This part of the website deals with two very special aircraft wrecks on Kola that according to research by air combat historian Rune Rautio both belonged to the first squadron of the Luftwaffe´s Long Range Reconnaissance Group No. 124, or in German: 1. Staffel, Fernaufklärungsgruppe 124, abbreviated 1.(F)/124.

All available documents point to that the pictured Junkers Ju 88 flew its last mission during the heat of the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, on October 17 1944. It took off from Kaamanen airfield in Finland to reconnoitre the Kirov railway (today called the October railway) line between Murmansk and Kandalaksha. From that day the plane was listed as missing and there are no known records of the fate of the crew, nor any traces of them in or around the crashed Ju 88. But the evidence uncovered by Rune Rautio conclusively points to that the plane we found must be G2+LH, in spite of that the wreckage shows traces of another marking: 1R+FH.

The crew that probably bailed out only to die in the wilderness or some POW camp were: pilot Feldwebel Gerhard Turley, observer Leutnant Gottfried Reuther, signaller Unteroffizier Heinrich Steitz and mechanical engineer Unteroffizier Bruno Urbanczyk.

The crew of the Heinkel He 111 must have met their death much faster than their comrades in the Ju 88 did, as they evidently died in their seats when their plane crashed against the Chibiny massif.

Rune Rautio´s work in the archives shows that the plane must have been an He 111 of the H16 type with the designation D7+GP with Werknummer 8137 (although sometimes also referred to as 8147). It was on a special mission for Fremde Heere Ost (FHO), Foreign Armies East or the section of the German army staff which dealt with intelligence on the Eastern front. The idea was that the Heinkel would drop agents recruited from among the German-sponsored Russian Army of Liberation (known as ROA due to the Russian abbreviation) over Umba on the south coast of the Kola Peninsula. Now the Russians belonged to a FHO detachment: the 144th Front-Aufklärungstruppe or Front-line Reconnaissance Detachment. The Germans had given their former prisoners Soviet officer uniforms and Soviet TT pistols.

The first attempt to drop the agents was made on 18 November 1944 but was aborted due to that one of the agents accidentaly opened his parachute inside the plane. The second attempt was made only on 16 December. The plane, D7+GP, started from Bardufoss airport in Norway and at 1950 hours it broadcast its very last radio message from somewhere around Inari, a large lake in Finnish Lapland: "We fly over the front", after which nothing more was ever heard of the plane.

The men aboard were pilot Unteroffizier Hubert Rauch, observer Wilhelm Schauen, signaller Unteroffizier Hermann Preindl, mechanical engineer Feldwebel Friedrich Windhorst, FHO Sonderfuehrer Alexander Althausen (born 1912 in the Russian city of Orel) and two yet unknown ex-ROA men converted to agents of the FHO. The men are still there, by the aircraft wreck, but since 1996 they are lying in a temporary collective grave by the plane.

Unfortunately no airplane identification number shield (Werknummer) or personal ID-tag or ID paper has been located. Until such definite proof has been found it seems that todays German authorities will not recognize the remains of the airmen and soldiers as having been identified. And not until they can be positively identified will the German authorities even move the remains. E.g. one might lay them to rest in the German military cemetery by Pechenga in a common grave simply as seven not yet identified Wehrmacht soldiers. Whatever their orders were every person has the right to be buried properly. If any German reader of these words feels he or she wants to plead to German authorities in taking care of these human remains I will consider assisting you with all available information. Thus I hope this story will continue.

If you want to read more about these aircraft wrecks, then find the historical journal After the Battle issue number 99: Soviet Victory in the Arctic. (1998).

The Ju 88 was found in the Laplandsky zapovednik (Lapland nature park) by park ranger Aleks Gilyazov, author Lars Gyllenhaal and computer engineer Filipp Kuznetsov in September 1996. The search for the wreck took three years as it is virtually impossible to see it from a distance of more than 15 metres.

It lies in one place but in many segments and small pieces. The most complete part is the tail. Few insignia and little paint remains. Some previous visitors have taken away most of the instruments. However, we found a flare gun ammo tube made in March 1942 (to be used before April 1945). Also we found some numbers on several electrical and motor items, but no Werknummer for the whole aircraft. The engines lie pretty much complete. One landing gear is almost too good to be true. The tyres very clearly exclaim in English: "CONTINENTAL - Made in Germany".

Click on the picture to see a larger version.

1. Ju 88: tail section: After three two-day hikes over mostly swampy ground Aleks Gilyazov and Filipp Kuznetsov are relieved to have found the mystery German plane that last was sighted by the nature park staff in the 1970´s.

2. Ju 88: part of the canopy.

3. Ju 88: landing gear. Truly stainless steel after all these years...amazing.

4. Ju 88: landing gear. Details on the tyre: "C.C. & G.P.Co" with a horse in the middle. Also on the tyre: "CONTINENTAL, Made in Germany". Why in English one may wonder?

5. Ju 88: engine. If you happen to be an expert on airplane engines and if you recognize the one in the picture, please write to me at the address below :-).

6. Ju 88: propeller

7. Ju 88: Generator and what might be a piece of paracord?

8. Ju 88: Section of the instrument panel. It could be the right side of the pilots panel (then the picture should be turned 90 degres to the left)

9. Ju 88: perhaps these are oxygen tubes?

10. The tail

Filipp Kuznetsov located this Heinkel He 111 not far from his home town of Apatity on south Kola. There are no symbols or markings on the wreck. The bodies of the crew were scattered around the plane in 1996. The plane was not shot down but collided with a mountain. As a result of articles about the plane published in 1996 some eyewitnesses from the crash in 1944 stepped forward and donated items found in the wreck in 1945: parachute silk, German and Norwegian bank notes and what looks very much like a dollar but with the text "Allierte Militärbehoerde", see below.

The airmen and soldiers were dressed in warm clothing and some wore mountaineering shoes. All seven were equipped with parachutes. Among the wreckage there was a boat.

1. He 111:

2. He 111: tail.

3. He 111: I wonder what this might be?

4. He 111: Money.
The green on top: ALLIERTE MILITÄRBEHÖRDE, ZWANZIG (20) MARK.
SERIE 1944 / ZWANZIG MARK IN UMLAUF GESETZT / IN / DEUTSCHLAND / -81 086441
From The Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, 3. Ed.: "The notes issued by the Western Allies carry a secret sign of Forbes, the printers (F), whereas those printed by the Soviets (they were given the printing plates by the USA) are without this sign. The notes were in circulation together with the Reichsmark and Rentenmark notes."
The notes to the left and bottom (a 1 mark and a 2 mark note): Rentenbankschein/
Eine Rentenmark/Ausgegeben auf Grund der Verordnung/ vom 15. Oktober 1923 (29 - B.-Bl. 1 B.963)/ Berlin den 30. Januar 1937/ Deutsche Rentenbank/ Prässident und Vorstand: [Signitures]
The two notes in the middle (Norwegian 5 and 10 kroner): NORGES BANK/
betaler mod denne Seddel/ til Ihændehaveren/ FEM KRONER GOLD.
NORGES BANK/betaler mod denne Seddel/ til Ihændehaveren/ TI KRONER GOLD. 1942

Any questions or comments? Write to Lars.Gyllenhaal@home.se
This page was originally made and hosted by Klaus Velschow - thank you, Klaus!

First appearence: 10-10-1996
Revised 28-10-2000