Looking for photos of 4./KG30 Ju88A-1, 4D+AM, that belly landed at Ypenburg, Netherlands, on 10 May 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

We've recently reassessed our information in the EoE DB and have corrected what appears to be a recording error in the NVM on this loss, changing it from a 5 Staffel to a 4 Staffel incident. This means that Beermann was the StaKap of 4 Staffel rather than 5 Staffel at this time:

"10 May 1940 Western Front (Amend): 4./KG30 Junkers Ju88A-1. Shot down by 2e Lt Droste of 1-V-2 during attack on AA positions near Den Haag and belly-landed south of Ypenburg 6.15 a.m. BS Obergefr Paul Müller killed, BO Fw Alfons Stahl captured badly wounded and admitted to St Antoniushove hospital in Voorburg – later released, FF Oberlt Theodor Beermann (Staffelkapitän) and BF Fw Erich Maar both captured slightly wounded. Aircraft 4D+AM 100% write-off."

This was in a densely populated area so I feel sure that there are photos out there of this belly landed Ju88. We may already have them in the EoE DB, but just haven't been able to ID them correctly.

Can anyone help?

Regards,

[Pieter H]

Hi Larry (and Peter Cornwell),

This is a loss that has puzzled me for a long time, and I'm happy to give what I think is the clue. In the past I'v e had extensive discussions with Peter Cornwell on this one. What was usually given of this Ju88 with the Behrmann crew was
- 4D+AM
- location South od Delft near Den Hoorn
The aircraft code would make it a 4./KG30 a/c, while most sources quoted Behrmann as being from 5./KG30.

The solution to this case is a picture that was taken in the Tedingerbroekpolder in Leidschendam. This is to the north of Ypenburg. The aircraft is heavily burnt, but the last N is clearly visible. The third letter is likely an A. So 4D+AN.
In a book on the history of Leidschendam the same picture appears, with additional information: crash at 5.30 a.m. on May 10, crew of ObLt Behrmann, and one crew member brought to the St Antoniushove hospital.

This last fact makes much more sense now, since with a crash south of Delft it was very unlikely that a wounded German crew member was brought to a hospital in Leidschendam, since the transport would have been through the Ypenburg area where there was heavy fighting between the LL-Korps paratroops and the Dutch troops re-conquering the airfield. A wounded person at Den Hoorn would have been brought to a hospital in Delft. But bringing a crew member of the Ju88 in the Tedingerbroekpolder to the former St. Antoniushove in Voorburg (it has moved since then) was a 10 min ride outside the fighting area.

You can find the picture here:
http://www.leidschendam-voorburg.nl/...LF-194022.html
I suppose you have it already in your data base.

This gives in my interpretation the following amended text for Peter:

5./KG30 Junkers Ju88A-1. Shot down by 2e Lt Droste of 1-V-2 during attack on AA positions near Den Haag and crashed in the Tedingerbroekpolder, Leidschendam, north of Ypenburg (Netherlands) 5.10 a.m. BS Obergefr Paul Müller killed, BO Fw Alfons Stahl captured badly wounded and admitted to St Antoniushove hospital in Voorburg – later released, FF Oberlt Theodor Behrmann (Staffelkapitän) and BF Fw Erich Maar both captured slightly wounded. Aircraft 4D+AN 100% write-off.

In this case ObLt Behrmann was indeed StaKa of 5./KG30 (until 10.5.40).
Hope this helps,

Regards, Pieter

[Larry Hickey]

Pieter,

Nothing is ever easy. The reason we changed this entry to 4 Staffel is the Luft loss report give the code 4D+AM (a 4 Staffel Kap a/c), "Beermann's" personnel file says he was the Kap of 4 Staffel, and his ID disc number and that of each of his crewmen were all 4 Staffel numbers. Only the NVM says he was the 5 Staffel Kap. Now we'll have to go back to the drawing boards again. Will let you know what we decide. Is there any other candidate for this crashed Ju88 besides "Beermann/Behrmann?"

Warm regards,

[Peter Cornwell]

Pieter,

Many thanks for your input - most helpful and inciteful as l have come to expect from you. I believe that you have finally resolved the location of this crash beyond question for which I am most grateful. However, determining the codes shown in your photo of that burned-out rear fuselage is proving a bit of a challenge and I await a final verdict on exactly which Staffel BEERMANN led - though the weight of evidence is still on 4./KG30.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

So gentleman, is the correct spelling of his name "Beerman" or "Behrmann?" These little details in the big picture of trying to document all the crashes can drive one insane.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

We've checked the NVM for "Beermann" and it says: May 10, 1940: "4./KG30 Ju 88A-1 4D+AM 07.15 hrs S of Ypenburg "Absturz infolge Beschuss von 2 Koolhoven. Fallschirmabsprung beobachtet. Bruch 100%". Beermann Theodor FF Staffelkapitaen gefangen....Maar (BF) also POW and Gefr. Mueller with Fw. Alfons Stahl both killed."

