he177 losses query

[damian]

Brett Green over at hyperscale is doing a build of a Mosquito NF.XVII attached to 456 Sqn. RAAF. This aircraft apparently shot down two Heinkel He 177s on the night of 6/7 June 1944. Does anyone know what unit these aircraft would have been from? If so what markings would they have had? It's a long shot but it would be interesting to build one of these from an Aussie perspective.

[Brian]

Hi Damien

456 Squadron claimed four He177s on this night, two falling to Flg Off Fred Stevens and Flg Off Andy Kellett in HK290/RX-J.

In fact, five He177s were lost:
F8+MH (550206) of 1/KG40 Oblt Siegfried Muller and crew
F8+KK (550197) of 2/KG40 Obfw Hans Timm and crew
F8+LK (535731) of 2/KG40 Obfhr Wolfgang Bernrider and crew
F8+IN (550117) of 5/KG40 Oblt Jurgen Hanke and crew
? 5/KG40 Obfw Hans Muller and crew

Hope this helps. For more information see 'Diver! Diver! Diver!' just published.

Cheers
Brian

[Peter D Evans]

Hi Damian,

These are all I can find for the 6th/7th June 1944 as reproduced from Appendix 6 of "Heinkel He177-277-274" by M.Griehl & J.Dressel [Airlife, 1998]

07-06-44 - WNr.550117 - He177A-5 coded F8+HN of 5./KG40 - MIA
07-06-44 - WNr.550198 - He177A-5 coded F8+BK of 2./KG40 - Fighter Kill
07-06-44 - WNr.550204 - He177A-5 coded F8+FK of 2./KG40 - Fighter Kill
07-06-44 - WNr.550206 - He177A-5 coded F8+MH of 1./KG40 - MIA

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[Peter D Evans]

We must have been posting at the same time Brian

A quick question - with regards WNr.535731, Griehl & Dressel have this down as a He177A-3 MIA on 08-06-44. Is your data/source more up to date?

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[damian]

thanks for that, much appreciated!

[Brian Bines]

NVM shows 535731 as an A3 the date was typed in as 8.6.44 but the 8 has been changed in ink to a 7,

Regards

Brian Bines

[damian]

are there any good references for camouflage schemes for these aircraft? I have a good japanese book on the he177 but it is more technical in nature.

[Peter D Evans]

Originally Posted by Brian Bines

NVM shows 535731 as an A3 the date was typed in as 8.6.44 but the 8 has been changed in ink to a 7,

Thanks Brian... I'll amend my entry in the Greihl/Dressel book to match

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[Stig Jarlevik]

Gentlemen

We have a problem

Brian (Cull)
What is your sources for 5 down on the night of 6-7 June? Comparing your list with the one quoted by Peter from Griehl's book we now have 6 down!

If Brian (Bines) statement is correct the 5th down could be either 550197 (listed as lost on the 8th) or 550204 (listed as lost on the 7th and I suppose the best candidate)

You also state the code for 550117 was F8+IN while Griehl say F8+HN. How come?

Cheers
Stig

[Chris Goss]

The problem we have is any losses before midnight would be down as 6 Jun; after 7 Jun. Thus I have:

7 Jun: MH/550206/1/KG 40/Mueller
7 Jun: FK/550204/2/KG 40/Hein (shot down & crashed at St Laurent)
7 Jun: KK/550197/2/KG 40/Timm
7 Jun: LK/535731/2/KG 40/Bernrieder
7 Jun: 5/KG 40/Mueller
7 Jun: 5/KG 40/Hanke

There are 2 losses for 8 Jun

Trouble is II/KG 40 did not list Wk Nr etc