German losses at Sola on 17 April 1940

[Matti Salonen]

According to my files He 59, 2796 was destroyed on 17 Apr 1940 at Stavanger-Sola-See and 2797 was damaged (reported 100 %, but flown later) on 3 May 1940 at Drontheim (Trondheim), but I might be wrong.

Matti

I'v checked my sources a little bit more closely, and this what I have recorded on April 17th losses:

17.04.1940 I./ZG 76 Sola, Take off crash, Bf 110C, 90 %
17.04.1940 III./KGzbv1 Kristiansand, Missing, Ju 52, 100 %
17.04.1940 I./KG 30 Jonsvann, Crash, Ju 88A1, 100 %
17.04.1940 1./106 Sola, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 115 Wnr. 1878 100 %
17.04.1940 1./106 Sola, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 115 Wnr. 1879 100 %
17.04.1940 1./106 Sola, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 115 Wnr. 1898 100 %
17.04.1940 1./106 Sola, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 115 Wnr. 2087 100 %
17.04.1940 2./106 Haugesund, Emergency landing, Do 18 100 %
17.04.1940 1./406 North Sea, Shoot down, Do 18 Wnr. 836 100 %, crew MIA
17.04.1940 KGzbv 102 Schweden, Emergency landing, Ju 52 100 %
17.04.1940 KGzbv 108 Sola See, Flak (friendly), Bv 138 60 %
17.04.1940 ?/108 Bergen, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 59 Wnr. 1834 100%
17.04.1940 KGzbv 108 Sola See, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 59 Wnr. 1898 100%
17.04.1940 KGzbv 108 Sola See, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 59 Wnr. 2796 100 %
17.04.1940 KGzbv 108 Sola See, Enemy fire (on Ground), He 59 100% CORRECT?

Sorry for the confusion in my first posting. Could someone shed some light on the last He 59? It also seems to be confusion on Wnr. 1898, as both He 59 and He 115 are listed with this number. The offical german loss document is of poor quality and very difficult to read. According to Lagebericht (Lw) at OKW, 4 He 59 were lost at Sola-See.

Kjetil

According to RL2III/884 the Lw losses in Denmark and Norway 17th April 1940:

KGzbv 108: 4 He 59 (3 in Stavanger and 1 in Bergen).
KGzbv 108: 2 Ju 52
KGzbv 108: 1 Bv 138
KGzbv 102: 1 Ju 52
1./KuFlGr 106: 4 He 115
2./KuFlGr 106: 1 Do 18
Teilstaffel 1/196: 2 Ar 196
Teilstaffel 5/ 196: 3 Ar 196
I/KG 30: 1 Ju 88
I/ZG 76: 1 Bf 110C

Kjetil

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Regarding the TO crash of Bf110C-1 M8+CL:

"17 April 1940: 3./ZG76 Messerschmitt Bf110C-1. Wrecked in take-off accident during naval bombardment at Stavanger-Sola by cruiser Suffolk 7.50 a.m. Crew believed unhurt. Aircraft M8+CL 90% damaged - write-off."

Can anyone supply the names of the crew during the incident, or any photos of the crash? I have several photos of this a/c in the EoE Photo DB, but none depicting the crash.

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, all

Regarding the He 59s, the first message is referenced as coming from the SKL, stating that 4 He 59 was destroyed 'on the ground' in Stavanger - I believe that the later losses as reported by KGzbV 108 stating that only 3 aircraft were indeed damaged in Stavanger is correct.

For the full text the first message reads:

SKL teilt mit, daß bei Beschiessung auf Stavanger am 17.IV. vier He 59 am Boden vernichtet, Besatzungen unverletzt; 2 He 115 beschädigt und die Anlagen Seeflugplatz Stavanger schwer beschädigt wurden.

Later; referenced from the wire transfer to LZGr See:

Flugzeugverluste KG zbV 108 bis 21.IV.40:

Am 17.IV. He 59 W.Nr. 1834, 1898 und 2796 verbrannt in Stavanger, bei Artilleriebeschiessung. He 59 W.Nr. 2856 am 1.IV. verbrannt in Bergen bei Luftangriff.

I am VERY certain that no He 59 was destroyed in Bergen due to an aerial attack on April 1st - thus I believe this is a typo and the last He 59 lost (but not in Stavanger, in Bergen) was WNr 2856. But we still have to decide on which date!

This also correspond with the entries in the RL 2 III 884, were the entry for KG zbV 108 for April 17th reads:

He 59 3 Totalverlust Stavanger Fdl.Beschuss
He 59 1 Totalverlust Bergen Fdl.Luftangriff

But in the GenQu 6 Abt records the He 59 WNr 2856 is referenced as being destroyed on April 21st, not on the 17th.

RL 2 III 884 has no KG zbV 108 loss for April 21st...

We will just have to dig out on which date there was an air raid on Bergen - hopefully not on both April 17th and April 21st - this far it seems I can only find reference to Bomber Command attacking Bergen on the 17th

Regards,
Andreas B

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I'm going to leave it to Peter Cornwell to sort out the LW losses at Sola on 17 April for the EoE Working Group. I'm going to concentrate on the photo coverage of this action.

When I run the EoE Photo DB for 17.04.40, not one photo comes up with a damaged or destroyed LW a/c on that date. I suspect that there are a lot of photos out there, but that they have never been attributed to this specific date or location

When I run Sola AF, Stavanger, Norway, I get a lot of hits, including a number of crashes and wrecks, but many of these are of types not lost on April 17th. As would be expected for a busy wartime airfield, there was a large aircraft wreck dump at Sola, so many of the aircraft lost on April 17th are probably among the piles of wreckage. What is most needed is photos of the wrecks in situ on or about the time of the incidents. I'm not sure whether the seaplane losses would have ended up at the airfield wreck dump.

So I ask the help of all of you in acquiring and identifying photos from this action at Sola, including photos that may relate to the British warship (HMS Suffolk), conducting part of the attack that day.

Who can help?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Guys

However the problem with the Heinkel WNr 1898 remains.
It can't be both a He 115 and a He 59

Cheers
Stig

[udf_00]

Internet dump :
http://www.world-war.co.uk/duck.php3
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=43029

http://krigsbilder.net/coppermine/search.php
search for Sola 1940

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Hi,
1898 is definitely a He 115. The WNr. block for the He 59 ends with 1855 and then restart with 1974.

Regards,
Norbert

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Norbert

Well, Seaplanes knows his business....

Cheers
Stig