This means that all Luftwaffe key sources now agree that "Beermann" was the Kap of 4 Staffel. This raises the question of what Ju88 was down "in the Tedingerbroekpolder, Leidschendam, north of Ypenburg (Netherlands) 5.10 a.m.," as Pieter Hooijmanns reports? Did the fire distort an "M" into an "N" or does this photo perhaps show an altogether different a/c from some other unit? The photo that Pieter steers us to above doesn't look like a plane in which the crew either bailed out or were killed. The Beermann a/c should be badly smashed. This looks like a Ju88 that force landed on fire or was subsequently fired by its crew.

I have a proposal. The only other 5./KG30 a/c lost during this time that might be the a/c in Pieter's referenced photo is: "May 12, 1940: 5./KG30 Junkers 88A-1. Shot down while attacking shipping off IJmuiden by No. 264 Squadron Defiants and No. 66 Squadron Spitfires, and belly-landed with port engine alight at Hazerswoude (Netherlands) but crashed into the Hazerwoude to Koudekerk railway embankment 2.30 p.m. BS Flgr Siegfried Lahm, and BO Uffz Willi Borowka both killed, BF Fw Theophil Schwarz captured badly wounded, died May 21, FF Oberlt Herbert Schneider captured wounded – later released. Aircraft 100% write-off." Could the photo in question but be the one down at Hazerwoude instead of the one in the Tedingerbroekpolder? It does look like the front of the engine may have smashed into something (the railway embankment??) before it stopped sliding on its belly. Since the port engine was on fire in the Hazerwoude crash, that would also account for the burned out port engine, wing and front section of the a/c in the photo. It does look like the crashed plane could be coded (4D)+AN, as Pieter suggests, but this might well be the Hazerwoude crash rather than the Tedingerbroekpolder crash. There is some information to suggest that Oberlt Herbert Schneider was the Kap of 5 Staffel at the time, which would be appropriate for the coding of 4D+AN. This should be resolvable by a consult with the NVM. Peter Cornwell compiled a list years ago showing Schneider as 5./KG30 StaKap, but our current loss listing doesn't carry him that way. Does anyone have any other photos of either crash that might help resolve this? Does anyone live near enough to either site that they could visit them for comparison of the houses in the background, if they are still there, to confirm which location this is?

If this should turn out to be the Hazerwoude crash, then we're still looking for photos of the Beermann crash and did his crew still come down ""in the Tedingerbroekpolder, Leidschendam, north of Ypenburg (Netherlands) at 5.10 a.m."

Further comments and evidence appreciated.

Regards,

[Pieter H]

Hi Larry,

A creative idea, but I'm afraid this is little too wild scenario. In my view it is without doubt that the Ju88 of ObLt Bee/hrmann crashed in Leidschendam. I quote from a book on the history of that village:

"At 05.30 [on May 10] a German fighter [sic] aircraft crashes while on fire in the Tedingerbroekpolder near the Middenweg. Over Zoetermeer it has been hit. A member of the crew is wounded and transported to the Voorburg hospital St Antoniushove, the other one, pilot Oberleutnant Behrmann [with h] is taken prisoner by the police and led to captain Otto [Otto was the local military commander in Leidschendam]."

I'm almost certain that the author quotes from local files. So:
- a Ju88 came down in the Tedingerbroekpolder on May 10 early morning
- the pilot was ObLt Behrmann, other descriptions of wounded crew etc fit. It suggests that the local authorities, when writing the pilots name in their files, have copied his ID card, which suggests Behrmann is the right writing. But admittedly only speculation, no hard proof.

Then on the picture at least I see a clear lower right part of an N as fourth a/c code letter. The third letter is more difficult to discern. Originally I thought it was a B, but it could be an A as well.
- this indicates a 5./KG30 aircraft, at least originally

- according Peter all crew members had 4. Staffel ID's.

If I combine all these statements as facts the story would be that Behrmann and his 4. Staffel crew were flying a 5. Staffel a/c. We see similar cases of apparently last minute transfer of aircraft between units also in KG4 for the attack on Holland, where units apparently did not have the time to repant the correct codes.

On the writing of Behrmanns name, what was his fate? Most of the Luftwaffe air crews captured during the first two days of fighting were collected and succesfully transported to Englnad and from there on to Canada. Is there no register of the German PoW's in Canada to check Behrmann's name? In the Luftwaffe officers list it says he was promoted to Hauptmann on 1-2-42, but this could of course have happened in Canada too. Just an idea.

I have unfortunately no pictures of the Hazerswoude crash.

Regards, Pieter