World War Photos

He 111P Stab/KG 55 crash-landed at Hipley in Hampshire 12 July 1940

The Heinkel He 111 played a central, though ultimately challenging, role for the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940. While initially conceived as a fast airliner easily adaptable for bombing, the aircraft was increasingly found to be vulnerable in the face of the Royal Air Force’s determined fighter defenses. This period marked the He 111’s “swansong” as a daylight bomber over Western Europe, as the effectiveness of British Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, supported by radar, compelled the Luftwaffe to increasingly restrict He 111 operations to the hours of darkness.

Overall, some 246 He 111s were lost between July and October 1940 during the Battle of Britain. Unlike the catastrophic single-day losses sometimes experienced by Ju 88 units, He 111 Gruppen generally suffered a “slow but steady rate of attrition,” with combat losses only reaching double figures on three days.

Prelude to the Battle: Early Operations and Losses (June 1940)

Even before the “official” start of the Battle of Britain, Heinkel He 111s ventured over British airspace, incurring losses.

• June 18-19, 1940: A significant early raid involved about 70 Heinkels from KG 4 targeting eastern England. This retaliatory mission, though not considered the start of the Battle proper, resulted in six He 111s failing to return, and two others sustaining severe damage.
• Late June – Early July: Over the following three weeks, in a series of smaller, “desultory raids” along Britain’s coastline, nine more He 111s were lost.

The Battle of Britain Proper: July – October 1940

The official period of the Battle of Britain is generally considered to have begun on July 10, 1940, and concluded on October 31, 1940.

July 1940: Channel Focus and Initial Attrition

The initial phase of the Battle focused on Channel shipping. Heinkel units were primarily employed in armed reconnaissance sweeps and small-scale raids on major British ports.

• July 10: The first Heinkel victim of the “official” Battle was a 7./KG 53 machine, shot down by Hurricanes during an armed-reconnaissance mission along the East Anglian coast.
• July 11: During an attack on Portsmouth, two 2./KG 55 He 111s were lost to Hurricanes (with one source suggesting one bomber exploded mid-air, bringing down the other). A pair of KG 1 aircraft were also lost on this day.
• July 12: This proved to be the costliest day of the month for Heinkel Gruppen, with five casualties. Losses included:
  • A 9./KG 26 machine, which fell to Spitfires near Aberdeen.
  • Three KG 53 aircraft, downed by Hurricanes while attacking a convoy off the Suffolk coast.
  • A Geschwaderstab KG 55 Heinkel, brought down over Southampton Water by Hurricanes.
• July 15/17: Oberst Georgi, the Geschwaderkommodore of KG 27, was lost over the Western Approaches after his He 111P was damaged by return fire from a ship he attacked (sources vary on the exact date).
• Late July – Early August: During the final two weeks of July and the first week of August, Heinkel units sustained minimal combat losses (a dozen aircraft in total), with the majority disappearing into Britain’s coastal waters. One notable incident involved an 8./KG 55 machine that crashed in Berkshire on July 29 due to anti-aircraft fire during a night attack on the Bristol aircraft factory at Filton.

August 1940: “Adlertag” and Escalating Losses

August saw the Luftwaffe initiate its major air offensive, “Adlertag,” aiming for air superiority over southern England.

