A Heinkel He 111 Rolling Towards its Heavily Guarded Revetment

Image size: 1600 x 856 pixel. 399 KB
Date: Between 13 September and 7 October 1944
Place: Varrelbusch Airfield, Cloppenburg, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Heinkel He 111 rolling towards its heavily guarded revetment. A groundcrew member looking out of the cockpit gives the pilot instructions to prevent hitting trees and other obstacles. Please note the flame damper on the exhaust pipes and the carrier for the V-1 on the right hand side of the fuselage! This picture was taken between September 13th and October 7th 1944 with 1.Staffel / Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53) on Varrelbusch airfield. The Staffel operated from September 16th from this base with V-1’s against England. The V-1’s were to be released over the northsea. The missions were flown at low level to prevent detection by British radar. After release of the flying bomb, the bomb was directed to its target by a fixed bearing and fuel load. The losses of KG 53 were high, mainly caused by Allied nightfighters and bad weather.

Source:

Luftwaffe im Focus - Edition No.1 2002