Ju 88 lost on 24 October 1942 near Trondheim

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello, I have several sources saying that a Ju 88 of 1.(F)/120 exploded accidentely in the air on 24 October 1942 near Tautra island, north of Trondheim and fell in the Trondheimsfjord.

The five occupants were all killed:
Fw. Ernst Blattermann (pilot)
Lt. Gerhard Pfhul (observer)
Uffz. Helmit Hack (radio)
Fw. Johann Prager (air gunner)
one unknown civilian

Depending of sources, the aircraft is identified as a Ju 88 A-4 WNr 144195 or a Ju 88 A-14 WNr 4195.

And the case get even more troublesome when I checked the Flugzeugbestand und Bewegungsmeldungen of 1.(F)/120. It had no Ju 88 A of any type, only Ju 88 D, and all losses reported in the F&B of Ju 88 D this month are known to me on other dates.

By checking other units then engaged in Norway, there is only Ju 88 A-4 around in October 1942, so Ju 88 A-14 is unlikely.

Then my guess is that a crew of 1.(F)/120 was used to ferry an aircraft belonging to another unit, probably one of the Ju 88 units bases in Northern Norway, or even not yet belonging to these units but being sent to them.

So my questions:
1) can someone confirm the aircraft type, A-4 or A-14 ?
2) can someone confirm to which unit belonged the crew and the aircraft ?
3) can someone provide the name of the killed civilian ? (probably the most difficult question)

Thanks in advance, and best regards

[edNorth]

Case is NOT all that troblesome. Ghosts do not travel by daylight.

No previous references are of any ferrying work performed by 1.(F)/120 within Norway. For this there were dedicated ferrying Staffeln, operating out of Germany, but units often fetched new/repaired aircraft to the various workshops, that prepared and tested them for "Safety of Operational flying". One such place was Paris/Villacoublay, and run by Junkers. Number given (4195) appears valid number, other A-5 088/4195 was lost 95% by KG 1 in 1941, so 0880144195 it likely was.

Some or all (of below answer) is "copyright" (own research) and can turn out be incorrect, some is still speculative ("still in research") but none is pure guesswork.

1) It is "most likely impossible" confirm version Ju 88 A-4 or Ju 88 A-14, there was no external difference* - unless find orignal equipment list (of installed armour or if no armour was installed). The Ju 88 A-14 (Attack-Bomber) was NOT the nose cannion equipped version, because all Ju 88 A´s could carry (field fitted) nose cannons (MG FF etc) and this DID NOT dictate if Ju 88 A-14 or not. NOT ALL in 0880144xxx series (Henschel assembly) were Ju 88 A-14s, despite one (or more) Lieferplan stating so, most were "normal" A-4 (Dive-Bombers).
*Some/many Ju 88 A-14 had "Cuto" external-knife strip attached on nose, as defence against Barrage Balloon wires.

2) Unit was 1.(F)/120, that had secondary base at Trondheim/Værnes, and this had "responsibilities" to West and North-West (Scapa-Flow and Iceland from spring 1942). Many normal A-4s were used by recce units, especially in 1943, because of shortages of Ju 88 D-1/5s, usually for visual recce or shipping/strike/recce. 1.(F)/120 also had Fw 200 attached in this period (September 1942), and unit had suffered recent losses, so one Ju 88 A-4 (A-14) at this point is nothing out of the ordinary. AND Ju 88 A-4s were at times fitted with cameras.

3) civilian Otto Lübbe killed. I have no details of him, or what he was.
(he might have been Specialist, -Mechanic and/or Prúfmeister.)

regards
Eggert

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Thanks for the reply. May I ask what is your source for the name of the civilian killed ?

[edNorth]

Why are you interested in this?