Strana 16
HISTORY
units would be completely exhausted by
massive attacks in the south and southeast of
England. A major attack was planned on the
same day, being directed at the northeast coast
of England. The attack was to be undertaken
by Luftflotte 5 forces, dislocated in Norway
and Denmark. The command of the Luftwaffe
anticipated an attack into an undefended area
of England. Sixty-three He 111s from KG 26
were to attack Dishforth and Linton-on- Ouse
Airfields. Twenty-one long-range Bf 110D-1/
R-1s from I./ZG 76 took off from Stavanger
Airfield at about 11:35 with the task of escorting
dispatched Heinkels. RAF radar operators
detected the approaching danger at the right
time. German command miscalculated. There
were several fighter squadrons in the area,
replenishing forces after the previous July
fights. A final number of fifty-six Hurricanes
and Spitfires from 41., 72., 79., 605. and
607. Squadrons were airborne against the
German raid. The sky was filled with airplanes.
In such a peele-meele, eleven victories of the
members of 2. and 3. Staffel were claimed.
Lt. Helmut Woltersdorf made a double claim,
when scoring his seventh and eighth victory,
both Spitfires shot down East of Blyth. Double
claim was reported also by Oblt. Reinhold
Eckart over Flamborough. Although the
I. Gruppe crews scored, the losses were much
higher. Survivor of the action, Bordfunker Uffz.
Otto Dombrowsky of 2./ZG 76 summarized the
events of that day as follows:
“It was a black day for I./ZG 76. We suffered
heavy losses. Our orders: mission against
England as protection for He 111s. The
Gruppenstabschwarm with Hptm. Werner
Restemeyer flew at the rear of the formation
in order to intervene wherever the trouble was
the greatest but they didn‘t get the chance.
Long before the coast, we were surprised by
Spitfires and Hurricanes which attacked us in
vastly superior numbers.
The Gruppenstabschwarm was the first to be
engaged. We could see how they were broken
up and Hptm. Restemeyer was shot down.
We had to stay with the bombers and were in
turn engaged in battle. Our protective circle
was torn open and we were attacked from
above and the left by a Hurricane. I shouted
at my pilot Oblt. Gustav Uellenbeck to pull up
to the left and was able to open fire at the
Hurricane successfully as he dropped away to
the left in a steep dive with a trail of smoke.
When we got back to Aalborg we counted
24 bullet holes. The direction-finding
equipment, aerials - everything had been shot
away.”
The drama in the sky continued and
Gruppenkommandeur ´s Bf 110 was shot
down in the battle with 72. Squadron
Spitfires and crashed into the sea near
Durham. Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Werner
Restemeyer, and his Bordfunker Uffz. Werner
Eichert, were both killed almost instantly, as
some sources state, that his belly tank on
Bf 110 “M8+AB” exploded when hit by enemy
planes. The third crew member of their Bf 110,
Hptm. Ernst-August Hartwich (photograph 09),
a member of Funkhorchkomp. X Flieger Korps,
flying as a special observer, also died. At first,
he was registered as a prisoner, but later his
status changed to dead.
Shown Photograph 10 is one of the last known
photos of Hptm. Werner Restemeyer. He died
13 days short of his 34th birthday on 15 August
1940. On 1 June 1941, he was posthumously
promoted to Major, but only on 1 August 1944
was he officially listed as Missing in Action.
But the story of “M8+AB” W.Nr. 3156 seems
to be a bit different as one would suppose.
Unauthorized photograph 11 from eBay auction
shows the Bf 110 D with W.Nr.3156 and partial
code “M8+.” However, under the wings of this
aircraft we can recognize the letter D. We
suggest that it was photographed as “M8+DB”.
This would lead to a conclusion, that Hptm.
Restemeyer was not lost in this plane W.Nr.3156
on 15 August 1940. It is highly probable that
after his May accident Gruppenkommandeur
received a new aircraft with code “M8+AB”,
which may be the one shown on photograph 12,
and his old W.Nr. 3156 was renamed to “M8+DB”
and used within Stab I./ZG 76 for some time and
possibly survived his original pilot.
INFO Eduard16
July 2025