The Bf 109 "Lilo" 3 in Norway Losigkeit Group

  Losigkeit Group

"At noon a Flight of fighter-bombers lands on the field. We hand over to them." (14:15 from Hans Gerd Wennekers's flightbook, see below)

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Photos from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

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Photo taken by Heinz Knoke of his Bf 109E/4 3 (ex "Lilo") landed on a frozen lake somewhere in NorWay. But where exactly ? The answer is somewhere... below :-)

Photo from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

Identification of
#3 "Lilo"

Photo taken in early
February 1942

"Lilo" and "The laughing sun of the JG1".

Photo from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

Photo Heinz Knoke

< Photos from Heinz Knoke's personal albums >
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The most important for our researchs !

Early in May 2002 Jørgen Moe send me this message :
"I am now sure that Knoke didn't land on the Hallidal river with Dolenga and Wennekers ! I talked to an old man a couple of days ago, and he told me that he saw both Dolenga and Wennekers force land on the river. He was only 12years old then, and he said :
<<First came Dolenga schwarze 1 + , he tried to land with the landing wheels down and he almost flipped over plowing his airscrew into the ice. Next came Wennekers schwarze 16 + , he had seen what Dolenga did and landed perfectly with the landing gear retracted. Next came a third aircraft flying low over the two others on the ice, but continued flying east or south.>>
He did'nt see what kind of aircraft it was, but he thought could have been a Spitfire. The 12 years old boy, his name Mikal Mjølid walked over to "schwarze 16 +" were he met a friendly Wennekers. Wennekers let him try ti sit in the cockpit of his 109E, and he remembered that he coul'nt reach the rudder pedals. He said that Wennekers was a nice man, but when the other local people came to near his 109 he fired his signal gun over their heads to keep them away. He also said that Dolenga was very confused and thought he had landed in sweden. He went to a nearby house and telephoned to Gardemoen. After a while Luftwaffe rescue teams came and disasembled the two 109's and sent them by train to Oslo

Maybe Mikal Mjølid, the 12 years old boy, is one of the children standing in the red circle of this picture.


Mikal Mjølid's decisive testimony will put Jørgen Moe on the lead of the third plane, which was going to turn out as Knoke's Bf109 ! Very much more on south than the story of "Die Grosse Jagd" let us supposed...

Holding the photo (of reference) taken by Heinz Knoke of its Bf 109E/4 3 (ex "Lilo") belly-landed on a frozen lake somewhere in Norway, Jørgen put himself in search of lakes situated in direction of East or South of the river Hallidal, according to the indication given by Mikal Mjølid.


We had since the beginning the hope to find the mountain massif situated behind the plane.
Photo from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

Photo from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

Photo Jørgen Moe
This photo was taken under an angle slightly different from Knoke's photo (objective being closer of the rock massif, the line of crest in the background is less visible). But manifestly this mountain massif presents numerous common points with those of the original photo. Only inconvenience: the lake Sperillen, situated very in the South in the direction of Oslo is at much more than one half an hour of flight of Vaernes and does not correspond at all to geographic descriptions made by Heinz Knoke...

Two new photos of
Bf 109E/4 3
(ex "Lilo") belly-landed on lake
Sperillen.

- - - represents the direct route probably followed by the group Losigkeit and its guides, a Me110.
The version told by Heinz Knoke of its lack of petrol intervened after one half an hour of flight does not hold henceforth any more. Dolenga and Wennekers landed at first to Nesbyen, then Knoke landed 50kms more in the East on the lake Sperillen.
According to the flightbook of Hans Gerd Wennekers, (see below the original document), on March 6, 1942 he made 115 ' of flight and 330kms. And on March 21, 1942 to make 330kms he put only 65' ! This allows me to think that in 115' of flight on March 6 he made certainly between 540 and 600 km... Limit of autonomy of Bf109E according to the driving regime and met winds.
And here is my theory: Dolenga, Wennekers and Knoke had the same passion: the photography !
- - - represents the "tourist" route followed by the trio. Knoke speaks about gigantic glaciers, about their narrow ravines. By moment he enjoys counting the tiny little islands and rocks ... dotted out to sea beyond the jagged coastal riffs...

By taking some liberties with the discipline, what is not surprising on behalf of twenty year old boys having drinked to a victory the day before, Knoke, Wennekers and especially Dolenga met themselves confronted with a difficult problem. How Dolenga, leader of squadron, could explain to his superior under a totalitarian military regime which did not joke with the discipline, the partial loss of three aircrafts during a travel of 400kms (range of action of Bf109 E = 600kms), accompanied, for more security, with a special Bf110 for the guidance ?

To declare that he had landed with Wennekers out of fuel near Nesbyen, leaving Knoke to continue still 50kms until the lake of Sperillen to crash on his turn, has result of an escapade it was to incur a very grave disciplinary measure !
Fortunately, it is probably after the return in Germany that Dolenga and his companions will have explained themselves on the subject. Who in Germany was going to return to verify in Norway where and how had really taken place facts ?
The version told by Heinz Knoke of its lack of fuel intervened after one half an hour of flight will have allowed "to excuse" Dolenga and Wennekers. In good companions they will have lingered above Knoke, then will have afterward been themselves in trouble much more in the South, towards Nesbyen. To give weight to their fable, Knoke will have mentioned Roros's name, situated in the first third of the route...
With a little of imagination one can think that the famous Red setter "Turrit" will have been the object of "shady" negotiations among Heinz, the roguish, and the local troops towards the lake Sperillen, this having allowed of "to (re)place" much more in the North and in an "inaccessible" place the landing lake of Knoke !
The absence of sanction towards Dolenga, the big complicity and the confidence of this last one to Knoke (Heinz was a best man in Dolenga's marriage, then indicated by Dolenga to assume the command of the group of settling of the (Y system FuG16) and the will, by loyalty, of Knoke after years to protect the memory of his companion urge me to believe that my hypothesis does not have to be, in main lines, very far from the truth.
Who would think, in these conditions, of blaming Heinz Knoke, excellent witness during its memories, this gap with regard to the reality of facts ?

By the way the story that Knoke use is in his book about a crash in high Norwegian moutains, waiting for rescue during about 3 days, is probably a real story that happened to another pilot. Heinz Knoke probably hear about that story and use it for the book...

So dear friends, what about searching the name of this German pilot ?

The crash location photographed
on Mars 6, 1942.

Photo from Heinz Knoke's personal albums

On January 12, 2004 Ole Jørgen Kjellmark sent me this aerial view of
lake
Sperillen.

Photo Ole Jørgen Kjellmark
Hello Franck!
I'm one of many Norwegian Heinz Knoke investigators. Since I live in Røros, it's easy to understand that the search for his plane has been a big event here since the book came out in 1992. I'm both pilot and diver, so I've spent a few hour looking for his landscapes and landing place. I'm also leading the flying search and resque teams of the Norwegian Aero Klubb, and has used our webpage to involve other pilots in the hunt.
For our matter, the main case was solved last spring when I got information from the flying club in Valdres about the landings at Nesbyen and Sperillen.
I took a picture from the air at Sperillen that might of interest to you. I send it to you here in a redused resolution.

I also have a better copy of the aireal photo you have use in the midle of the 3 taken [by Heinz Knoke NWM] from the air. I will take my plane and fly to the same location and take new pictures for compair with the old ones on the first opportunity and as soon as the weather permits. I found your info via Mr. Svein Torske, who gave me hints about where the motives were from, and after looking at maps, I'm sure we have found all 3 locations.