Kampfgeschwader 53 "LEGION CONDOR" Oberleutnant Dietrich Kornblum, Staffelkapitän of 4./KG 53 4000.Feindflug - He 111 - Piloten - ebay photo find #299

The bespectacled Oblt. Dietrich Kornblum, Staffelkapitän of 4./KG 53, seen here proudly wearing his Knight's Cross awarded on 9 June 1944. Note the 500 kg bomb (filled with the highly explosive Trialen mixture). The distinctively camouflaged He 111 coded 'KM' may have participated on the Poltava raid less than a fortnight later. Kornblum was posted from II./KG 53 to convert to night fighters. He is credited with one kill (10-11 Nov 44) before he was KIA attacking "a British mine-layer" with 9./NJG 2 on the night of 27-28 Nov 44 flying Ju 88 C-6, Wnr. 620510 code '4R + AT'. Also in the image below right (middle). The auction site Ratisbons have his pilot's licence on offer ... " Hauptmann Dietrich Kornblum was awarded the Knight's Cross serving with II./KG 53. In November 1944 he served with 12./NJG 3 and later with 9./NJG 2. Kornblum and his crew destroyed a British ship and were hit by the explosion of the ship. His Ju 88 sunk on 27./28.11.1944...."

via Manuel Rauh here

some unusual camouflage schemes on Heinkel He 111 bombers - KG 4, KG 53, KG 55, KG 100 ( reference for the forthcoming Airfix new tool He 111)

on offer via Manuel Rauh here at the time of posting. Click on the images to view large.

Preparations for a night sortie over the UK at Vannes, France during early 1941, home to I./KG 100. Below, a view of "6N+NK"

II./ KG 53 over the Baltic during  August 1944 coded  A1+LN. Note upper DL 131 turret with 13mm MG 131

Below; KG 53 machine - captioned in the album as "My crew - from left to right..". The second image caption reads  " Taken just before a mission - 'A1+BN' abgesturzt  (crashed). Nice view of the dorsal Drehlafette rotatable turret, so probably an H-16/ R1, the designation for the DL 131 electrically powered turret with a single MG 131 in the B-Stand (dorsal) position, standard on the last major production variant, the H- 20.

Camouflage appears to be (likely 76) blotches and black under surfaces. And my first thought was that this also applied to the KG 26 machine in the image below.

via Anders Hjortsberg

 " ..Now regarding the color photo above, I'm starting to think that it's an old Heinkel that was originally painted in RLM79 and later was given an overspray with 70, 71 or 80. I realize RLM 79 seems strange at first, but the photo is quite faded and the color would be faded as well. But it does have a warm cast to it. Besides, RLM79 is the only color I can think of that light, that would be so carefully applied on a Heinkel that the canopy framing would be painted as well. The white tailband is another clue that we're dealing with an aircraft related to operations in the MTO. In other words, I don't think it has anything to do with the other ones.. "

more squiggles; light (possibly 76) over darker 70/71 finish which virtually all He 111s must have been finished in from the factory.

below; night blitz scheme - brush applied !

below; unusual Wintertarnung - He111 H-16 coded G1+FK of 2./KG 55 taken over Charkow Sud in July 1942 according to the seller. However  the first test flights at Rostock with the He 111 H-16 variant took place in December 1942. The first loss report mentioning the version He 111 H-16/R1 with the dorsal all-glazed DL 131/1C turret is from December 1943. So this image ..+FK dates most likely from that winter  when He 111 Gruppen in the East applied similar camouflage.

Scenes from 6./ KG 53 - Ritterkreuz award to 6./KG 53 pilot Ofw. Waldemar Teige - Ofw. Heinz Gossow

...above, taken on the occasion of the presentation of the Ritterkreuz to 6./KG 53 pilot Ofw. Waldemar Teige on 10 June 1942 at Krowje Selo on the Eastern Front. Seen left, Generaloberst Keller is handing over the award to Teige which was for 12 Luftsiege (probably night-fighting) and around 240 combat sorties. Teige's aircraft - He 111 H-6 A1+AC -was hit by anti-aircraft fire during an attack on the rail station at Ostaschkow near Dno on 3 October 1942. Teige brought the aircraft back over German lines, enabling the crew to bale out successfully. However his own chute caught up on the aircraft's tail and he plunged to his death. Far right is Oblt. Walter Spellig.

below; He 111 H "A1+AP" flown by Staffelkapitän 6./ KG 53 Hptm Andreas Zahn returning from a sortie during 1941

More scenes from 6./ KG 53. Michael Meyer's current Ebay sales are here

Feting the 2000th sortie of 6./ KG 53 He 111 H in Krowjw Selo in Rußland during the summer of 1943. The sortie was flown by Ofw. Heinz Gossow and crew. - this is the same Heinz Gossow who went on to fly in the Defence of the Reich with JG 301. Below, Staffelkapitän Hptm Heinz Zöller is seen congratulating Ofw. Gossow. Zöllner was Kapitän of 6. Staffel from 11.6.1943 to 26.9.1943 and awarded the RK on 5 April 1944. He wa KIA on 5.11.1944.

Heinkel He 111s of KG 53

He 111 of 6./KG 53 taxies out for takeoff in Ödheim during the spring of 1940. Lt. Heinz Eicke at the controls, later Kapitän of 9 and 12./KG 53

He 111 belonging to 6./KG 53 airborne from Ödheim in early 1940. Flugzeugführer (pilot) Rascher at the controls

Above; He 111 A1+BP of 6./KG 53 seen here in an elaborate 'Sandsackbox' hide during August 1940 in Vendeville (south of Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) at the height of the Battle of Britain. Below; "A1+BP" again, a photo taken on 30 August 1940 in Vendeville. Beobachter (observer) Lt. Walter Spellig points to a hit in the forward fuselage glazing.

Below; He 111 of 6./KG 53 based in Vendeville seen returning from a sortie on 30 August 1940

Stab./KG 53 Geschwaderkommodore Oberstlt. Fritz Pockrandt 1944/45 in Bad Zwischenahn

More KG 53 He 111s from Michael Meyer's Ebay sales here