Seeking photos/info on two He111's shot down near Goudswaard, Netherlands on May 10, 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Several members of the EOE WG are concentrating on Luftwaffe losses during the first five days of the WC (May 10-14, 1940), including photo verifications of these losses. We're having a lot of success with this, but I'm still having trouble pinning down two He111 crashes on May 10th:

1) 2./KG4 Heinkel He111P-2 (4570). Shot down by Fokker G1 of 3-II-1 5 km south of Dordrecht and crash-landed between Goudswaard and Piershil (the Netherlands) 4.15 a.m. BF Gefr Heinz Pälchen and BM Gefr Kurt Klemm badly wounded, rest of crew unhurt. Aircraft destroyed by crew 100% write-off. (Note Goudswaard is roughly 50 miles east of Rotterdam.)

2) 9./KG4 Heinkel He111P-2 (1591). Failed to return from attack on Bergen and crashed near Goudswaard (the Netherlands), south-west of Rotterdam 4.15 a.m. FF Lt Hans-Werner Paas, BO Uffz Walter Hufnagel, BM Uffz Franz Lewandofski, and BF Obergefr Erich Stölzel believed captured wounded – all later released. Aircraft 5J+ST 100% write-off.

I only know of only one photo reported of the crash from either of these aircraft, which shows only a head-on view of the front area, which isn't very helpful. One of these aircraft reportedly had the code 5J+ST, which intuitively should be Item #2 above, as the codes match a 9 Staffel a/c. However, III./KG30 was in the process of transferring its Ju88s to KG4 as it's 3rd Gruppe, and some III./KG4 aircraft lost that day were Ju88s, and obviously were ex-III./KG30 aircraft.

My questions are,

1) What happened to the III./KG4 He111s being displaced by the III./KG30 Ju88s? Did they simply fill in the losses being incurred by the He111s of the other unit Gruppe?

2) Does anyone have any info or especially photos from either of these two losses, especially a FL He111 with the codes 5J+ST?

Thanx,

[Pieter H]

Larry,

It seems that KG4 was making a bit of a mix-up in May 40.
On the one hand some Staffeln had suffered losses in Norway, while at the same time III. Gruppe was replacing its He111's by Ju88's.
Apparently they have been shifting around aircraft to fill holes, sometimes with and sometimes without their crew.
For me the most convincing argument is that III./KG4 (both He111's and Ju88's) attacked airfields in the north-western part of Holland: Schiphol, Bergen, Soesterberg. Several losses around these fields confirm this, see Peter Cornwells lists. I can hardly imagine these crews, after having been received by substantial anti-aircraft defense and interception by D-21's and T-5's, simply continued south into the even bigger chaos over Rotterdam Waalhaven.
All reports consistently say Waalhaven being attacked by I./KG4 and 5./KG4. Also there is the report of the two G-1's of Buwalda and probably van der Jagt shooting down two He111's out of a Rotte that crashed almost simulataneously. These are the two listed in your mail.
So yes the aircraft had codes of 9./KG4 and apparently the crew of the 5J+ST was still formally belonging to 9. Staffel, but nevertheless it seems they operated under the command of 2./KG4. The question then becomes which fact you give the higher weight for labeling them; either 2. or 9.

By the way, other sources (Brongers) give the a/c code of the first one as 5J+BT.

Regards, Pieter