He59 lost 11 August 1940

[Brian]

Hi guys

In Peter's BoBT&N for this date, it's recorded that two He59s of Seenotzentrale Cherbourg were lost. I can only find one, in which Ltn s.Z. Karl-Heinz Kemper was a member of the crew.

Two Blenheim fighters of 604 Squadron reported forcing it to land on the sea and then 'destroyed' it by strafing. Peter says that the Heinkel had three members of a downed Blenheim crew on board; and that a German NCO was wounded.

The Blenheim crew had apparently been shot down by Hptm Wiggers of I/JG51. I can't find a Blenheim loss to match. If correct, who were they and what was their fate. Evidently, the Heinkel was lost, so were all recued by ship or aircraft?

Help to unravel this would be appreciated, please.

Cheers
Brian

[Seaplanes]

I only have one He 59 loss on 11. August 1940. That is He 59D W.Nr. 1845
St.kz. TW+HL of Seenotflugkommando 2 at Cherbourg. Aircraft capsized during rescue attempt in the Channel off Cherbourg. No casualties.
Crew: Lt.z.See Karl-Heinz Kemper, Fw. Dahmen, Obgefr. Apelt and Uffz. Palm.
Details of the rescue should be found in Kriegsmarine records.

[Brian Bines]

Luft.QMs returns for 19-8-40 show that Seenotzentrale Cherbourg lost 2 He59s on 11-8-40 in action over the Channel with no reported crew losses. Previous posts have shown these as wn 1105 fell to 610 Sqd. and 1854 (1845 ?) attacked by Blenheims of No 604 Sqd. One of these is believed to have dropped a dinghy to what was thought to be an RAF Blenheim crew possibly Wiggers claim. I seem to remember reading that although Wiggers claimed a Blenheim he probaly shot down a Coastal Command Anson. I did find an Anson of 217 Sqd. lost on 11-8-40 which sent a message it needed help as it was under attack at 1657 hrs. however this put outside the reported times of the He59 combats of 11.15 and 1335hrs.. The online report for the loss of the Anson also gave its last known position as Penha Garoa, Castelo Branco which is in inland Portugal ?
Would appreciate it if anybody can clarify this , as Seaplanes only has one He59 loss on his records and his info. is always on the ball,

Thanks
Regards

Brian Bines

[Peter Cornwell]

Research has moved on since publication of BoBT&N (1980) and my current belief is that there was only one He59 lost on 11 August 1940 as detailed by Seaplanes who, as Brian Bines rightly says, is 'always on the ball'. The other He59 I recorded in BoBT&N (as duplicated in the Lw GQM Returns) can safely be ignored in my view. The wounded NCO was BM Uffz Ferdinand DECKERT of 5./JG54 who was aboard their air-sea-rescue Fw58 Weihe when attacked by No.610 Squadron Spitfires having just dropped a dinghy to what they thought was a Blenheim crew spotted in mid-Channel.

[Brian]

Hi guys

Glad to see that our experts are alive and kicking!

According to Larry Donnelly's "The Other Few", the 217 Squadron Anson was shot down by a Ju88 of KuFlGr.806 at 16:15, which seems to tie in with Brian Bines' account. Any further info on this?

I'm not sure how Hptm Wiggers enters the picture. As far as I can see, his only claim that day was for a Spitfire in the morning (c.09:00).

Two Blenheims were lost but were credited to Grosse of 3./JG52 (T1816 of 53 Sqn) and Bodendieck of 4./JG53 (T1850 of 107 Sqn). This would appear to exclude Wiggers as a claimant?

Peter: The presence of the FW58 is 'new' to me. Which unit was it from? What was its duty? Who was the pilot? Why was Deckert of 5./JG54 on board? How much damage was inflicted by 610 Sqn's attack?

Cheers
Brian

[Brian Bines]

Link to Anson loss, http://www.aircrewremembered.com/gordon-peiniger.html

[Seaplanes]

Since my last posting I did find the following in the KTB Seenotzentrale Nord (Luft) 1.8.1940 - 15.8.1940:
11.08.40 17:20 Uhr. Von Sperber - Oblt. Aussermann: Nach Meldung Fluz. Holland 2 Mann der Besatzung eines brennend abgestürtzen Flugbootes, Lt.z.S. Kemper und Feldw. Dahmen gerettet worden. Es handelt sich hierbei wahrscheinlich um die als Seenotflugzeug in Cherbourg stationierte He 59 TW+HL. Besatzung: Lt.s.Z. Kemper, Fw. Dahmen, Obgefr. Apelt, Uffz. Palm.

I hope you guys are reading German. It should not be that difficult. Perhaps someone had the NVM for this accident. It seems that only two of the crewmembers were actually rescued. It also seems that the aircraft went down in flames, contrary to to sources that claims it capsized and sank while
on the water.

[Brian]

Hi Seaplanes

Thanks for the update. However, it doesn't appear that the Heinkel went down in flames, but caught fire when it was strafed by the Blenheims. Perhaps Apelt and Palm were killed then?

Cheers
Brian

[Chris Goss]

Brian:

In respect of the FW 58, Peter has answered it-the unit was 5/JG 54 and Deckert was the BM as part of that ac's crew. A number of JGs had their own FW 58 which was used for numerous duties including basic ASR as Peter stated. In respect of 604's part, Ian White's history of 604 makes no mention of this combat but 604 Sqn's unofficial listing of kills does-half each to Crew and Anderson but whether it was air-to-air or air-to-surface it doesn't say. I have no claim for a Blenheim by Wiggers

[Brian Bines]

I believe the GQM entry for the Fw 58 is on report dated 27-8-40 which shows 11-8-40 II/JG54 Seenot mission over Channel fighter attack with one unnamed airman wounded. No aircraft type shown and damage shown as - so I assume under 10% and returned to base.

Regards
Brian Bines