He-111 Poland Campaign 1939

[aeroeng]

Hello All,
I was hoping someone could locate some actual wartime photographs of a He-111 with the large wing cross markings shown below. A couple years ago someone posted a couple photos showing the aircraft with the large wing crosses. I remember one of the photos was of two young guys smiling for the camera looking back from the glass nose with another He-111 visible through the nose. Unfortunately that forum shut down and I haven't had any luck finding them since. I'm pretty sure the photos were from a book but I'm not positive.

Here's the info from the die-cast offer:

Heinkel He111P-2
Luftwaffe 2./KG 27, Poland, September 1939

Not sure how accurate the info is.

Thanks,
aeroeng


"image used with permission from The Flying Mule"

[robert]

Hi,

this is not PC. Such oversized crosses were introduced in ca. mid-October 1939.

Regards

Robert

[aeroeng]

Thank you Robert for the info. What is ca.? It sounds like you're familiar with the oversized crosses. Do you know where I can find some actual photos of an aircraft with them on it?

Thanks,
aeroeng

[robert]

Hi,

ca. is approx.
There are many books with photos of such markings: KG27`s book by Walter Waiss, LG1`s history by Peter Taghon. You should also do not forget about ebay.de - where you can find many interesting auction photos.

Regards

Robert

[aeroeng]

Thanks Robert. I appreciate your help.

aeroeng

[obdl3945]

Aeroeng...

A photo you might find interesting... Heinkel He111H-1, coded 1H+JA, of Stabskette/KG26, downed on Saturday 28 October, 1939, crash-landing at Humbie near Edinburgh, while undertaking a solo armed reconnaissance over the east coast of Scotland. Nos 602 (City of Glasgow) and 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadrons intercepted it.

Kind regards...

Paul

[martin66]

Hello

Seeing the pic I found an rare detail. The plane has 2 crosses in each wing (a big cross in the center and a small near the wingtip).

Any explanation?

Martin

[obdl3945]

Hi, Martin...

The reason was because the usual style of cross at the beginning of the war was the small type, as seen in the picture out near the wingtip, but after the combat experience of the Polish campaign, it was found to be a little too small to be easily recognised against the dark green colour scheme, hence the larger ones were introduced in the middle of the wing.

There are several instances of these markings, often on Heinkel 111s, but also observed in varying dimension and upper wing location on Dornier Do17Zs. Chris Goss's excellent publication Dornier 17 in Focus (Red Kite) shows, on page 51, two photos of Do17Zs. In the first, large oversized mid-wing crosses are evident, and in the other, they have been overpainted and replaced, in the same location, with extremely small crosses. These machines operated with KG2.

Additionally, both Ju87s and at least one Do18 flying boat are known to have carried over-sized markings on the wing upper surfaces, also located mid-wing.

Regards...

Paul

[aeroeng]

Originally Posted by obdl3945

Aeroeng...

A photo you might find interesting... Heinkel He111H-1, coded 1H+JA, of Stabskette/KG26, downed on Saturday 28 October, 1939, crash-landing at Humbie near Edinburgh, while undertaking a solo armed reconnaissance over the east coast of Scotland. Nos 602 (City of Glasgow) and 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadrons intercepted it.

Kind regards...

Paul

Thank you Paul. That's a great photo and the type I've been looking for.

aeroeng

[martin66]

Hi Paul

I knew small planes like Ju-87 and He-126 had this problem in the Poland campaign, but is new for me it happended in bigger planes like He-111 and Do-17Z.

Thank you for your explanation.

Martin