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    A small but interesting set of documents to Oberfeldwebel Erwin Heinemann who served with the 2./ Aufkl?rungsgruppe Ob.d.L. (Aufkl.Gr.Ob.d.L. : Aufkl?rungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe. The Reconnaissance Wing of the Commander in Chief of the German Airforce) and was mentioned in dispatches for his courage & bravery whilst on a mission over Glasgow in 1941.

    In short, during the reconnaissance mission, Heinemann?s Ju88 came under attack by two fighter aircraft. These fighters made five passes and as well as knocking out one engine, they hit the Ju88 with a total of 250 cannon rounds. Even though Heinemann?s aircraft was seriously damaged, he continued his mission and completed the task of photographing potential target sites. On the return flight to his base in France and still being over Britain, his controls seized. This plus the fact that he was flying on one engine, forced him to drop to an altitude of 800ft.. At this height, Heinemann had to negotiate concentrated antiaircraft fire from coastal batteries.

    Heinemann fought to keep his aircraft in the air (?with an arm of Iron &steel?), and after a nerve wracking flight lasting five hours they finally reached France.

    On finding a level piece of ground, Heinemann had to crash-land the aircraft as the landing gear had been put out of action.

    On removing the photographic equipment, it was found to badly damaged by shell fire but the film itself was intact.

    Heinemann was promoted for his efforts.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thanks to Dave for kindly letting me have this document group.

    Document (Urkunde) for his pilot qualification.

    Dated : 9th March 1940.

    Signed by Generalleutnant Gustav Kastner-Kirdorf

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    Rick,

    Research has begun..

    Looking at the group, the first thing that springs to mind....

    Either the group is incomplete or, if complete, seeing that he only received the bronze clasp (20 operational missions), he didn?t make it to his 60th operational mission (silver clasp)..

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    Guest Rick Research

    My thought too-- four more long long YEARS to have gotten through....

    I can bring him to the end of 1942--

    Ehrenpokal as Oberfeldwebel, Flugzeugf?hrer 20 July 1942

    German Cross in Gold as Oberfeldwebel "Flugzeugf?hrer in einer Aufkl?rungsgruppe" 23 November 1942.

    After that, darkness. :ninja:

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    • 1 year later...

    German Cross in Gold as Oberfeldwebel "Flugzeugf?hrer in einer Aufkl?rungsgruppe" 23 November 1942.

    Heinemann received the DKiG 5/11/42 as an Obfw still with 2.(F)/ObdL, you would have to assume than if he was awarded the DKiG he must have already of received the Frontflugspange in Gold. However I don't know if the award of the DKiG was posthumous or whether he was still alive.

    Andy

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    I can bring him to the end of 1942-

    Or can you? What if these were posthumous awards? (sorry Andy just read your thread re: possible posthumous DK!)

    Any clues as to date or year of birth in the newspaper article John? Normally there is a mention such as "born 1918 in Essen the son of a butcher etc".

    There are 7 listed on the German war graves site.........out of those this is the only one that could be a match!?!?!?

    Nachname: Heinemann

    Vorname: Erwin

    Dienstgrad:

    Geburtsdatum: 17.02.1918

    Geburtsort:

    Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 01.09.1942

    Todesort: Russland

    Regards,

    Ian

    Edited by ian jewison
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    After a few enquiries I've been informed of the following concerning the fate of Heinemann.

    Obfw Erwin Heinemann 2.(F)/ObdL MIA 27Sep42 flying Ju 88D-1 (430285; T5+DK)

    Source: Gen.Qu.6.Abt.

    Edited by Andy_F
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    • 3 months later...

    John,there were a few more pieces before I got to this group.

    A friend of mine owned the group but I'm afraid he died and I was asked by his widow to sell his collection but unfortunately before I could get there a UK dealer friend of theirs got to the collection first and took a couple of items from the group :(

    John I've emailed you mate.

    Dave

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    • 6 years later...

    Hi there,

    This thread is old but just in case somebody is still interested. It looks like this plane (Ju88D-1, 430285; T5+DK) was shot down by my grandfather (flying MiG-3) over Mahachkala in Russia on Sept 27th, 1942. According to him one of the pilots jumped out on a parashute but shot himself to avoid capture. Who was that person my granfather doesn't know.. The plane itself crashed in the bay.

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    • 5 weeks later...

    Hi there,

    I am most interested in any more details you might have.

    Plane T5+DK on that day had crew

    Ofw Erwin Heinemann (pilot), Fw Herbert Girold (observer), Uffz Willi Kramer (radio), Fw Heinz Haus (mechanic).

    All sources still list plane and crew as MIA/unknown cause/Krasnodar/Makhachkala/Baku.

    Do you have the MIGs call sign and are you sure about the location (Mahachkala)? Is your grandfather still alive?

    Any information that could be used to inquire at the Russian military archives would be most appreciated!

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    Hi,

    My grandfather was serving in 266 Fighter Aviation Regiment Air Defence (266 иап пво). This regiment was formed in July 1941 and was part of the 8-th Fighter Corp (8-й истребительный корпус) defending Baku and Mahachkala.

    In 1942 there was no radio on his plane and he doesn't remember his aircraft number but when later in the war when he got the radio his call sign was "72".

    He doesn't remember exact date but he is sure it was Sept. 1942 when he shotdown that Ju-88.

    Recently we came across a website where somebody is researching defence of Baku during WWII and talks about Luftwaffe operations and German reconasance planes in particular. This gentleman is also was questioninig the faith of the Ju-88 T5+DK.

    http://www.proza.ru/2011/05/17/1485 it's in Russian though.

    After telling him my grandfather's story and based on the fact that in Sept 1942 there was only one downed Ju-88 in that area he concluded that was Mr. Heinemann's plane.

    My grandfather is still alive so if you have any questions I can ask him.

    Regards

    Edited by covex
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    • 7 years later...

    Ich bitte um Verzeihung, ich kann kein Deutsch ... Ich benutze den Google-Übersetzer ... In einem in Russland veröffentlichten Buch wurde viel über ihn geschrieben: https://iknigi.net/avtor-dmitriy-degtev/107536-sekretnye-operacii-lyuftvaffe-ot-grenlandii-do-iraka-19391945-dmitriy-degtev/read/page-1.html

    Und hier sind einige weitere interessante Links.

    https://www.flieger-hanspeter.ch/Uffz-.-M-.-Lagoda-Teil-3.htm

    Es ist bekannt, dass er in Junkers von Mariupol nach Teheran geflogen ist

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