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Help with interpreting the notes in a Flugbuch to a Battle of Britain casualty
Hi all,
I've just bought a really nice Battle of Britain casualty flugbuch to a Unteroffizier Wilhelm Heckers, the pilot of a Ju88 from III/KG77 and would appreciate some help interpreting some of the writing/notes particularly the departure and landing airfield, the purpose of the flight (which in most cases is 'frontflieger') and the 'remarks' column.
Heckers (mis-spelt Hekers) is mentioned in the book 'The Battle of Britain: Then and Now' (page 698) noting that his aircraft is believed to have been brought down by AA fire during an attack on London on Friday October 25th 1940.
For some reason I cannot access the Volksbund online grave search so I had hoped that a member may be able to tell me if Uffz. Heckers has a known grave and if so I would really appreciate it's location?
Lastly, any help with the location of the crash site would be greatly appreciated.
Just one last question, here in the UK we have access to RAF Operational Record Books which list information such as Unit (ie. Squadron number) type of aircraft, aircraft serial number, crew list, target, purpose of flight etc...is there any equivalent for Luftwaffe Squadrons? and if so is it possible to access them?
Thank you in advance for any help,
Russ
PS. I apologise in advance but I have no idea how to rotate those photos which are on their side.
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11-15-2020 01:19 PM
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Thanks for your reply hucks216,
Both of his logbooks have his name spelt without the 'c', ie. Hekers as has the 'Battle of Britain Then and Now' entry which to be fair doesn't say that he crashed in the UK but just that he failed to return.
However, it does concern me that all his citations have his name spelt incorrectly as 'Heckers' so could this mean that they aren't genuine? In hand they definitely feel genuine to me but I'm by no means an expert!
Russ
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It's quite common for names to be misspelt. Your citations look fine.
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It is great that this old thread has been revived.
Wilhelm Hekers.
9/KG-77 (Channel)
Bomber Operational Clasp
Ju 88A-1 werk # 6140 "3Z + KT" (lost 10/25/40)
KIA with unnamed crew 25 October, 1940; believed shot down by flak during night sortie to London, location not reported (Ju 88 Loss List).
403 Forbidden
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Doing a selective search on Ancestry, for the 25th October 1940 there are 3 others from 9./KG-77 all dying on that day and all listed with a place of death as Rozet St Albin (Feindflug), as is Hekers, so I would assume they are the rest of the crew. Hofmann is listed as a gunner and Pirschel is listed as a radio operator so that would leave Fürnkranz as the observer or engineer (not sure of the crew make-up of a Ju-88).
Obergefreiter Hartmut Hofmann (Bordschutze)
Obergefreiter Fritz Fürnkranz (Beobachter ?)
Unteroffizier Herbert Pirschel (Bordfunker)
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I have now found the entry in the official Luftwaffe loss lists. In that they have Hofmann as the Beobachter and Firnkranz (spelt differently) as the Bordschutze. They also spell Herbert Pirschel as Kurt Pirschan.
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