FlyPast 06.2018

WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?

193919391939

D

ornier’s Do 17, unofficially

known as the ‘flying

pencil’ due to its thin

fuselage, had proven to be a

valuable reconnaissance aircraft in

the Spanish Civil War, but it really

came to the fore in the opening

salvos of World War Two. The

German attacks on Poland that

started on September 1, 1939 saw

a large concentration of Do 17s

drawn into the fight, with around

20 Staffeln (squadrons) of Do 17Ps

being used for reconnaissance and

various Gruppen (groups) carrying

out bomber operations with Do

17M and ’Zs in support of ground

troops. In total, around 632 Do

17s were available at the start of the

Poland campaign.

Britain and France joined the

conflict shortly after Hitler’s forces

marched into Polish territories, but

for several months there was very

little action on the Western Front

• the period becoming known as
  the Phoney War. The Nazis spent
  much of this time planning their
  push towards the English Channel
  and needed precise reconnaissance,
  and again, the Do 17 was at the fore
  from the start.

MOUNTING LOSSES

The Dornier was an early 1930s

design, and although it performed

well in Spain with the Condor

legion and in Poland, it was no

match for the fast monoplane

fighters of the Royal Air Force.

That said, it’s somewhat ironic that

the first Do 17P to be lost during

the Phoney War was shot down

by ‘friendly fire’ on September

24, 1939, with the deaths of two

of the three crew from 3 Staffel

(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 122

(3.[F]/122). The first operational

loss was Do 17P 4052 ‘F6+HM’

of 4.(F)/122, flown by Uffz Otto

Wendt, which suffered engine

failure while carrying out a

reconnaissance sortie off the east

coast of England on October 26,

1939. It force-landed at Uithuizen
      in neutral Holland, where the three
      crew were interned.
      The first Do 17P to be shot down
      in combat on the Western Front
      occurred on October 30, 1939
      when Plt Off Peter ‘Boy’ Mould of
      the RAF’s 1 Squadron destroyed a
      Do 17P of 2.(F)/123, which was
      engaged on a photo-reconnaissance
      mission in the Toul area of north-
      eastern France. The aircraft crashed
      and exploded at Traveron with
      the deaths of Hptm Balduin von
      Normann und Audenhove, the
      unit commander, Oblt Hermann
      Heistenbergk and Fw Friedrich
      Pfeuffer. Mould’s kill was the first
      enemy aircraft shot down over
      France by the RAF since 1918.
      On November 7, 1939, a French
      fighter shot down a Do 17 for the
      first time. Sgt Edouard Salès of
      Groupe de Chasse II/5 (GC II/5)

intercepted the Dornier of 3.(F)/22

commanded by Oblt Hans Wagener.

Wagener, Ofws Herbert Thor and

Alfred Gerbig were all killed in the

subsequent crash.

The following day, 2/Lt Camille

Plubeau of GC II/4 brought down a

Do 17P of 1.(F)/22 commanded by

Oblt Hans Blankemeier, which was

engaged on a reconnaissance mission

south of Zweibrücken. The German

machine exploded north-east of

Bitsch, France, killing Blankemeier,

Uffz Clemens Sieger and Fw Alfons

Wawrock.

On the same day the RAF’s up

and coming ace Fg Off Edgar James

‘Cobber’ Kain of 73 Squadron shot

down Do 17P 4062 of 1.(F)/123,

which crashed in central Lubey,

north-eastern France, killing

Oblt Hans Kutterer, Ofw Georg

Stühler and Obergefreiter (OGefr)

Heinrich Schneidmüller. Two days

later, Plt Off Horatio Dunn of 87

Squadron badly damaged a Do 17P

of 4.(F)/121, which crashed near

Echterdingen in Germany, killing

Oblt Horst Martinköwitz, Lt Franz

Langert and Fw Erwin Frehse.

Dunn’s Hawker Hurricane (Mk.I

L1619, coded LK-P) ran out of fuel

during the chase and he force-landed

in neutral Belgium, where he was

briefly interned. He would meet the

same German unit again on the eve

of the Battle of France but this time

the outcome would be tragic for

Dunn.

WESTERN

STORM RISING

PHONEY WAR

Above

This Do 17P served

with 1.(F)/120, a

reconnaissance unit that

participated in the Polish

Blitzkrieg. It also had a

limited role during the

Norway and Denmark

campaigns, at which time

it was converting to the

He 111.

Above right

‘Cobber’ Kain’s fi rst

victory – a Do 17P of

1.(F)/123 – which crashed

in central Lubey on

November 8, 1939 killing

Hans Kutterer, Georg

Stühler and Heinrich

Schneidmüller.

112 FLYPAST June 2018