Junkers Ju88-a5 Werknummer 6213

[Kitty]

JUNKERS JU88-A5 WERKNUMMER 6213 CODE (F1 + AD) ROACHES

Date : 8/5/41
Time : 0100hrs
Aircraft : Junkers Fluxing - und - Motorenwerke AG Dessau
: Built 23/10/40 at Heinkel-Werke G.M.B.H. Oranienberg
Flight Purpose : Bombing Liverpool docks
Squadron : Kampfgeshwader 76 based at Leuwarden
Lufftflotte 111 commanded by Marshal Sperrle

Crew : Pilot Major Dietrich von ZIEHLBERG 31yrs
: Observer Oblt. Walter LEMBKE 35yrs
: W/Op Ofw. Rudolf SCHWALBE 24yrs
: A/Gunner Fw. Georg MAHL 26yrs

At 2240hrs, Major Von Ziehlberg lifted 6213 off the concrete runway at Leuwarden and set course for Liverpool, along the ‘beam’ with 17 other 88’s form his squadron. The ‘beam’ (Knickbein) was an early form of radio navigation, developed in Germany and proved to be effective in target location.

Major Von Ziehlberg had recently been appointed Officer Commanding and was a veteran of 66 sorties and proudly wore his Iron Cross on that fateful night as they headed out into the darkness over the English Channel.

Lt. Diether Lukesh recalls:

“I joined the Airforce Air War School near Berlin in 1938 and graduated through the Reconnaissance and Blind Flying School. I was then posted to ‘F’ Squadron on KG76 on 1/8/40. My early missions were photo recce trips in a Dornier 17, followed by several trips to bomb the Industrial areas of Coventry and Birmingham, together with London and Southampton docks.

At the end of November 1940, I was posted to Illesheim to retrain on the JU88 A-5 and thereafter was posted to Chateaudon to commence operations to Liverpool, Birkenhead, Sheffield, Bristol, London, Glasgow, Dumbarton, Coventry and Birmingham. Occasionally some missions went from Cormeilles-en-Vexin, Utrecht or Leuwarden. (KG76 was based at Cormeilles after 13/5/41) Leuwarden at that time was the most modern airport we had, with concrete runways and taxiways, airfield lighting, landing aids controlled from the Command Centre, conference and rest rooms.

I remember the night of 7/5/41 particularly well. Our departure was delayed and I can recall Major Von Ziehlberg sitting around a table, playing cards, still with his leather coat on, at 2200hrs. He was a very popular man, well liked and respected by his comrades. Shortly after, we departed for Liverpool, I was flying another JU88 coded F1 + FR.

We were using the ‘Knickbein’ radio navigation to locate targets, which was very effective, but on this particular night, it was very clear and we could see the outline of the Mersey from some distance away and had no trouble in locating the target. We had been warned about Defiant fighters and their recognition equipment, but we had our own countermeasures and tactics. Briefly, the radio equipment in the 88 was disturbed by radar waves which meant that the operator could detect the approach of a radar equipped fighter, from some distance away. This gave us an opportunity to go into a steep, high speed dive, which was usually sufficient to escape from the aircraft such as Defiant’s, besides the fact that they had no forward armament.

The ground defences were very active and we were met with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, which together with the searchlights, made the target area very hazardous for us indeed. We completed our assault and turned for home.

Moments later Major Von Ziehlberg’s radio operator came on the air stating that they had been hit (probably by a flak shell) and that the aircraft was starting to burn. He kept talking for a short while and his final message was that they were baling out. By this time the Squadron was passing the south of Manchester.

We saw an aircraft go down and four parachutes open, so we assumed them to be Major Von Ziehlberg and his crew. (In fact this was the Heinkel which crashed at Hazel Grove, the 4 crew being taken as POW’s) Several other aircraft also reported the same incident.

