Question about Bf110C, M8+AK, with 2./ZG76 during 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I'm trying to lay out profile packages for 2./ZG76, and I have two photos of Bf110C M8+A(K), which has the 2 Staffel Ladybird insignia applied below the cockpit, along with a long row of flags and symbols representing the countries where the pilot served or against whom he fought. The kicker is that there are 7 victory tabs on the fin. The only pilot with I./ZG76 that had seven victories that might match this is 1 Staffel pilot Lt. Helmut Lent, who always seems to have flown M8+DH from the Polish Campaign until he belly landed an a/c with this code at Fornebu, Oslo, Norway, on 09.04.40. Lent achieved his 7th victory on 02.06.40 while still a Lt with 1 Staffel, then his bio says he was was promoted to Oblt. and transfered to 4./NJG1 as StaKap on 01.07.40. So it doesn't appear that he could have been the pilot of M8+AK. The only known 2 Staffel pilot that achieved 7 victories during 1940 was Oblt. Helmut Wolterdorf, who got his 7th and 8th on 15.08.40, which would have had to have been in a D-0 in either a Dachelbauh or wing drop tank version. The a/c in the photo is definitely not a Dachelbauch, and probably didn't have wing drop tanks either. The StaKap after Hptm Falck, who is supposed to have flown M8+GK as StaKap until he left the unit to become Gr Kdr of I./ZG1, was Oblt. Heinz Gressens, who only had 2 victories to his credit by the end of 1940. So it probably wouldn't have been his a/c. Hptm Wolfgang Falck set the precedent in 2./ZG76 for not flying the "A" a/c, and Gressens may have continued that practice. In fact, with the first letter of his name starting with "G,' Gressens may well have taken over M8+GK when Falck departed, kept the 7 victory tabs that plane would have carried, but then had it repainted as M8+AK, which is what we see in the photos.

I've concluded that this photo of M8+AK has to be either Lent's replacement plane after he belly landed his M8+DH in mid-April, and somehow was briefly transferred to 2 Staffel after early-June and before the end of the month (very unlikely), Woltersdorf's, which doesn't fit with a double victory claim award on 15.08.40. Provided that everything was recorded correctly on his tail scoreboard, he would have only had six victories prior to that mission, and 8 afterwards, skipping 7. Or this could be Gressens's a/c still carrying Falk's old scoreboard. The only other pilot in 2 Staffel that seems possible is Lt. Helmut Fahlbusch, who achieved 6 victories by 17.04.40, but is not known to have achieved a 7th through the end of the Battle of Britain.

So what is the explanation of these photos of M8+AK with 7 victories dating from around mid-1940?

Comments? Opinions?

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

One further clue as to who this could be, the flags under the cockpit show Czech, Polish, French, British, Danish and Norwegian opponents.

[odybvig]

Here you have Lent's rudder from Sola, some time after april 9.


Best from Norway
Olve Dybvig

[Andre Stewart]

Larry,

Ogefr Walter Held flew as 'regular' BF to Woltersdorf; Held claimed 1 Polish 'Pzl-24' on 2 Sept 1939. This could be your 'missing' no.7.

According to his memoirs, Falck took both Fw Alfred Walz [his BF] and M8+GK with him when he moved to I./ZG1.

rgds
andre

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Olve: thanx for the photo of Lent's victory scoreboard. His aircraft will also be the subject of at least one color profile in the EoE book series, and probably more than one. Without evidence that he served even briefly in 2 Staffel during June, 1940, I've pretty well ruled him out as the pilot of M8+AK. Do you, or does anyone else know if close-up photos exist of Lent's tail scoreboard as of the time that he belly landed M8+DH at Oslo-Fornebu on 09.04.40? I have the photos of that incident from the BA & ECPA arhives, but I'd like to see a close up of the scoreboard.

Andre, you've emailed me about this before, and if the seventh victory tab was Walz, his BF, then that would mean that this could, and probably is Woltersdorf's aircraft sometime between 30.04.40, the time of his crew's 7th victory, and 15.08.40, the date of their 8th and 9th victories. We know he flew during the Polish Campaign, but do we know enough about his personal story to confirm that he was flying during the Sudaten Czech crises? His bio in the de Zeng/Stankey files on careers of Luftwaffe officers doesn't go back before the Polish Campaign, and actually is fairly sparse. Can anyone confirm his involvement in the air cover for the Sudeten occupation by Germany? That would just about nail this.

About the only reasonable explanation for the aircraft markings for M8+AK is that it was flown by the Wolterdorf/Walz team. Unless further information develops to the contrary, I'm going to assign this to the 2./ZG76 profile slot for May, 1940, with them identified as the crew.

Thanx gentlemen, for the comments.

Regards,

[Andre Stewart]

Larry,

I think you meant to say Woltersdorf / Held.
Alfred Walz was Falck's BF.

rgds
andre

[Larry Hickey]

Andre,

You're correct. Woltersdorf/Held. Thanx for calling my attention to my error.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Olve,

Another image of Lent's tail with this scoreboard total was recently auctioned on eBay. The last two digits of the W.Nr. were xx68. Do you have any information that would provide the complete W.Nr. of this a/c, and confirm that Lent was still using the a/c code M8+DH? It is possible that this shows his rudder after he moved to night fighters, and before he scored any new victories. Do you have any further info on this specific a/c?

Regards,

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello Larry,

My Bf110 database shows several Bf110's with Wnr. xx68 at nightfighter units so I tend to believe that this Bf110 was passed on later. Do you know the number of Lents victories on that recently auctioned Ebay photo? That would narrow down the number of options quite substantially.

Another misunderstanding is that Lent went to the II./NJG 1 as early as in June 1940: I haven't the list (Appendice to the KTB II./NJG 1, RL 10/540) at hand but I faintly remember that he was with the I./NJG 1 before he moved to the II./NJG 1 in October 1940.

All the best, Marcel

[Larry Hickey]

Marcel,

It was exactly the same as in the photo that Olve Dybvig attached above to his post. The only significant bit of additional info is that the last two digits of the W.Nr. of the a/c, xx68, were visible on the rear fuselage in the usual position found on many Bf110s. The victory on 15.06.40 represents a bit of a mystery to me. I have what is supposed to be a pretty definitive list of I./ZG76 victory claims during 1939-40, and this one does not appear on it. The last one Lent recorded with 1./ZG76 was on June 2nd. I know that Lent went on to serve in the fall as StaKap of 6./NJG1, but did he record a victory on 15.06.40 that was not later confirmed? At present I cannot explain this. Assuming that this IS Lent's victory tally as he recorded at the time, this could either be his last victory claimed (but not confirmed?) with 2./ZG76, or perhaps his first victory in a night fighter, although this seems too early for that. The problem is that as probably his last claim with 2./ZG76, we don't know if this scoreboard was on his a/c with that unit, or his new one with, as you indicate, either I./NJG1 or even later with 6./NJG1. That is critical for me to determine if this is to be a candidate for a color profile, which it is. But with which unit, and what was the aircraft code and full W.Nr.?

If anyone can help me sort this out, it will be much appreciated.

Regards,