• August 8: Two Heinkel losses occurred in the far north.
• August 13 (“Adlertag”): Despite widespread confusion and communication breakdowns, the day saw only one He 111 loss: a III./KG 27 machine, shot into the Channel north of Cherbourg by Hurricanes.
• August 14: Five III./KG 27 aircraft were shot down by Spitfires and Hurricanes during operations over Wales. On the same day, Oberst Alois Stoeckl, the Kommodore of KG 55, was killed when his He 111 crashed and exploded in an armaments depot in Hampshire after being intercepted by Spitfires over an RAF airfield.
• August 15 (“Hardest Day”): This was arguably the most costly single day for Heinkel Gruppen during the Battle of Britain. Luftflotte 5 launched a mass attack from Scandinavia, with over 60 He 111s of I. and III./KG 26. They were “savagely mauled” by at least four RAF fighter squadrons, resulting in eight He 111s failing to return, all disappearing into the North Sea. Combined with a 6./KG 53 machine that ditched in the Channel and three KGr.100 aircraft lost or written-off that night, this amounted to a dozen casualties, considered the highest single 24-hour period for Heinkel losses throughout the Battle.
• August 16: Of the six total losses, four were KG 55 bombers that failed to return from attacks on airfields west of London.
• August 18: Four KG 53 He 111s were brought down during raids on RAF bases in North Weald and Essex, including Major Reinhold Tamm, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 53, whose aircraft went into the sea. A 2./KG 1 He 111 forced-landed on Romney Marsh, and a 5./KG 27 He 111 was destroyed in a mid-air collision with an RAF Anson trainer.
• August 24: All five Heinkel losses this day came from 9./KG 53, which suffered heavily attacking RAF Hornchurch.
• Last Week of August (culminating August 30): An additional 27 He 111s failed to return from day and night operations. KG 53 bore the brunt of these casualties, losing six more aircraft across its three Gruppen during attacks on Hatfield and Radlett. Five other Heinkel losses on August 30 resulted from a II./KG 1 raid on Biggin Hill.

September 1940: London Blitz and Continued Losses

September marked a shift in Luftwaffe strategy, with major daylight operations increasingly concentrated on London, effectively lifting pressure on RAF fighter airfields.

• September 4: Only one He 111 loss was recorded: a 4./KG 26 machine that disappeared over the North Sea.
• September 5: Two 7./KG 53 He 111s were downed during an afternoon raid on the Thameshaven oil depot, and one 6./KG 4 was lost over northeast England.
• September 7: During the first heavy attacks on London, eight Heinkels were lost. Four were able to limp back across the Channel before being written off in crashes. One II./KG 53 machine force-landed on the Isle of Grain, and three others went into the sea, including a KGr.126 minelayer with Oberstleutnant Geisse, the Geschwaderkommodore of KG 40, on board, who perished.
• September 10: Eight II./KG 4 He 111Ps were destroyed during an RAF bombing raid on their Eindhoven base.
• September 11: Heinkel losses once again climbed into double figures, with 11 aircraft lost – the third and last time this occurred during the Battle. Nearly half of these casualties (five machines lost, six damaged) came from I./KG 26, which had recently transferred from Norway. Two II./KG 26 aircraft were lost, along with three KG 1 aircraft and one from the Geschwaderstab KG 55.
• September 15 (“Battle of Britain Day”): While the Luftwaffe suffered a “crushing defeat” overall, Heinkel units “escaped reasonably lightly”. Six of their nine losses came from KG 53, all falling on English soil. I./KG 26 and I./KG 1 each suffered one casualty. The ninth loss was a 9./KG 55 machine, shot into the Channel during a raid on Portland dockyards.
• September 25: During an attack on the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s works at Filton, four KG 55 Heinkels were lost.
• September 26: One KG 55 Heinkel was lost during an attack on Supermarine’s Spitfire factory at Woolston.
• September 30: Four KG 55 Heinkels were lost during an attack on the Westland works at Yeovil, a day that marked “the last major daylight air battles fought over Britain”.

October 1940: Transition to the Night Blitz

As the Battle of Britain drew to a close, and daylight losses became prohibitive, the He 111 began its transition to nocturnal operations, leading into the “Night Blitz”.

• Heinkel losses fell significantly in October, dropping by more than half compared to September’s total of over 90.
• October 1: A 5./KG 53 machine was lost, believed to be due to anti-aircraft fire.
• October 4-5: Two Heinkel losses attributed to London’s anti-aircraft defenses.
• October 16: The first reported Heinkel loss to an RAF nightfighter occurred when a 2./KGr.126 minelayer was downed by a Defiant over Essex in the Thames Estuary. On the same day, another 2./KGr.126 machine was brought down by the balloon barrage protecting Harwich Harbour.
• The majority of October’s casualties were not combat losses but machines written off in crashes or forced-landings back on the Continent, including significant losses for KG 27 on October 22, with crashes killing entire crews and ground personnel.
• Late October: A 9./KG 53 machine crashed into the River Stour near Harwich after its crew lost their bearings.

By the end of October 1940, the Heinkel He 111’s role in the daylight Battle of Britain was effectively over, and it largely shifted to night bombing operations, where it was initially more suited against Britain’s then-inadequate nocturnal defenses.