Early Dornier 17 Z Kauz Nightfighter - eBay find #6:

 

Image #1: eBay auction, December 2021

Above photograph was very likely taken on 14.10.1940 or shortly after at Gilze Rijen airfield. In his post war account, Uffz. Hans Reimann of 2./NJG2 recalled the particular event, RL 10/588:

 

"On October 1st, the two Gruppen of NJG1 became the nucleus of new Geschwader. We [comment: 5th Staffel of NJG1] became 2nd Staffel of NJG 2. While the unit leadership positions remained unchanged,  a fourth Staffel was added to the previously three.

Uffz. Götz got very lucky when he landed his aircraft resulting in a belly landing. On 14.10.1940 he returned in the early morning from an intruder mission over England. Very dense, low fog severely impeded the crew's visibility of their surroundings, so they considered the well illuminated rail road lines part of the the airfield landing illuminations, bringing down their aircraft too early. The aircraft's landing gear first touched down on the rail levy, the aircraft bounced into the air and then crashed to the ground. At the crash site, the aircraft was a total wreck and it appeared a small miracle that the crew of Uffz. Götz, Uffz. Dreher and Uffz. Harden survived."

The official record in Gen.Qu.M 6. Abt. Flugzeugunfälle und Verluste bei den Verbänden of 15.10.1940, RL 2 III/735, below describes the event as 80% damage to Dornier 17 Z R4+DK, Werknummer 2851, "crash landing due to pilot's error - Bedienungsfehler".

Reimann's report did not exaggerate: the photograph reveals that through the crash's impact the fuselage almost broke apart right behind the wings. Panels on the port wing and engine port cowling appear dislodged. In comparable photographs of less damaged belly landed aircraft the bent propeller blades can often be seen, see images #4, 5 and 6.

Closer assessment of the photograph shows that R4+DK retained the regular upper surface camouflage RLM 70 black green and RLM 71 dark green on fuselage and wings whereas the lower part of the fuselage was painted in a dull black. A similar scheme is documented of a Dornier 17 Z-7 Kauz I:

 

Image #2: https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=503&t=51267&start=45 - post by Mirek glock Riha, December 24 2014; also Urbanke, 2006 p.12

Note the straight line between black and green on above Kauz and R4+DK compared to below rear view of R4+ZK, which appears much more provisional and completely covers the fuselage Balkenkreuz. In the early months of night intruding training and operations three camouflage schemes were applied to Dornier 17 Z Kauz aircraft: initially, they carried the same combination as day destroyers, later the scheme described here with the undersurfaces painted in black, and eventually aircraft carried an all-black camouflage.

 

Image #3: eBay auction, own collection

Due to the seller's potential obscuring of the German national insignia, the paint scheme of the vertical tailplane cannot be discerned. It appears to carry the white outlines of a swastika, just visible in the lower third of the stabilizer. It is also possible that the Hakenkreuz has been overpainted in black similarly to the black paint application on R4+ZK, above image #3. The fuselage Balkenkreuz of R4+DK has been toned down, and the unit marking is applied in light grey.

Comparison of the three photograph highlights several other small differences. The Kauz in image #2 lacks the circular antenna Peilrahmen PR 3 that is visible on top of the R4+ZK cockpit canopy. The latter carries two additional MG in the rear starboard and port windows, a feature seen on Dornier 17 Z-3 bombers. The gloomy atmosphere of image #1 matches Reimann's weather description of low fog at Gilze Rijen, where all three photographs above are said to be taken.

Another well documented crash landing of a Dornier 17 Z-7 Kauz is that of R4+HK W.Nr. 2817, piloted by Ofw. Herbert Schmid a little less than a month later on November 9th 1940, equally at Gilze Rijen.