We landed at 0245hrs and reported the shooting down of our Commanding Officer during the debriefing, and assumed them to be safe. This wasn’t the first time he had been ‘missing’. I can recall another occasion when he did not return with the rest of the Squadron, after a raid. He had stayed over the target area, making several passes over the docks, to make sure he had counted the number of ships correctly and eventually got back with almost dry petrol tanks.

It was some weeks later that news of their deaths came to us via the Red Cross in Switzerland. He was sadly missed, being a dedicated and popular officer with is comrades.

I flew my last mission against England on 31/5/41, to Liverpool. Defences were much improved by this time, compared with the Autumn of 1940. I was then posted to Russia for 2 years, then the Italian Westfront, doing technical research work and was promoted to Hauptman. I was finally demobbed and joined Lufthansa, becoming a Captain, until retirement. I had flown a total of 436 missions against enemy targets”.



Major Von Ziehlberg’s aircraft was seen flying over Leek, in the direction of Hillswood, with one wing well ablaze. Moments later it was seen to turn to starboard and then go down to its final resting place.

It seems clear that the crew were about to bail out, judging by their final message and the fact that the entire rear part of the cockpit canopy and the rearward firing armament had been jettisoned, which was the procedure in the event of an emergency. The canopy and the ammunition belts were later found in Gradbach Wood, near the crash site and along the flight path.

According to eye witnesses, three crew members were among the wreckage and the fourth man was thrown well clear and found some distance away along with a propeller. He was described as being ‘very young, unmarked and had a mop of flaxen hair’. This would be Georg Mahl, the gunner, who would have been the first to bail out and was on the point of doing so, when the aircraft hit.

They were taken to the mortuary at the Moorlands Hospital, interred at leek Cemetery and finally laid to rest at the German Military cemetery at Cannock.

Frau Von Ziehlberg, the wife of the pilot, fulfilled a wish and was able to visit the scene of the crash in 1952, together with the hospital and the cemetery, being a pointed reminder that grief remains for both sides.

Before leaving for her home in Bavaria, she thanked the people of Leek for their kindness and consideration.

It is understood that her trip over her was paid for by an American army officer.

The wreckage was removed in 1947, by a local scrap-dealer.











HEINKEL 111-P4 WERKNUMMER 2871 CODE (G1 + LH) HAZEL GROVE

Date : 8/5/41
Time : 0120hrs
Aircraft : Built at the Heinkel works, Oranienberg, early 1939
: Engines: 2x1150bhp Daimler-Benz 610Aa inv.V12
Flight Purpose : Bombing Liverpool Docks
Squadron : KG 55 based at Melun-Villaroche, 20 miles SSE of
Paris. Part of Lufftloffe 111

Crew : Pilot Oblt. Adolf KNORRINGER
: Observer Ofw. Karl KOHLHOPP
: W/Op Uffz. Ludwig RATHSAM
: F/Eng Ofw. Alois KLOS

The aircraft was shot down by a Defiant from 256 Squadron, based at Squires Gate, piloted by F/Lt E.C. Deansley with F/Sgt W.J. Scott. The crew al baled out to safety and were later taken as POW’s. The parachutes were seen by other crews from KG76.

The night of 7/8 May 1941 saw intense Luftwaffe activity over this Country, particularly against such placed as Liverpool where KG 55 & 76 were targeted for attack. Robert Gatz was an Observer on another Heinkel that night and recalls the intense activity over the City, particularly from the ground defences and night fighters on the approaches. They had been using the ‘Knickbein’ to approach the target, but were warned off due to fighter activity. They found the target by dead-reckoning, completed their mission and returned to base by 0400hrs.

KG 55 lost 3 aircraft that night and KG 76 only one (that of Major Von Ziehlberg). Overall losses that night were very few, considering the number of aircraft airborne.

The Roaches: The_Roaches_1143410626.jpg


Information taken from A Moorlands Dedication by Marshal S. Boylan.

[Peter Clare]

http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co...9-19456213.htm