Heinkel He 111H-3 Sjøvegan Narvik

4./II./KG 26 1H+OM 22.5 1940

The Heinkel bomber took off from Værnes, Trondheim late in the evening. Their mission was to drop supplies to the German forces at Narvik. On their return from Narvik, at an altitude of 300m, they were attacked by a Gloster Gladiator( probably Craig-Adams). Both engines started burning and they had to crash land immediately. All four survived this rough landing and started walking towards the Swedish border. Feldwebel Karl-Heinz Hess. Uffz.August Riehle.Ogfr.Josef Kopitz. Flg.Rudolf Entrich were captured by Norwegian forces, four or five days later. The two German officers were brought to England. The wireless operator and the mechanic became POW's in Norway, but were soon released. Hess and the pilot spent six years as POW's in Scotland and Canada.