 

Image #4: Möhlenbeck, Leihse, 1975 p. 80; also Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, Signatur VI.1.006-03937 B. Lange

 

 

Image #5: Möhlenbeck, Leihse, 1975 p.97; also Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, Signatur VI.1.006-03939 B. Lange

 

Image #6: Leihse, 1977 p.8; also Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, Signatur VI.1.006-03938 B. Lange

 

Image #7: https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=503&t=51267&start=30, post by Mirek glock Riha, May 12 2013

 

Image #8: https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=503&t=51267&start=30, post by Mirek glock Riha, May 12 2013

It appears from images #4 and #8 that the upper wing and top fuselage surfaces are of a lighter color than the front, engine covers and the fuselage, although this may be the visual effect of reflections from upwards facing surfaces. That the application of black almost to the top of the fuselage is not a unique feature is demonstrated through the photograph of R4+ZK. Additional commonalities among these I./NJG2 aircrafts are that R4+HK has its fuselage Balkenkreuz overpainted and its spinner tips in white.

Werknummer 2817 and 2851 are among 16 Dornier 17 Z that were converted to Kauz specification for night fighter operations, Olrog, 2017 p.185. Mikael Olrog states that 2851 was initially converted to Z-7 Kauz I design, and later converted to Z-10 Kauz II, ditto. In which form it was operated on October 14th is not documented as far as I am aware. Considering the degree of damage to the aircraft on October 14th, it is likely that is was written off. So if Olrog is correct about the conversation to Z-10 specification,  this conversation would have happened prior to the crash.

Among the crew members that flew R4+DK in late summer and fall 1940 was radio operator Kurt Wacker. Wacker's flight log for the night of 25.09. to 26.09.1940 includes his record of an intruder mission in R4+DK over England for which the crew under pilot Uffz. Theophil Bock departed Gilze Rijen at 01:40hrs and returned at 03:35hrs with the note that they returned early due to bad weather. Wacker describes their Dornier Do 17 Z as "Kauz", unfortunately - for us researchers - without more specificity.

Just three days earlier, during the night of 22.09. to 23.09.1940, Wacker, Bock and Josef Rothehüser flew a mission north of Lincoln for more than 4 hours returning at 05:25hrs. This time their aircraft carried the unit markings G9+DN of 5./NJG1. While several sources state that I./NJG2 was officially created from II./NJG1 on October 1st 1940, including Reimann's account above, Wacker's flight log and those of others document that the unit code R4 for NJG2 was in use prior to that date, as early as beginning of September 1940 for Junkers 88 C-2 of 3rd Staffel NJG2. And even earlier than that, the Soldbuch of Fw Schöttke contains an entry that he was "transferred" from 6./NJG1 to 3./NJG2 on 23.08.1940, Parker, 2014 p.753.

It is possible that R4+DK and G9+DN may very well be two designations for the same aircraft, Dornier 17 Z Kauz, W.Nr. 2851. In addition to the entry in Wacker's flight log, flights of Dornier 17 Z G9+DN are documented in Hermann Sommer's Flugbuch for 11.09.1940 and 29.08.1940. By early September, II./NJG1 operated from Gilze Rijen airfield. Prior to that, the routine of the early night intruder - Fernnachtjagd - crews was to transfer from their base at Düsseldorf to Amsterdam Schiphol in the late afternoon, embark on their intruder mission later at night with returns to Schiphol in the early mornings, and finally transferring back to Düsseldorf in the morning, or after some sleep around noon. See Hermann Sommer's log entries for 23.07. and 24.07.1940.

During July and August 1940 several occasions are documented in which Dornier 17 Z were flown with the unit code 2N+ of 1./ZG1 by crews of NJG1, reflecting the fact that the first Staffel of ZG1 was among those units assigned to form the new night fighter arm. Among several other "Do 17 Z", prior to a flight in G9+DN on 29.08.1940 - the first entry with the new NJG1 marking - Hermann Sommer piloted 2N+DH on 22.08.1940 and 23.08.1940 from Düsseldorf to Amsterdam and back. Prior to that, a flight in 2N+DH is recorded by Herbert Schmid on August 3rd, 1940 when he ferried from Düsseldorf to Schiphol in the afternoon and back later in the evening.

Although this is speculative, in case the individual aircraft letter had been retained through the re-assignments from 1./ZG1 to 5./NJG1 to 2./NJG2, all these documented flights might have taken place in W.Nr. 2851. Thus, parts of the operational history of this particular Dornier 17 Z Kauz might be traced back covering a two months period from early August 1940 to mid October 1940 when it crashed at Gilze Rijen.

