7th September 1940

Junkers Ju 88 A-1 (WNr. 4094 - code M7+JK)
Nantes aviation camp
(contributors : Claude Archambault, Frédéric Hénoff, Daniel Dahiot, Alain Rabiller NAA SPOTTING)

A Junkers Ju 88 A-1
Photo Bundesarchiv,Bild 101I-402-0265-03A / Pilz / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Crew (2./Kü.Fl.Gr.*806)
 - Unteroffizier Hans GROTH (pilot), born January 26, 1917 in Stieglitzka
Pornichet German military cemetery - Block 3 Reihe 5 Grab 14
- Oberfeldwebel Joachim KUSCHKE (observer), born July 23, 1913 in Leipzig
Pornichet German military cemetery - Block 3 Reihe 6 Grab 177
- Unteroffizier Sibo STECHEISEN (engineer), born April 11, 1917 in Borkum
Pornichet German military cemetery - Block 3 Reihe 6 Grab 157
- Gefreiter Alfred KELLER (radio operator), born August 13, 1919 in Essen
Pornichet German military cemetery - Block 3 Reihe 5 Grab 134

* Küstenfliegergruppe 806/Kampfgruppe 806 (coastal air group)

THE STORY
On September 7, 1940, the Junkers Ju 88 A-1 crashed into a guardhouse building at the Nantes airfield after a mechanical incident. The aircraft was destroyed and the 4 crew members were killed. On the ground, 5 men from Luftwaffen Bau Battalion (construction battalion) were also killed and 6 wounded. Among the 5 killed, Flieger (aviator) August EHSES (Luftwaffe Bau Komp. 3./XII), born August 28, 1905 in Zeltingen, also at the Pornichet cemetery (Block 3 Reihe 2 Grab 38). The crew and the men killed on the ground were initially buried in the German cemetery "La Gaudinière" (Pont du Cens), in Nantes, on September 9, 1940.

Tail of Junkers Ju 88 A-1 WNr. 4094 after a crash on Nantes airfield 
Photo collection Alain Rabiller - NAA SPOTTING

IN MEMORIAM
Pornichet German military cemetery

The plates of the 4 crew members. Note the date error on the Sibo Stecheisen plaque (7.9.44 instead of 7.9.40)
 

The plaque of August Ehses, probably one of the 5 victims on the ground.

APPENDICES

♦ Document from the Freiburg Military Archives (Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv RL2-III-1175)

In line 63, this document indicates that a Junkers Ju 88 A1 of I./K.Gr.806 (Kampfgruppe 806) crashed in Nantes after a malfunction. The aircraf was 100% destroyed and all 4 crew members killed.

♦ Death certificates for the 4 crew members

Gefreiter Alfred KELLER
fils d'Adolf Keller, Marschall Strasse 23, Essen
2. Staffel Kampfgruppe 806

Unteroffizier Hans GROTH
2. Staffel Kampfgruppe 806

Oberfeldwebel Joachim KUSCHKE
marié à Gisela Küschke, Moislinger Allee 69, Lübeck
2. Staffel Kampfgruppe 806

Unteroffizier Sibo STECHEISEN
fils de Dinah Stecheisen, Kaapdelle 10, Borkum
2. Staffel Kampfgruppe 806

♦ Death certificates for the 5 airmen killed on the ground

Flieger August EHSES
born August 28, 1905
3. Kompanie Luftwaffe Bau Bataillon 3./XII

Flieger Paul PFEIFFER
born August 26, 1905
3. Kompanie Luftwaffe Bau Bataillon 2./XII (ou 2./VII)

Flieger Paul GEITER
born Novembre 16, 1905
3. Kompanie Luftwaffe Bau Bataillon 2./VII

Flieger Fritz BRACH
born December 14, 1905
3. Kompanie Luftwaffe Bau Bataillon 2./VII 3./XII

Flieger Nicolaus BOUJONG
born March 25, 1904
3. Kompanie Luftwaffe Bau Bataillon 2./VII 3./XII

♦ Register of the Pont du Cens cemetery, Nantes

The crew as well as the aviators killed on the ground during the crash were initially buried in Nantes. In the document below, we find the 4 crew members but also 5 airmen killed on September 7 :
- Paul PFEIFFER, 3/L. 3. Btl 1/XII
- