Do 217 - daily Ebay photo find #158

Click to view large. Currently on offer here

Dornier Do 217 in II./KG 2 and II./ KG 40, Cognac, France 1941-42 - daily Ebay photo find #156

The Dornier Do 217 was the first new bomber design to enter large scale service with the Luftwaffe during the course of WW II. Introduced in early 1941, the Do 217 E-1 was at the time the fastest and heaviest German bomber in service and during the mid-war period played a major role in the night attacks on Britain with Kampfgeschwader 2. Beginning its combat career in the summer of 1941 when most of the bomber force had been deployed to the Eastern Front, the new bomber was assigned to two Gruppen remaining in the west, II./KG 2 and II./KG 40. At that time KG 2 was still largely equipped with the obsolescent Do 17 Z and air raids on Britian were largely ineffectual and desultory being largely confined to anti-shipping and mine-laying operations; Ofw. Borner of 4./KG 2 recalled ;

"....Our crew was sent to Oberpfaffenhofen to convert onto the new Do 217. We had lodgings in the Hotel Fleischmann and in houses around the airfield nearby in Steinebach. This new machine was considerably heavier and faster than our good old Do 17 Z and had been conceived as a 'universal' multi-role bomber, capable of horizontal and dive-bombing, as well as of performing mine-laying and torpedo-launching against shipping targets..Take off weight was some 16.5 tonnes and the aircraft could comfortably attain speeds of 460 kph. These were figures to inspire and be proud of. Above all the extra turn of speed would considerably increase our chances of survival (sic) when coming up against enemy fighters. However these were purely theoretical considerations. Laden with a full complement of defensive armament and a full bomb load, we could only manage 380 kph - the increased bomb carrying capacity was obviously the prime factor in the eyes of our hierarchy. The twin BMW 801 radials could go like the clappers and it was pure pleasure to push the throttles all the way forward and climb out steeply - all 16.5 tons- but the engines were largely untested in action. As we were to find out, in terms of increasing our survivibility, the Do 217 ultimately represented no progress at all.. The Do 217 had been developed under great secrecy and even now was still classed as Geheimhaltungstufe 1 - top secret. Even so a delegation of Soviet airmen was allowed to visit us during April 1941 and inspect our 'wonder bird' - they were mightily impressed. During our training our StaKa Oblt. Genzow was awarded the Ritterkreuz, which was naturally an event of some importance in the little town in upper Bavaria where we were stationed. There was a large parade through the town with flags and bunting, a march past of Hitler Youth in front of the entire population and Party officals. Meanwhile our training continued. On rest days we spent our time sunbathing on the banks of the nearby Lake Woerth. Swimming and sailing were popular activities - rubber dinghies were carried in the fuselages of our Do 217s and inflated automatically when jettisoned overboard. Now they were put to good use on the water - even when relaxing we were training for worst case scenarios..."

Translated by this blog author from Ulf Balke's "Der Luftkrieg in Europa - Teil 1", (Bernard, Graefe, 1989 ) with permission.

Below; Do 217 E-1 of KG 40 in an overall pale blue-grey camouflage scheme with low-viz markings.  

Bf 110 NJG 4 ace Reinhard Kollak, rare Do 217 J of NJG 3 and Bf 110 of NJG 1 - Luftwaffe blog Ebay photo find # 107

Bf 110 Nachtjäger of 7./NJG 4, the aircraft of RK holder Stabsfeldwebel Reinhard Kollak. Note the Kennung 3C+LR and the Nachtjagd Staffelabzeichen. The sixteen (?) Abschussbalken on the rudder date this image around late June 1943. The aircraft is equipped with the FuG 202 Gerät which appeared on the first dedicated night fighter variants of the Bf 110, making this in all probability an F-4, of which around 300 were produced. Note the early-type framing around the rear cockpit and the splinter camouflage finish. The smaller dimensions of the 202 Lichtenstein radar array evidently had less impact on performance. This variant did not mount the Schräge Muzik upward firing weapons..

http://www.ebay.de/itm/14-orig-Fotos-Flugzeug-Nachtjager-Me-110-NJG-4-Staffelabzeichen-KC-holder-/151640782977?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item234e7eb881

Reinhard Kollak (above second right) was born in East Prussia, in March 1915 and began his military career in the Reichswehr. In 1935, Kollak was transferred to the Luftwaffe where he trained as a fighter pilot. Upon completion of his training in the spring of 1940, Kollak was posted to I./ ZG 1 and participated in the campaigns in France and the Battle of Britain. In October 1940 Kollak was posted to the newly formed 1./NJG 1. Kollak claimed his first night victory while flying as a Feldwebel with I./NJG 1, when he destroyed a Whitley in the early hours of 17 June 1941. He remained with I./NJG 1 when it was redesignated 7./NJG 4 in May 1942 and on the night of 24/25 August 1942 shot down a Stirling as his tenth victory. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 12 April 1943 precursor to the Knight's Cross which followed in early 1944 with his 'score' at 29 victories. Kollak was the most successful pilot in III./NJG 4 and achieved an Abschusszahl of 49 victories but never received higher decorations because of his NCO status. His BF Hans Herman joined the Luftwaffe in 1938 and flew with Kollak until the end of the war.

Below; rare image of NJG 3 Dornier Do 217 J "D5+OM" of 4. Staffel- click on the image to view large

Image above currently on offer here . Below; "D5+ DM" of 4./NJG 3

Below; final pics for this Nachtjagd themed update come from Michael Meyer's current Ebay sales. Two views of Me 110 C/D "G9+DR" of 7./NJG 1 displaying the Nachtjagdwappen seen during 1940/41. According to the inscription on the image bottom somewhere off the "coast of Norway"..on offer here 

Dornier 217 J Nachtjäger (3) - daily Luftwaffe Ebay find #89

Do 217 J equipped with FuG 212 Lichtenstein BC antenna array deployed in the Nachtjagd role (possibly II./ NJG 1) with Englandblitz Wappen

http://www.ebay.de/itm/FOTO-NACHT-JAGDGESCHWADER-II-N-J-G-1-BELGIEN-1943-Do217-STAFFELWAPPEN-/191235174668?pt=Militaria&hash=item2c8681310c

More Do 217 pictures on this blog

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Dornier%20Do%20217

Dornier 217 J Nachtjäger

Currently on offer via Ebay.de seller wasabogoa are these very nice shots of a Dornier 217 J complete with Englandblitz Wappen. (link below)

Given that the FuG 202 (or possibly 212 ) Lichtenstein BC antenna array has been dismounted perhaps these machines were deployed by day against USAAF bombers - Dornier night-fighters achieved their last successes during August and October 1943 against 8th AF Flying Fortresses. Perhaps the most significant feature of the Dornier 217 nightfighter was its nose - toting armament of 4 x MG 151/20 cannon and MG 17 machine guns the business end of the aircraft is a very busy area. In the lower image the shell ejector chute apertures are visible

http://www.ebay.de/sch/wasabogoa/m.html?item=290923209134&pt=Militaria&hash=item43bc5fe1ae&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Junkers Ju 88 KG 54, Do 217 KG 2 - Ebay Luftwaffe photo find

 Ju 88 A "F1+EK" of 2./KG 76, Italy 1943/44, Besatzung (crew) of pilot Lt. Lieseke (second from left)
Below; 6./ KG 54 Ju 88 A, pilot Oblt Hans Mally, November 1942.

Do 217 K "U2+AH" (closest to the camera) of 1./KG 2 in formation over Holland during 1943. Note that the Kennung of this machine U2+AH is repeated on the tail fin.

Michael Meyer's Ebay photo sales

http://www.ebay.de/sch/m.html?item=380606135980&pt=Militaria&hash=item589de4beac&_ssn=macflly41&rt=nc

Dornier Do 217 J Nachtjäger -Nachtjagd ace Paul Zorner memoir "Nächte im Bomberstrom" (296 Verlag)

Do 217 J equipped with FuG 212 Lichtenstein BC antenna array deployed in the Nachtagd role on Sicily 1942/43 with Englandblitz Wappen on offer here

Leading Nachtjagd ace Paul Zorner in his memoir "Nächte im Bomberstrom" (296 Verlag)  has some choice words for the Dornier Do 217 he flew in NJG 3 -  " ein Klotz " being one of the more polite terms he employs ( a 'brick' ). As he points out his loaded and tanked up Do 217 'fighter' weighed a "large truck heavier" than a fully loaded Junkers Ju 88 and climbed at all of 6 metres/second (IIRC) - at least half the rate of the Ju 88. He recalls a combat with an RAF Wellington during which he almost got shot down. After struggling home he went straight to his Kommandeur to tell him that he would never fly the 'old cow' in combat again!  According to Gebhard Aders, Dornier night-fighters achieved their last successes during August and October 1943 when they were - believe it or not - deployed on day light operations against USAAF B-17 bombers. Their fixed armament of 4 x MG151/20 cannon and 4 x MG17 machine guns furnished a certain amount of firepower in frontal attacks - if it could be brought to bear...

