He 111P, WNr 1595

[HGabor]

Hi Folks,

does anybody know the fate and the unit of this early He 111P? WNr: 1595. Any info is appreciated. Thanks,

Gabor

[David Ransome]

Hi,

Virtually all aircraft up to fifteen before and after this WNr were issued to KG55 and KG27 which makes me think it is probably one of these.

My database currently only covers He111 losses up to October 1942 and 1595 doesn't feature. I would be the first to admit that my database isn't 100% inclusive but I would be inclined to think that it wasn't a loss up to the October '42 marker.

Probably not much help, if you do find anything please let me know!

Regards

David

[HGabor]

Hi David, thanks for the info. The data-plate of this He 111P has been found at Nagycenk, Hungary near the Austrian border where in March, 1945 many planes (Re-2000s, Fiat G-12Ts...Ju 88s...) were destroyed by Panzerfaust in a field. The KG.27 flew over Hungary indeed, but in 1945 most of the Heinkels were He 111H here. The question is: did this plane belong to the very few Royal Hungarian Air Force He 111s, or the German KG.27??? Cheers,

Gabor

[Rabe Anton]

Hallo in Hungary!

May I suggest a possibility in the identification of your He 111, believed WNr. 1595? Since you seem to think the presence of a He 111P at a particular site in Hungary in 1945 seems somewhat unusual (and I agree that it does), let me ask, Are you absolutely certain that you have the airplane's correct Werknummer? The airframe can only be identified from a main data plate, of which there were only a very few (one or two). Component data plates, of which there were many, sometimes show "Werknummer," but that's the factory number of the part, not the airplane itself. Thus, it is very easy to mistake a part number for the true Werknummer of the airplane. . . .

[HGabor]

Hi Anton,

I live in Canada, but never mind. The photo of the plate cannot be misidentified, since:

NDW. He 111P
549 WNr. 1595
11 108-30 R
...1 5 39 is clearly visible.
(where I assume 39 is the production year, NDW is the factory) -

So don't have to question that this was an early 'P' version, regardless of the late, 1945 date. Rumanian and Hungarian air forces used many-many old planes even at the very end of the war, so an old version in 1945 still doesn't mean ANYthing. Especially in a field, where more dozens of unrepairable Hungarian planes were destroyed by the Axis forces in front of the advancing Soviet troops. Nobody said that this guy belonged to the Luftwaffe...!

Gabor

[David Ransome]

Hi,

May 1939 is correct for this aircraft. Although the aircraft was made then it had more than likely been updated by 1945; or alternatively been used for spare parts.

Regards

David