War Journal

18.9.1940

I took off for my 9th E.F. early in the morning with a Heinkel 111. Weather condition permitted flying over the Orkney Islands covered by clouds. 3 and a half hours later we tried to make out our location with help of our direction finder. We had 3 radio stations for this purpose radio Bremen, radio Stavanger and radio Burghead. As all 3 lines met in one point th location was clear: we were some 20 km north of the Scottish coast. Now I headed for the very small Island Rona which appeared in fact after 10 minutes flight. We crossed the Isle very low, but it seemed unoccupied only by birds. And off we went to the next island . It was only a point on our map, called Sula Sgeir. It appeared after 10 minutes, a small rock in the Atlantic white because covered with sea-birds as if it would be snow.

We flew a little more west until we had crossed 8° west longitude to begin our ascent on our return. I hoped to be able to fly across Scotland, but when I came nearer the clouds had moved east so Northern Scotland was under us, but we luckily saw no fighter and no anti aircraft gunfire and reached safely the clouds over the North Sea, after a dive from 6000 meters at high speed to 1000 meters. After nine long hours we landed in Oldenburg.

General Spang 1940

I was new in our wing I was not yet flying E.F.s but in Germany. the more. After we had settled in Oldenburg, General Spang ordered a JU 52 as he wanted to be flown From Wiesbaden to Berlin. He was engaged in the armistice Commission in Wiesbaden near Frankfurt but had his office in Berlin. And I was determined to make this flight. So I flew at first from Ol. to Wiesbaden at beginning of June 1940.. The general liked to fly himself and my task was only to see that everything went right. He did his job well and nothing special happened. Same day I went back with my Ju to Oldenburg.

Some days later, June 11, I had another time to bring him to Berlin. For this time we had no Ju 52 available, so Jonas gave me our FW 58. I knew that General Spang would surely not be delighted to fly a Weihe, because he was not used to fly it. And so it was, although that plane could make the same speed. I do not know what I told him that I could not come with his Ju. Then, 19-21 July were my flights to Lyon which I have described in a former letter

We were at least in the air again, although later than I thought. We had north-westerly wind, that meant foehn in the south of Norway and bad weather in Drontheim. But first we had a lovely flight in a lovely sunshine, looking down on mountains and glaciers. Soon the splendour came to an end. Clouds came up and it was time to tell the general that I had to take over the controls as from now on I had to fly blind. For safety I climbed up to 2500 m because of the mountains and contacted the radio station of the airport of Drontheim. They gave me all dates I needed for a blind landing, approach in 1400 m, then 270 ° for 7 minutes turn back to 90°at 6oom height and slowly get off to 0 m till the air port can be seen. The clouds were ca 100 m high.