Oberst Johannes Fink KG2 1940

[Brian]

Hi guys

I note that Oberst Fink's KG2 Do17 sustained damage on 7 September 1940 during a sortie to London. According to Alexander McKee in 'Strike from the Sky', every member of his crew was wounded. Although its not recorded in 'After the Battle Now & Then', it appears to be shown in Mason's 'Battle over Britain' since he has A5+CA (WrkNr 2674) of Stab/KG2 as 10% damaged with two wounded. Is this a correct assumption? Has anyone full crew details and casualties?

It is not clear (to me) from McKee's account if Fink's aircraft was damaged by fighters, AA or by fire from another Dornier (see p.201 of paperback version). Any comment would be appreciated.

Cheers
Brian

[Chris Goss]

Brian: Beware Mason! According to the KG 2 history, U5+CA/2674 suffered 10% damage due to fighters, Uffz Andreas Klausmann (BM) wounded; there is no mention of Fink. There were 2 other casualtiesa 4 Staffel machine crashing at St Omer on return with the deaths of all crew and a 9 Staffel machine suffereing a wounded BM

[Christer Bergström]

Chris is absolutely right. The entry in Balke's KG 2 history matches with the returns to the Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe, and the flight engineer Uffz. Andreas Klausmann was injured.

It is planned to include a complete and detailed list of every aircraft loss on both sides in my forthcoming book on the Battle of Britain. I have all the necessary information, but the assistant at the publishing house who was going to compile all of my material into legible lists will not be able to finish the indeed ardous work in time for the Swedish edition (which is scheduled to be published next month), so we are hoping to have those lists in the English edition instead (due to be published early 2007, titled "Battle of Britain").

[Brian]

Hi Chris and Christer

Yes, I am aware of the failings in Mason's work, but Alexander McKee in 'Strike from the Sky' - where the incident is recorded - had interviewed or corresponded with Johannes Fink, so one would assume there must be some foundation in the story!

Cheers
Brian

[Christer Bergström]

Yes, there is no reason to doubt McKee.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Christer Bergström

Yes, there is no reason to doubt McKee.

And, whatever its failings in the light of later rersearch, Mason's seemed a pretty amazing book when it first came out (at least it was for me) so let's not be too hard on the guy!

[steve sheridan]

Yes indeed Nick,
When Masons book first came out, I remember reading it for weeks!
i can say in all honesty, that this work was instrumental, in my interest in all things Luftwaffe!

Really looking forward to Christer Bergstrom's new publication too, on the BoB.

Best regards,
Steve

[Brian]

Hi Nick and Steve

I wholeheartedly agree - I still regularly refer to it, just bearing in mind that its not the BoB bible.

Cheers
Brian

[steve sheridan]

Brian,
Yes me too!
I still cannot believe that there's no plans , to publish an up to date version of... the other bible! The Battle of Britain Then and Now. Surely with the amount of recoveries, interest , and research in recent years, this would have been warranted.

Just out of interest, i am really surprised that so little information regarding the Battle of Britain, with particular emphasis on the RAF ORB 541 daily logs, from all the operational squadrons, as failed to come to light, on the internet.
There is so little information available, that for me, it means a near 300 mile round trip to Kew, to gather information .
Luftwaffe operations combats, claims and losses, generally speaking, are quite freely available on the net, with such wonderful sites like these,
that in comparison, there is little on the RAF side of things.
I dont know what other people think about this, perhaps its just me!
Best regs,
Steve.

[Brian]

Yes, Steve, it is strange that so little is available online. I, too, have quite a lengthy and time-consuming journey to the PRO.

For what it's worth, I have for many years been working on the BoB in co-operation with Bruce Lander, and we do have plans for publication in the not-too-distant future, but a lot depends on the time factor. I have a number of writing commitments (I usually work on two or three books simultaneously!!), so cannot be more precise. Stay around for a few more years!!

Cheers
Brian