Loss He.111 KG53 (KG3?) on 25th November 1944

[Hans Nauta]

Dear researchers,

On 25th November 1944 a He.111 (carrying a V-1) was claimed at 05.10 hrs 10 miles off Texel by F/O F. S. Stevens and F/O W. A. H. Kellett in Mosquito RX-J serial HK290 from 456 Squadron. They chased the Heinkel for 25 minutes and saw it exploding on the water surface.

According to the Fighter Command War Diaries written by John Foreman it concerned a He.111 from 1./KG53 piloted by Fw Kurt Hillmann.

According to local burial reports Fw Hillmann washed ashore on 27th November 1944 near beach pole 16 near the coastal village of Callantsoog, some 10 miles South of Den Helder, The Netherlands. His body was buried on 30th December 1944 at the cemetery of Huisduinen, 1 mile West of Den Helder. Again the grave reports mentioned the unit 1./KG53.

However, I cannot find any corresponding loss of KG53 in the book "Legion Kondor 53" by Heinz Kiehl, Motorbuchverlag. As KG53 was reformed to KG3 for V-1 operations against the UK I pressume the Heinkel (and Fw Hillmann) might have belonged to KG3.

Perhaps somebody can shed a light on this loss?

Thanks in advance,
Hans Nauta

[Chris Goss]

He 111 H-16, Wk Nr 110304, A1+BH of 1/KG 53; I have the Verlustemeldung (and all others for KG 3 and KG 53 involved in V1 ops)if you are interested

[Jørgen E. Larsen]

Hi Hans,

Do you have any loss reports for a He 111H-20 (possibly w.n. 700520 or 700720) that crashed in Björköby in the late hours of January 3rd, 1945? No trace of the crew was ever found by the Swedish military so they must have bailed out well in advance.

Cheers,
Jørgen

[Hans Nauta]

Hello Jorgen,

Unfortunately I've nothing concerning Sweden. One of the books on my shelf is Kampfgeschwader "Legion Kodor" 53 written by Manfred Griehl. In one of the supplements on page 345 the next names are listed as being killed:

3.1.45: Ogefr Hubert Türks BS 7./KG53 Absturz KIA
3.1.45: Uffz Gerhard Tanner BF 7./KG53 Feindeinwirkung KIA

However, with regard to your discription these casualties don't match.

Maybe Chris Goss can help you a bit further.

Good Luck!
Hans Nauta

[Jørgen E. Larsen]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for your reply. As a matter of fact I am not at all sure the He.111H-20 in question came from KG53. It might have been attached to a training unit. Do you have any idea if the w.n.´s 700520 and 700720 corresponds with a production batch of the He.111H-20 series?

Regards,
Jørgen

[David Ransome]

Hi,

This may help, possibly someone else has records whereby they can double check!

WNr 700520 was in the H-20 series produced by Heinkel at Oranienburg but it would appear that 700720 was not in a batch of numbers used for the He111, and possibly not allocated to Heinkel either!

If I'd thought of checking on this tack earlier it may have resolved some early questions, apologies for that!

If someone could confirm or deny as regards the numbers I would be very grateful.

Regards

David

[Soren Flensted]

Hello Chris
You might be able to crack this: On 3/1-45 at 21:30 hours a aircraft crashed at Bjerndrup Ostermark near Kliplev in southern Denmark with the loss of all onboark. I think that it was a He 111 of Kg 53 ? The crew must have been laid to rest in Flensburg.Can you sheed light on this ?

[Chris Goss]

Easy! He 111 Wk Nr 110264 A1+GK of 2/KG 53. Uffz Herbert Juergens + 4 killed and buried 8 Jan 45 at Leck

[Soren Flensted]

Hi Chriss
Thanks a lot. Do you have the four names of the rest of the crew ? Just so I get it right on my home page when I get to 1945. Is there any indication of why it crashed ? From local hold it seems as if Jürgens tried an emergency landing but hit a small dyke.

[Chris Goss]

Fhr Franz wiethaupt, Uffz Heinz Wagner, Ogefr Erich Kesmitzki, Ofw Herbert Lange. 'Nach Rueckgekehrt in Folge Bodenberuhrung abgestuerzt'