He 111 B3+B? down at Knokke, Belgium, May/June 1940

[RudiS]

Hi all,

the attached picture was recently sold at Ebay. It's shows a He 111 of KG 54 with a white B. Unfortunately I can't make out the Staffel code letter, but it would be a H,M or R for 1st, 4th or 7th Staffel. The caption on the back says that the picture was taken at Knokke, Belgium.

KG 54 was involved in bombing the Wevelgem airfield on May 10th & the "Het Zoute" aerodrome May 12th. During the May 10th attack it lost a 8./54 He 111 in nearby Sluis, The Netherlands. But the aircraft code letter on this aircraft would be red and not white.

A possible option would be the 2nd of June when 1./54 lost one and 4./54 lost 2 He 111's in the Dunkirk area.

Does anybody have more information about this loss or does anybody know if other pictures exist of this forced landing?

Kind regards,
Rudi.

[montana]

Maybe this aircraft crashed at Oostburg (NL) on 12 May 1940.

[RudiS]

Hi Montana,

Very interesting. May I ask where you have this info from?

The only losses I have for May 12th are:
- Stab./KG 54 : ditched in the Scheldt near Antwerp - FF: Ofw Köpp
- 2./KG 54 : crashed near Krefeld, Germany - FF unknown
- 2./KG 54 : belly-landed near Leuvern - FF: Ogefr Haase

I don't seem to have any losses for 1, 4 or 7./KG 54 on that day.

Kind regards,
Rudi.

[Foute Man]

Brongers mentions the aircraft Montana means as an 8./KG 54 aircraft.

This is the entry on his website: http://home.deds.nl/~bhummel/gif/duitseverliezen.html

7) 12 mei: He-111P van 8/KG 54 neergestort bij OOSTBURG; 1 man, Ogefr Emil Luis aldaar begr; thans Ystn graf CG-124.
-Ystn

7) may 12th 1940: He-111P of 8./KG 54 crashed at Oostburg, 1 man, Ogefr Emil Luis burried there, at the moment Ystn grave CG-124

This was an 8./KG 54 aircraft, not a 1,4 or 7 staffel aircraft

[RudiS]

Thanks both Montana & Foute Man,

but as far as I know, this aircraft came down May 10th not May 12th.
The confusion probably is caused by the fact that Ogefr Luis, who was badly wounded, died 2 days later on May 12th.

So I think that this is not the aircraft I'm looking for. Thanks anyhow for your effort. It's realy appreciated.

Kind regards,
Rudi.