Vestigium Leonis (The Lion's footprint)

Heinkel He 111 KG26 coded A being loaded with mines during the early stages of the Battle of Britain 1940

Photo 01: Heinkel He 111s of 4./KG 26 bask in the sun at Aalborg in 1941. Note the matt black washable paint applied crudely to the undersides, aircraft codes and national markings for night operations.

Lüwengeschwader's Big Bang by as ALEXANDER STEENBECK [1]

KAMPFGESCHWADER (KG) 26, known as Lüwengeschwader 'the Lion Wing' is one of the most famous Luftwaffe units of the Second World War. What is much less well known, however, is that this distinguished bomber and anti-shipping unit, which fought on all fronts of the European theatre during the conflict, lost an entire Staffel (squadron) during the early days of the Polish campaign without even getting off the ground.

Following mobilisation on August 24, 1939, II Gruppe of KG 26 (II./KG 26) moved east from its home base at Lüneburg in northern Germany, via Werneuchen (near Berlin), to the small airfield at Gabbert, near the Polish border, where the unit waited for Germany's declaration of war. As bombs were loaded into most of the 32 Heinkel He 111s that formed the Gabbert detachment, the unit's armourers discovered that many of the bombs were getting stuck in the bomb adapter; the bomb's attachment screws were too long and poked out of the casing. The solution was simple: the screws were filed down flush with the casing. When this had been done, the unit was once again ready for action.

Boom! [1]

On September 1, 1939 the opening day of the Second World War II./KG 26 flew its first missions to Posen and other Polish towns to bomb railway stations and other targets. The unit suffered no losses a situation that was to change dramatically three days later.

On September 4 the fifth Staffel of KG 26 (5./KG26) was scheduled to fly a late-afternoon sortie to Lodz. As groundcrews prepared the machines,around 1715hr an armourer was finishing up the loading of SC 10 bombs into He 111 1H+LN; Leutnant Ludwig Baum of 4./KG 26 recalls what happened next: 'We were resting in one of the huts when suddenly a massive explosion threw us from our beds. At first we thought that the Polish Army was attacking us, but when we got out of the hut and ran to the airfi eld we saw a huge trail of smoke coming from an He 111.'

So what had happened? The armourer working on 1H+LN had dropped one of the armed 12kg (25lb) SC 10s. The resulting explosion detonated the other bombs already loaded aboard the bomber. Further explosions followed as nearby bombs on the ground detonated owing to the pressure wave. Then things went from bad to worse. The Heinkel had 2,000lit (440gal) of highly infl ammable fuel in its tanks, which ignited simultaneously. Ground personnel and aircrews ran to their machines — also loaded with bombs and fuel — to pull them away from the ensuing inferno.

Surveying the damage Six men were killed instantly and another 15 were seriously injured, one of which subsequently died some days later. The Heinkel, 1H+LN, was totally destroyed and the unit's remaining bombers were heavily damaged; 5./KG 26 was out of action for days as a result of losing the majority of its aircraft. The damage did not end there — a Junkers Ju 52/3m and Focke-Wulf Fw 58 were also seriously damaged.

The unit proceeded with a comprehensive clean-up, which took two full days. An investigation into the incident revealed that another mechanic working in the cockpit of 1H+LN had switched the bomb-selector panel in the cockpit to 'live' not for bomb-loading. The crews were driven to the Heinkel factory at Oranienburg, near Berlin, to take delivery of brand new He 111s, and by September 10 the unit was ready for action again. The incident was, at that point, the most devastating in KG 26's history, and was never forgotten by the Staffel members who witnessed it.

Source [1]: The Aviation Historian 2014 08

Geschwader Stab Kampfgeschwader 26 - Geschwader Stab KG26

Heinkel He 111 H-1 Geschwader Stab KG26 (1H+JA) WNr 5449 shot down by Spitfires and crash-landed Lammermuir Hills near Edinburgh, Scotland 28^th October 1939.

Heinkel He 111H from Geschwader Stab KG26 coded (1H+JA) WNr 5449 was the first Luftwaffe bomber shot down by Spitfires over the British Isles and crash-landed Lammermuir Hills near Edinburgh, Scotland 28^th October 1939. Note the unusual markings with two sets of Balkenkreuz and the code painted under the wings.

Stab I. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - Stab I./KG26

Heinkel He 111 H-6 Stab I./KG26 coded (1H+BB) WNr 7383 Bardufoss Norway late 1941

Bardufoss Airport is a primary airport situated at Bardufoss in Malselv, Norway. The airport, which is the civilian sector of the Royal Norwegian Air Force's Bardufoss Air Station, is operated by the state-owned Avinor.