Dornier Do 217 M - the Luftwaffe's best bomber

Currently at koelsch333's Ebay sales courtesy of Marco is this nice set of Do 217s including what may be an M-4 GB+CV on the compass-swinging platform at Rechlin according to the caption. The 'M' series was the DB 603 in-line engined variant and Rechlin log books from December 1942 to May 1943 included frequent references to an 'M-4' apparently used for de-icing and cabin heating tests as well as high-altitude testing of the DB 603s.  The 'N' variant was also tested with DB 603 engines at Rechlin as seen in the final image in this series. 

new Luftwaffe books - translated extract from Roderich Cescotti's 'Langstreckenflug' ( KG 100, Dornier Do 217 M-11, Henschel Hs 293)

  A translated extract from pages 179-180 of Roderich Cescotti's recently published memoir 'Langstreckenflug' with permission of the publisher Kurt Braatz of Editions 296. Cescotti describes KG 100 operations mounted against French resistance 'partisans' during June and July 1944 and relates an account of a Henschel HS 293 glide bomb sortie flown against Allied shipping off the Normandy coast.

"Invasion!"

" ...The fate met by Oblt. Heinrich Kirchhoff and his crew was particularly cruel. Returning from a combat sortie their Do 217 was hit by our own Luftwaffe anti-aircraft fire and they were forced to bail out over Marmande between Bordeaux and Toulouse, where they were taken captive by French resistance partisans and shot out of hand. By this stage the “French underground” were starting to represent a considerable danger for us. The quarters used by our various Staffeln, by the Geschwader and Gruppe Staffs were widely spread throughout Toulouse and the surrounding area, and the only means of staying in touch was by telephone network or vehicle. We soon had to forbid personnel from going out on their own as it had become too dangerous. Any activities in the city had to be carried in groups of men no smaller than three, each armed with his service pistol. With their liberation so close at hand all the pent-up hatred and sheer malice that the French felt towards us was now given expression....

On 19 June I received my first mission orders to bomb French resistance fighters - Bandbekämpfung – anti-partisan bombing. At 05:30 that morning we were airborne from Toulouse Francazal to fly a combined operation with Wehrmacht ground forces against a Maquis encampment located in the Pyrenees, dropping 500 kg bombs for no visible results. Less than one month later on 15 July at the request of our hard-pressed troops we bombed a village – dropping a ton of incendiaries on two barns and a farmstead, as well as pouring fire from our onboard armament into buildings. The targets were obliterated. This was what was meant by Terroristenbekämpfung – anti-terrorist operations. On our return I noted “ some shrapnel damage in the fuselage” which meant that we had come under fire – but what did this mean in reality. That both sides had sunk to a level of warfare that could do nothing but bring shame on those practising it. Time and again shot-down crews were being murdered in cold blood or simply disappearing never to be seen again. “Terror” on both sides escalated right up to the deployment on the German side of the radio-guided Hs 293 missile against ground targets..

I am unable to state exactly how many such operations were carried out by KG 100 as my duties were principally on the technical side. This meant that I was back in Germany for a few days during this period securing all that we needed for our aircraft. Nor was I in Toulouse on 20 July 1944 when news of the attempt on Hitler’s life came through – I was at the controls of the Geschwaderstab’s Ju 52 en route from Giebelstadt to Lüneburg..obviously we discussed Stauffenberg and his action in my immediate entourage and were agreed that this was a lost opportunity that should and could have been better exploited. It was not until after the war that we realised the fundamental weakness of Stauffenberg’s plan – that the prinicpal organiser of the plot was also its chief protagonist. No one believed in the much-heralded Endsieg or final victory – or at least no-one I knew.

