KITS 02/2021

Do 17Z-2, WNr. 2555, 8./KG 76, Cormeilles-en-Vixen, France, September 1940

On August 15th, 1940, at ten minutes after noon, this aircraft was shot down by Spitfires from No.609 Squadron flown by F/O Dundas and

F/O Tobin. The pilot of the Dornier bellied in near Castle Farm at Shoreham. Outside of observer Fw. Schmid, who was fatally wounded in

the intercept, the crew was taken prisoner. Do 17Zs of the 8. Staffel KG 76 carried the unit insignia under the cockpit, a red shield with three

white bomber silhouettes and a bomb in the background. Other identifying markings were the red fuselage band behind the wing and red

spinner tips. The aircraft letter ‘F’ in red (the colour of the 8.Staffel within the III.Gruppe) was edged in white. White, and in the case of KG

76, pink, bands, used during the Battle of Britain as a formation flying aid, were painted on the top surface of the left wing and on the outside surfaces of the fin and rudders.

Do 17Z-5, WNr. 2787, 1./KGr. 606, Lannion, France, October 1940

The Do 17Z-5 was equipped with floatation cells in the nose in order to give the crew more time to escape the aircraft in cases of setting

down on water. These aircraft were issued to Küstenfliegergruppe 606 as a matter of priority, a unit that specialized in attacking surface

vessels. This aircraft was heavily damaged on October 11th, 1940 during an attack on Liverpool, when No.611 Squadron Spitfires lit up both

of its engines. Two members of the crew (the radiooperator and mechanic) bailed out of the aircraft, while the pilot and observer were able

to actually make to France and make an emergency landing near Brest. The mechanic, Uffz. Johansen, was struck by the tail surfaces of the

aircraft and died before he hit the ground after bailing out over England. The radio operator reached the ground unscathed near Mart of Llyn

and was captured. After a change in tactics that involved the bombing of English cities under the cover of darkness, the undersides of the aircraft, as well as the white portions of the balkenkreuz and swastikas on other surfaces, were painted black, which was the case here as well.

The unit emblem appears below the cockpit.

42 eduard

INFO Eduard - February 2021