Heinkel He 111 H-3 Stab I./KG26 (1H+CB) crew after force landing at Burmarsh Kent 11th Sep 1940

Two German airmen (L) Pilot Feldwebel Heinz Friedrich, who force landed Heinkel He 111H-3 Code: 1H + CB of 1/Kampfgeschwader 26, are marched off by the Home Guard at Burmarsh, Kent, UK. September 11, 1940. This aircraft was en-route to London when it was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, then it was attacked by fighters, including P/O T. S. Wade and P/O D. G. Williams of No. 92 Squadron. Heinkel dumped its bombs and forced landed at Burmarsh, Kent. The crew then set their aircraft alight which eventually burned out. Crew were all taken prisoner.

Pilot: Feldwebel Heinz Friedrich Captured unhurt
Observer: Feldwebel Heinz Georg Captured wounded
Radio/Op: Unteroffizier Kurt Hoffmann Captured unhurt
Gunner : Unteroffizier August Dreyer Captured unhurt
Gunner: Unteroffizier Heinz Stirnemann Captured unhurt

(Colour by Richard James Molloy)

Stab IV. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - Stab IV./KG26

Heinkel He 111H Stab IV./KG26 (1H+DF) abandoned El Aouina, Tunis, Tunisia 1943

La Goulette is the port of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The Kasbah fortress was built in 1535 by Charles I of Spain but was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1574.

1 Staffel I Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 1./KG26

Heinkel He 111H 1./KG26 (1H+AH) crash landed France 1940

Heinkel He 111H 1./KG26 (1H+EH) WNr 6353 shot down Scotland by RAF 602Sqn 8^th February 1939

Heinkel He 111H 1./KG26 coded (1H+FH) Battle of Britain 1940

Heinkel He 111H 1./KG26 (1H+LH) in formation during the Battle of Britain 1939

2. Staffel I. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 2./KG26

Heinkel He 111 H-6 2./K26 'Lowen-Geschwader' coded 1H+FK Ottana, Sardinia August 1943.

Heinkel He 111H6 2./K26 'Lowen-Geschwader' coded 1H+FK, Ottana, Sardinia August 1943 Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. The nearest land masses are the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands.

Heinkel He 111H 2./KG26 (1H+KK) shot down England 1940.

3. Staffel I. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 3./KG26

Heinkel He 111 3./KG26 (1H+HL) Norway 1941
Photo 01: Heinkel He 111 KG26.3 (1H+HL) Norway summer 1941

Heinkel He 111 H-4 3./KG26 (1H+ML) transit Malmi, Helsinki 1942.

1-He 111H4-KG26.3-(1H+ML)-transit-Malmi-1942-01

4. Staffel II. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 4./KG26

Heinkel He 111 H-3 4./KG26 coded 1H+FM W.Nr. 2323 and flown by Unteroffizier Herman Wilms and based in France 3^rd February 1940 2KIA 2POW

The following photographs taken shortly after the plane was shot down show the aircraft lieing in snow at Whitby on Feb 3 1940 after being shot down by aircraft from RAF 43 Squadron.

Heinkel He 111 H-3 4./KG26 coded 1H+JM Norway 1941.

Heinkel He 111 H-6 4./KG26 coded 1H+MM and based

5. Staffel II. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 5./KG26

Heinkel He 111H 5./KG26 (1H+AN) Sicily 1941

Heinkel He 111 H-1 5./KG26 (1H+BN) during the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign 1940

Heinkel He 111 H-3 5./KG26 (1H+DN) WNr 5306 belly landed Sitasjauresee Norrbotten County Sweden 1940

Heinkel He 111 H-1 5./KG26 (1H+EN) WNr 6853 France 1940

6. Staffel II. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 6./KG26

Heinkel He 111H6 Geschwaderstab 6./KG26 1H+BP Italy 1942

Heinkel He 111H6 6./KG26 (1H+BP) crash landed Spain 1942

Heinkel He 111 H-6 6./KG26 II Gruppe Flying anti-shipping missions from Italy 1942

8. Staffel III. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 26 - 8./KG26

Heinkel He 111H 8./KG26 (1H+LS) France 1940

Heinkel He 111 H-4 8./KG26 coded (1T+HK) which was the code from a former unit KG28.

This photograph was taken when it was based in Sestschinskaja Russia 1942. In the photograph you can see the flack damage received from a previous mission.