When, on the evening of 7 August 1944 I took off from Toulouse Blagnac on my first ‘normal’ combat sortie – that is, against regular Allied combatants- for almost a year, the Allies were well-established in northern France, having already taken St. Malo and Brest and encircled the principal U-boot bases of Lorient and St. Nazaire. Our target was the Bay of Avranches, objective of the German counter thrust across the base of the Cotentin peninsula through which the flow of Allied resources were pouring. .. . I was at the controls of one of only 37 examples of the M-11 variant of the Dornier Do 217 that had been produced – in my view the best Luftwaffe bomber to enter service prior to 1945. The Do 217 M-11 was powered by two DB 603 in-line engines and had a wing span some five metres greater than that of conventional Dornier Do 217 variants. This and the 3,500 hp developed by the power plants gave the type excellent performance – it was fast, superior in the climb and handled well with no vices whatever the situation. Under the fuselage hung an Hs 293 and my observer Carl Hintermayr had the latest long-range guidance system at his disposal , a FuG 203 c ‘Kehl IV’ which was used for guiding both the Henschel glide bomb and the Fritz X stand-off bomb. We flew north-north-east across France through clear night skies. We could see the battle zone from afar, pencil shafts of light probing the sky, searchlights marking out a flak belt that had been established around the Allied landing zone. At an altitude of 4,000 metres we had no difficulty picking out the bay of Avranches, literally teeming with shipping of all types. There was no way that we would be hauling the Hs 293 back to Toulouse. I started to let down through the flak belt so that we could get a clearer picture of what was going on. There, directly ahead of us, a huge silhouette, but I had to break off before Hintermayr could get a clear fix on his screen. We came around for a second try. Now everything was set. The dark silhouette was some two or three kilometres ahead of us. We sped directly towards it, holding the aircraft on course, as straight as a die, to make my observer’s task of guiding the missile onto the target as easy as possible. Then, a barely perceptible hissing, a diffuse glow of light from under our belly and a red point of light shot away from the aircraft into the darkness ahead of us – the Hs 293 had been launched. I held my course and height although by now we were coming under heavy flak fire. Only seconds to go until a huge explosion ahead of us. Suddenly, the red light at the rear of the bomb was snuffed out, extinguished – we had lost the missile! There was no way of directing it any further. Full of rage and disappointment I continued towards our target determined at least to let him have a burst from the twin MGs in our nose, but the ship – a destroyer – was by now on full alert and was firing back. I hauled the Dornier into a hard climb out of the danger zone, curving into a tight turn southwards and home. We were starting to feel a little safer when suddenly tracers flashed past our ears – at that moment our radio operator reported at least two twin-engine machines on our tail! ...."

Translation by Neil Page

Video depicting a Henschel Hs 293 being loaded under a Luftwaffe bomber. The Henschel Hs 293 was an anti-ship guided missile: a radio-controlled 'glider bomb' with a rocket engine slung underneath it, designed by Herbert A. Wagner. The weapon consisted of a modified standard 500 kg SZ bomb with a thin metal shell equipped with a rocket engine  a pair of wings, and an 18-channel radio receiver, getting its signals from a Kehl transmitting set. The rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the height of launch.
KG 100 mounted more Hs 293 sorties against the Allied advance out of Normandy, specifically targeting road infrastructure. Between the 2nd and 6th of August 1944 the weapon was used to attack bridges over the River See and River Selume at the southern end of the Cherbourg peninsula - Patton's forces were pouring through these bottlenecks. Again the attacks were made at night, but only slight damage was done to the bridge at Pontaubault for the loss of at least five aircraft..

Der Adler 26 May 1942 (issue 11) - Blohm and Voss Bv 141 and Dornier Do 217 enter Luftwaffe service

" Two of the new Blohm and Voss Bv 141 aircraft, conceived to fulfill 'Sonderaufgaben' (special duties) for the Luftwaffe and which have already proved their value in numerous sorties over front-line areas.."



" While the enemy has sought to turn the world's attention away from its military defeats by publishing increasingly fantastical figures for armaments production in the United States, Germany has continued to strengthen its armed forces without fanfare. Our aeronautical industries have developed a range of new types, details of which - as has been the case with the new Fw 190 single seat fighter - are only brought to wider attention once series production is well underway and success in frontline service largely achieved. Alongside the world's fastest fighter aircraft the German Luftwaffe has achieved an important increase in its fighting capability with the introduction of the new Dornier Do 217 dive bomber and the Mehrzweckeflugzeug (multi-role aircraft) BV 141 .."



"..Seen here shortly after getting airborne and gear not yet retracted the world's first asymmetrical aircraft, the Bv 141 has been conceived to fulfil a variety of 'special' roles for the Luftwaffe. Powered by a BMW twin-row radial engine, the aircraft has exceptional performance in the climb, is extremely manoeuvrable and very fast..."