Kampfgeschwader 55 - KG55 Dornier Do 17 List

Kampfgeschwader 55 Dornier Do 17 photo gallery list

1. Staffel I. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 55 - 1./KG55 code G1+

Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG55 G1+CH shot down Armee de I'Air Caudron C.710 GC 1/145 Warsaw Group France

Profile 01: Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG55 G1+CH shot down by Armee de I'Air Caudron C.710 flown by the all-Polish squadron known as the 'Warsaw Group' GC 1/145 France June 9th 1940.

 

Battle of France

The end of the Phoney War on 10 May 1940 came with Operation Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), the invasion of France and the Low Countries. Stab./KG 55 began operations on 10 May in the Lorraine region of France which would include missions over Nancy, Toul and Epinal. In the first day of action the Geschwader did not suffer any casualties. On the 12 May Allied fighters shot down a Heinkel of 4./KG 55, whilst it was attacking railway targets North East of Reims, for the unit's first loss of the Battle. The next day, 13 May, cost KG 55 ten machines, six from Stab. and 4./KG 55. On that day alone the unit's losses had exceeded that of the Polish Campaign. The losses suffered by KG 55 on 13 May were the worst of the battle. A further seven machines were damaged and forced to land throughout the remainder of the fighting, although only two machines and crews were completely lost. The first of these, a 9./KG 55 Heinkel, was flown by Unteroffizier Horst Mahnert. Whilst returning from a mission to bomb airfields in the Lyon area on 2 June 1940 it strayed into Swiss airspace and was shot down near Ursins by Capitaine Hans Thurnheer (in a Bf 109E)

Caudron CR 714 Armee de I'Air GC 1/145 Warsaw Group

Marcel Riffard, who joined the French company Societe Anonyme des Avions Caudron as chief designer in 1932, became renowned during the next four years when well streamlined racing aircraft of his design won the Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe contests in 1934, 1935 and 1936. The excellence of the basic design induced the company to develop a lightweight fighter aircraft that would benefit from the experience gained in construction and development of the Coupe Deutsch contenders, leading to the Caudron C.710 prototype which flew for the first time on 18 July 1936.

The C.710, despite its small size and weight, soon showed its potential for development, for even with fixed landing gear and armed by two 20mm cannon its 336kW Renault 12Ro1 engine was sufficient to provide a maximum speed that exceeded that of many contemporary fighters. This led to the C.713 Cyclone, first flown in December 1937, which was generally similar in overall design and powerplant, but which introduced retractable tailwheel type landing gear and redesigned vertical tail surfaces. Final evolution of Riffard's design was the C.714.01 prototype, first flown in the summer of 1938, which differed by having some structural strengthening and a wing of improved profile.

The factory testing of this prototype confirmed Riffard's performance estimates, and it was handed over to the CEMA for trials in September 1938. In November there followed an order for 100 C.714 production aircraft which were required to have four 7.5mm wing-mounted machine-guns. Of low-wing cantilever monoplane configuration, the C.714 was an all-wood construction, except that all control surfaces had light alloy framework and fabric covering. The wing section was so shallow that it wasnot possible to mount machine-guns conventionally, within the wing structure, and special streamlined pods were designed, these carrying a pair of guns beneath each wing.

Production began in the summer of 1939, and 50 of the aircraft which had been intended to serve with the Armee de I'Air were diverted to the assistance of Finland, but only six had been received by 12 March 1940, the balance being presumed to have been lost en route. It is believed that about 40 C.714s were delivered to the French air force, which, after some 90 had been built, cancelled production because of dissatisfaction with the type's rate of climb. They were used to equip an all-Polish squadron which became known as the 'Warsaw Group' (GC 1/145), this unit seeing action against the Germans between 2-13 June 1940. Following the collapse of France, a small number were used by the Vichy French air force, and about 20 were confiscated by the Germans for use by the Luftwaffe.

 

 Warnemünde Germany Map

 Mosjoen harbor Norway Map

 

    Bibliography: +

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  • Ciglic, Boris and Dragan Savic. Dornier Do 17 - The Yugoslav Story: Operational Record 1937-1947. Belgrade: Jeroplan Books, 2007. ISBN 978-8-69097270-8.
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  • Goss, Chris. Dornier 17: In Focus. Surrey, UK: Red Kite Books, 2005. ISBN 0-9546201-4-3.
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  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. 'The Annals of the 'Pencil': The Story of the First-Generation Dornier Do 17'. Air Enthusiast. Issue 30, March—June 1986. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press, pp. 38–53. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. 'Balkan Interlude - The Bulgarian Air Force in WWII'. Air Enthusiast. Issue 39, May–August 1989. Bromley, Kent: Tri-Service Press, pp. 58–74. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Griehl, Manfred. Dornier Do 17E-Z, Do 215B; The Flying Pencil in Luftwaffe Service. World War Two Combat Aircraft Archive No. 03. Air Coc, Erlangen, Germany, 2005. ISBN 3-935687-42-7.
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  • Keskinen, Kalevi and Kari Stenman. Suomen Ilmavoimien historia 2: Dornier Do 17Z, Junkers Ju 88A-4. Hobby-Kustannus Oy, 1999. ISBN 952-5334-01-5.
  • March, Daniel J. British Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace Publishing. 1998. ISBN 1-874023-92-1.
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    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • EDUARD - https://www.eduard.com/
  • EDUARD - Are in my opinion are what modelers are looking for loads of pictures and diagrams and have become a leading historical information source. *****
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Luftwaffe IM Focus (German) - https://www.luftfahrtverlag-start.de/
  • Embleme der Luftwaffe Band-1 (German) - https://www.luftfahrtverlag-start.de/
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • model airplane international magazine - https://adhpublishing.com/shop/store/magazine-backissues/model-airplane-international-backissues/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

    Web References: +

  • eBay - https://picclick.de/ or https://www.ebay.com
  • Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com
  • Wikipedia.org - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_196

 

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This webpage was updated 29th July 2024

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