mills]

Larry

Thank you for your very detailed reply, unfortunately the Flugbuch is not present with the document grouping.

I have tried scanning the image of the Werk Nr. up to 1200 dpi however, even at that resoloution it is not discernible to understand.

Thank you again for your help, hopefully others might be able to contribute further also.

Regards Richard.

PS.
Larry, if you clear your PM box, I shall PM you concerning the images of the crash.