 

References:

Flugzeugunfälle und Verluste bei den Verbänden, RL 2 III/735, Bundesmilitärarchiv, Freiburg

 

Leihse Manfred, Dornier Do 17 Z Kauz 1 und Kauz 2 in Modell Fan 02/77 p.5-8, 1977, Carl Ed. Schünemann KG, Bremen

 

Möhlenbeck Otto Dr., Leihse Manfred, Ferne Nachtjagd, 1975, Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart

 

Olrog Mikael: Dornier Do 215 , From Reconnaissance Aircraft to Nightfighter, 2017, Classic Crecy Publishing, Manchester

 

Parker Nigel, Luftwaffe Crash Archive Volume Six, 2014, Red Kite, Walton-on-Thames

 

Reimann Hans, Düsseldorf in "Königliche Zwote" Geschichte einer Nachtjagdstaffel 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 - später 2./ Nachtjagdgeschwader 6, RL 10/588, Bundesmilitärarchiv, Freiburg

 

Schmid Herbert, flight log - curtesy of Mikael Olrog

 

Sommer Hermann, flight log - curtesy of Jim Perry

 

Urbanke Axel, Luftwaffe im Focus Edition 10, 2006, Luftfahrtverlag Start, Bad Zwischenahn

 
Wacker Kurt, flight log

Junkers 88 G-6 4R+EP of 6./NJG2 - eBay find #5

Two recently sold photographs of German aircrafts collected to be scrapped confirm the identity of this rather uniquely camouflaged Junkers 88G-6 of 6./NJG2, 4R+EP as Werknummer 620507. We are able to track a few stations of 620507 “career”: Abnahmeflug, approval flight, on September 25th 1944 at Bernburg, with II./NJG2 in January and February 1945, suffering 20% damage during landing at Mainz Finthen returning from a sortie the night of February 13th to 14th, and finally, captured at the end of the war at Leithorst Fritzlar where below photographs were taken.

Image #1: source eBay auction May 2020

Image #2: source eBay auction May 2020

While I am not aware of photographs that show without doubt both, Werknummer and unit markings, other documents equally provide very strong evidence that 620507 was 4R+EP. The General Quartiermeister loss report of March 11th 1945 lists 620507 as 20% damaged on February 14th at Mainz Finthen. With the same date, 4R+EP is documented in flight logs of Robert Lüddeke and his crew. For the night of February 13th / 14th, the RAF main targets were Böhlen and Dresden. According to the OKL morning report of February 14th, three night fighters were deployed under the orders of Jafü Mittelrhein - senior signals officer middle Rhine. Oberfeldwebel Lüddeke and his crew members Kurt Wacker and Ulrich Hess with 6./NJG2 was one of those. They took off from Mainz Finthen at 20:56 hours and returned in the early hours of the 14th. Kurt Wacker reported that flight with 4R+EP in his flight log adding the comment “Bauchlandung", belly landing. The Gen.QuM loss report describes the incident with “Fahrwerkschaden” or landing gear damage, leaving it open whether this captures the cause or the outcome. The aircraft suffered said minor damage and the crew remained uninjured and the morning report completely omitted or failed to mention the accident.

Image #3: source March 11th report in Flugzeugunfälle und Verluste bei den fliegenden Verbänden

Image #4: source page of flight log Kurt Wacker, expired eBay auction

The later stations of 4R+EP from Mainz Finthen to Fritzlar are unknown; although the above mentioned complete flight logs may contain more information. Other II./NJG2 logs show that the II. Gruppe operational base moved from Mainz Finthen by mid March to Illesheim and, by the end of March to Pocking.

Through the February accident the aircraft very likely suffered damage to its Jumo engines and its nose. Photographs taken at Fritzlar after its capture show that it had a replacement starboard engine - discernible by its factory applied RLM 71 surface color. Also the nose section which caries the aircraft’s individual letter “E" has a color application that is distinctly lighter and clearly different from the RLM 76 application to the forward fuselage. The port engine’s spinner has apparently received an over-spraying in what appears to be white or very light RLM 76, although it is unclear when this was applied, below and Janowicz, 2005, p.81. Noteworthy are also the white tips fo the lower radar struts, and that the starboard engine spinner and flame dampers are missing in all Fritzlar photographs.

