1 May 1940

An aircraft of Kü.Fl.Gr. 506 was damaged by defending figters while shadowing heavy units of the Royal Navy.

A Ju 87 of I./St.G 1 failed to return from an afternoon attack on an Allied force including the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious. A “Ltn. Bohne” [presumably Obltn. Heinz Bohne] claimed to have started a fire with a direct SC 250 hit one on of the carriers.

2 May 1940

A deciphered signal revealed that 13 aircraft of 2./KG 26 were out of action:

KG 26 reported that 25 of its aircraft needed overhaul, some of these requiring new engines or repairs to gunfire damage. The Geschwader’s II. Gruppe was short of 12 He 111 H-4, 10 pilots, four observers and eight wireless operators.

Either on this day or the next, two aircraft of LG 1 made forced landings near Bergen and their crews were due to be returned to Germany by Ju 52 transports.

3 May

Two damaged aircraft of Kampfgruppe z.b.V. 104 were in Oslo.

4 May

Six aircraft of III./KG 26 made an unsuccessful attack on naval units; one of them made a forced landing near Vega while a second was completely wrecked lading in Trondheim.

During the afternoon, 4H+NK ran low on fuel and force-landed at Vevelstad, about midway between Bodø and Trondheim.

6 May

DD+MF of 1./KGr. z.b.V. 106 was undergoing undercarriage repairs in Trondheim.

German aircraft bombing the iron ore wharf at Narvik and the Framnes Peninsula killed four of their own soldiers and wounded several more; afterward they attacked a British destroyer. He 111 6N+EH of 1./KGr. 100 set out from Trondheim to attack Elvenes but did not return.

A number of He 111 which had filled their tanks at Trondheim were put out of action until the evening of the next day because the fuel was contaminated with water.

A message from Trondheim reported that a Hptm. Reichel had parachuted near “Hartwigsee”.

8 May

CF+JM was forced by bad weather to land at Stavanger; it was carrying petrol samples from Trondheim (see 6 May, above).

Do 26 V-2 [formerly Lufthansa's D-AWDS, Seefalke] was shot down by Skuas of Ark Royal’s 803 NAS, crash landing in Eflørden. Three days later, a reconnaissance pilot in Trondheim was detailed to search for the crew of this aircraft and a Ju 88, both of which were thought to have come down to the NW of there.

9 May

“F6LI” [F6+LH?] of FAGr. 122 was unable to return from Stavanger to Trondheim owing to bad weather.

In Aalborg, 1H+TP of 6./KG 26 was unable to take off, having damaged its wing and rudder.

10 May

Enquiries were made in Stavanger over the whereabouts of 4D+NN of 5./KG 30.

Bad weather meant that 5./KG 26’s 1H+CN, 1H+FN and 1H+KN were unable to make a planned transfer from Aalborg to Stavanger. 1H+DN meanwhile Landed in Lübeck with engine trouble.

A Ju 88 returning to Trondheim from an operation developed engine trouble and a search for it next day proved fruitless.

12 May

Two Bf 110 were surprised by a pair of Blenheims and a Bordfunker named “Jakobi” was killed. [Uffz. Herbert Jacobi, of 1./ZG 76 was killed on an operation near Bergen and is buried in Trondheim].

At 1520 GMT, aircraft “66+DH” was reported as overdue by Stavanger. [This may have been F6+DH of 1.(F)/122].

An He 111 of II./KG 26 was severely damaged during a bad landing at Trondheim. The soft ground there also meant that a Ju 88 was damaged on take-off, then a Ju 87 of I./St.G 1 ran into it when landing and both aircraft caught fire. The Stuka’s crew suffered slight injuries. Notwithstanding this mishap, the Fliegerführer at Trondheim, Major Martin Harlinghausen, announced that I./St. G 1’s achievements were outstanding aomngst the units of his command.

14 May

The II./KG 26 operated four He 111 H-3 and three H-4 during the afternoon. One of these was attacked by fighters which shots its port engine to pieces and damaged its landing gear; none of the crew was hurt but it force landed about 85 km ENE of Bodø.

Another Heinkel had attacked a battleship [HMS Resolution] in Ofotfjord, dropping two SC 500 from 5,400 metres, both of which fell short by about 100 metres. Anti-aircraft fire proved heavy and the He 111 was slightly damaged. A second bomber released seven SC 250 in three passes from 5,000 m, but all dropped too soon and missed by a wide margin; this machine too was slightly damaged by AA. An attack with six SC 250 on ships in Lavangsfjord had been similarly unsuccessful and the Heinkel had been attacked by “two low-winged monoplanes” [probably Skuas] which it had escaped without being hit.

When the next two bombers went in against the battleship they reported some near misses in the face of intense and accurate AA, and this time the defending fighters did much better. One of the Heinkels was hit several times and the other had its landing gear wrecked, forcing it to belly land at Vaernes. In return the Germans believed they had brought down one fighter.

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