20 August 1940

Heinkel He 111 H-3 (WNr. ?- code 6N+KH)
Near Vertou
"La Durgerie", Maisdon-sur-Sèvres*

(contributors : Claude Archambault, Frédéric Hénoff, Daniel Dahiot)

A Heinkel He 111H
Photo Bundesarchiv - Bild_101I-647-5211-33 - Fotograf Wilzek

Crew partly known (1./KGr. 100)
- (FF**) Leutnant Alfred ZETSCHKE, blessé 
- (BO**) Unteroffizier Otto BOLLMANN, blessé.

* Information given by the late Mr. Rouau to Claude Archambault. The place called “La Durgerie” seems to no longer exist today.
** FF : Flugzeugführer (Pilote) - BO ou B = Beobachter (Observateur) - BF = Bordfunker (Radio) - BM = Bordmechaniker (Mécanicien) - BS = Bordschütze (mitrailleur)

THE STORY

We don't know much about the circumstances of the mission, but here is what Ulf Balke says in his book "Kampfgeschwader 100 "Wiking" - Motorbuch Verlag" from 1981 :
[...] On the way back, the crew of Leutnant Albrecht ZETSCHKE (1. Staffel) got lost in thick fog. Around 6:30 a.m., due to lack of fuel, they had to make an emergency landing east of Nantes (near Vertou). It was in these circumstances that the aircraft (6N+KH) was destroyed (80%) and that the pilot of the aircraft as well as the observer, Unteroffizier Otto BOLLMANN, were injured.[... ].

APPENDICES

This document from the German archives (Bundes Archiv BA-MA RL2-1174) indicates that a Heinkel He 111 H3, of KG 100, made an emergency landing out of fuel near Vertou and that it was destroyed at 80 %. Leutnant ZEtschke was part of the crew;