KG26 H-111 Norway 1940 1H+AC

[John Fredrik]

Hi!

Does anybody have info about that a/c?
Have seen picture of it on a sort of trally without wings...
Dobble white AC letters on the side
Can`t seem to find any in my lists..

Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers
John Fredrik

[John Fredrik]

A bit funny...
Was looking thru ebay last night and the picture I was reffering to have seen is now out in av aution.

Here is the link :

http://www.ebay.de/itm/H-111-Bomber-...5?pt=Militaria

[Larry Hickey]

John Fredrik,

I believe this to be the a/c of the II./KG26 Gruppenkommandeur, Obstlt Hans Hefele. There is another photo of this plane available from the Preußischer Kulturbesitz Photo Archive #30028555, attributed to a Benno Wundshammer.

<http://bpkgate.picturemaxx.com/preview.php?WGSESSID=473aa898e55fe346db688ae80140a d54&UURL=096ca015f78908b82a8818ba83295a40&IMGID=30 028555>

The same photos was also published on P. 121 of "Heinkel 111" by Manfred Griehl, where it is captioned at Lübeck-Blankensee.

I don't know when this plane was dismantled. Doesn't look like it had a serious wreck. 1H+AC is planned as one of our color profiles for the EoE book project.

Regards,

[John Fredrik]

Originally Posted by Larry Hickey

John Fredrik,

I believe this to be the a/c of the II./KG26 Gruppenkommandeur, Obstlt Hans Hefele. There is another photo of this plane available from the Preußischer Kulturbesitz Photo Archive #30028555, attributed to a Benno Wundshammer.

<http://bpkgate.picturemaxx.com/preview.php?WGSESSID=473aa898e55fe346db688ae80140a d54&UURL=096ca015f78908b82a8818ba83295a40&IMGID=30 028555>

The same photos was also published on P. 121 of "Heinkel 111" by Manfred Griehl, where it is captioned at Lübeck-Blankensee.

I don't know when this plane was dismantled. Doesn't look like it had a serious wreck. 1H+AC is planned as one of our color profiles for the EoE book project.

Regards,

Larry..

Thank you for replying (once more).
I have one note about one H-111 from II/KG26 , 30% damage on airfield Vaernes trondheim after a Skua attack 14.Mai 1940.
Could this be that a/C ?

I don`t get the link you posted to work, could you dobbelcheck it ?

Cheers!

[bill norman]

If the ebay site is correct in stating that the picture was taken in August/September 1940, this cannot be Hefele's aircraft - it must have been a replacement. Hefele's He.111 1H+AC was shot down off the North Yorks. coast of the UK on 3 April 1940 by F/Lt. Norman Ryder in a Spitfire of 41 Sqdn, Catterick. All crew captured and made PoW. Ryder's aircraft was shot down during the engagement and became the first fighter to be shot down by the Luftwaffe in the defence of the UK. Ryder survived the encounter and was rescued from the sea by the trawler ALASKAN. Fuller accounts can be found in my books LUFTWAFFE OVER THE NORTH (1993/1997) and BROKEN EAGLES (2001) publisher Pen & Sword in both cases.

Bill Norman (www.billnorman.co.uk)

[Larry Hickey]

Bill,

The photo in the Preußischer Kulturbesitz Photo Archive has four crewmen standing by the fuselage of 1H+AC in the snow at "Lübeck-Blankensee." It carried a 1939-style fuselage cross, so it has to have been taken during the winter of 1939-40. THAT photo would almost certainly be of Hefele's crew and probably his a/c SD on 3 April 1940. It has the same coding and white last two letters as the eBay photo. However, the photo referred to in John Fredrik's post, if dated correctly, may well be the replacement a/c for that one. I note that it has a 1940-style fuselage cross. I also note that Maj. Martin Vetter was Gr Kdr of II./KG26 from 6 April to 20 Aug 1940, and the mishap that resulted in John Fredrik's eBay reference probably involved his a/c during that period of time.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

John Frederik,

The reference # I posted took me to the Prussian Cultural Arichive, but I couldn't make my password work. Try going to the master website, register and then go to the referenced photo. If you can't get in, contact me by direct email and I'll send you a copy of the photo from the Griehl book.

Regards,

[bill norman]

Larry,I have this picture - it was given to me c. 1992 by Rudolf Behnisch (centre), the pilot of 1H+AC. The picture was included in my book Luftwaffe over the North (Pen & Sword 1993 & 1997) and in my book Broken Eagles (Pen & Sword 2001). The caption Rudolf had written in English on the back states 'January 1940 with another crew (including Uffz A. Bächle) II/KG26. HEINKEL 111 1H+AC.
The crew on 3 April 1940 was : Lt. Rudolf Behnisch (FF), Lt Georg Kempe (BO), Uffz Albert Weber (BF), Uffz Alfred Bächle (BM) and Obstlt Hans Hefele. In the picture, Bächle is 2nd from the right; I don't know the names of the others in the pic.

Bill Norman (www.billnorman.co.uk)

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, all

There are about a handful matching loss records for II./K.G.26 in Norway. I haven´t really researched these to the full extent yet, and we could try to cross-reference our way to finding out which loss record is the correct one for this WNr 6997.

If you are interested I will post the links to my loss records here.

Regards,
Andreas B

[bill norman]

Andreas, Yes for me. I would be pleased to find the wnr of the 3 April 1940 aircraft.