Seeking ID of He111 badly crashed at Thielt, Belgium, during May, 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

For a data base, I'm trying to establish the identity and partculars of a He111 that reportedly crashed near Thielt, Belgium, on or prior to May 28, 1940. The individual aircraft code letter may have been a "D." Only the rear of the fuselage and tail survived the crash and subsequent fire.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

[Alain57]

Hi ,

This is perhaps the He-111 you are looking for :

12/05/1940
Tielt
He-111 +- 06.00 hrs
Reconnaissance Gent
./KG 54 B3+
Base Vechta
Ofw Köpp Gerhard (POW)
Lt von Gundelach Horst (POW)
Uffz Schultdt Karl (POW)
Uffz Blombecker Gustav (POW) Greetings

Alain
Belgium

[montana]

Hi Alain,

According to my information, the He 111 of Ofw. Köpp crashlanded in Schelde estuary near the Royerssluis. He was shot down by 11 MS 406 of the GC III/1. Ofw. Köpp as POW was reported later missing during his transfer at Dunkirk.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Thanks Alain57 and Montana: I see that Ofw. Köpp of the Stabstaffel of KG54 was reported from the German side as down "near Tielt" on 12.5.40. This was one of two Stabstaffel a/c lost that day by KG54. I've already posted a request recently for info on the crash locations of the other three StabSt losses during the Western Campaign to KG54 a few days later, and we now know where these came down. If we can pinpoint the crash circumstances of these two losses on the 12th, we can either rule them in or out as a possible ID for my reference photo, and at the same time complete the data for the St St losses to KG54 during the FC. Besides Köpp, the other loss, reported as shot down 12.5.040 by a fighter, was Uffz. Bohn reported down at Zandhoven. Can anyone provide a further info on that loss, including whether photos exist of the crashes of either aircraft?

I Montana's info is correct, and Köpp came down in the Schelde River Estuary, I presume that this means that it would have come down in the water and not on land, which would rule out my original photo reference that sparked this question. Can anyone else help with the fate of these two KG54 Stab St aircraft, or with info on an He111 that came down near Thielt?

Thanx,

[Alain57]

Hi everyone ,

concerning Zandhoven i have the following information :

11/05/1940
Zandhoven near a neightbourhood named "Begijnbos"
He-111
Reconnaissance to Antwerp
Stab./KG 54
B3+?A
Vechta
Uffz Bohn Emil (POW)
Oblt Surborg Wilhelm (POW)
Uffz Voges Helmut (KIA)
Uffz Nahrang Willy (KIA)
Those who died were buried at Antwerp

Greetings

Alain
Belgium

[Larry Hickey]

Alain,

Thanks for the info on the "Zandhoven" (Bohn) loss, which matches my information, except for the neighborhood where the plane came down. I just noticed that I said that there were two losses to Stab/KG54 on the 12th. The "Zandhoven" loss was on the 11th and the Köpp loss was on the 12th. My mistake. Are you aware of any photos that exist of either loss?

Regards,

[montana]

Hi,

To my knowledge, a Ju 88 A (7A+CH) from the 1(F)/Aufkl. Gr. 121 crashed near Tielt on 12/5/40. Among the crew members, Fw. Kurt Denner died on 6/6/40 in a hospital at Bruges.

Rgds