Image #5: source FOLD3

The most distinct feature of 4R+EP are wide, dark colored bands diagonally applied to fuselage and vertical tail over a standard RLM 75 grey violet mottles over RLM 76 light blue camouflage with a front to back, top to bottom direction. Photographs prove that the bands are applied in the same fashion on both sides, Janowicz, 2005, Williams, 2005, p.167 and below, and as a likely consequence are joint at the upper fuselage. A still from a film shot by US Forces reveals that the upper surfaces of wings and horizontal tail planes had large patches of darker color with only small surrounding areas in RLM 76. The still below indicates that this color scheme rendered the aircraft much less standing out from the ground than a lighter colored object. Why this singular aircraft received this unique scheme for better protection from detection has to be subject to speculation. Similar to another 6./NJG2 Junkers 88 G-6, Werknummer 622126 4R+PP, the unit markings were in RLM 77 grey.

Image #6: source expired eBay auction

Image #7: source still from German Aircraft at Abandoned Airfield in Germany After End of World war II in Europe 

A topic of much passionate debate among Luftwaffe researchers and modelers is which colors were applied, and how did they actually look like. Black and white photographs make it very difficult to identify a specific color with certainty. And even in the case of 4R+EP, where color film material exists, the task is not easier. Images #5, 7 and 8 show a contrast difference between the port engine cowling and the bands. This appears to be supported by images #1 and 2 with regard to the camouflage color applied to the Junkers 87 next to our aircraft in comparison to the visible bands on fuselage and tail. Jumo power eggs wore factory applied RLM 71 dark green. Gaemperle, 2011, p.14 assumes that the same color together with RLM 70 was applied to the Junkers 87. Given that reference, the color of the bands is clearly lighter than RLM 71 - or RLM 70 which is even darker than RLM 71. The still from the color film in my perception shows the forward fuselage band with a hue of green rather than brown or grey. This would make RLM 82 more likely than RLM 74 grey green or RLM 81 dark brown or brown violet depending on the author. Another factor of how colors appeared in reality and on photographs is how they were applied. Image #5 appears to show a slightly darker border delineation of the band, an indication that paint was more densely applied there, as well as some darker patches throughout the band. These darker border can also be discerned in the photograph published in Williams, 2005 and Janowicz, 2005. 

  

Image #8: enlarged from image #9 

The final still shows the subject aircraft furthest to the left and lined up with Junkers 88 G-1 and Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 at Leithorst Fritzlar. The links to the films shot at Fritzlar have been researched and posted by Martin Trnkus of the Luftwaffe Research Group, https://luftwaffe-research-group.org/threads/fritzlar-leithorst-fritzlar-nord-notlandeplatz.4062/page-4., see post #78.

Image #9 source: still from The Spirit of Liberation 1944 - 1945

Sources:

Boiten Dr., E.W. Theo, Mackenzie, J. Roderick, 2008

Nachtjagd War Diaries, Volume Two April 1944 - May 1945

Red Kite, Walton on Thames, Surrey

Gaemperle, Roger S., 2011

Captured Eagles, German WWII Aircraft Captured By The Allies, Volume I 

Vintage Eagle Publishing, Zürich, Switzerland 

Generalquartiermeister 6. Abteilung 

Flugzeugunfälle und Verluste bei den fliegenden Verbänden

BAMA, signatur RL2-III/

Green, Brett, 2006,

Götterdämmerung, Luftwaffe Wrecks and Relics

Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, UK 

Harder, Fritz, Flugbuch

Janowicz, Krzysztof, 2005

Junkers Ju 88, Vol. III

Kagero Monographs, Lublin, Kagero Publishing s.p., Poland

Luftwaffenführungsstab Ic

Morgenmeldung Reichsgebiet 14.02.1945

BAMA, Signatur RL2-II/388

Stevens, Georg, von zur Mühlen, Konstantin,

The Spirit Of Liberation 1944-1945

Vimeo Video

Unknown Author

German Aircraft at Abandoned Airfield in Germany After End of World war II in Europe 

Available through CriticalPast, www.criticalpast.com

Wacker, Kurt, Flugbuch

Williams, David P., 2005 

Luftwaffe Colours - Nachtjäger Volume Two

Classic Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Surrey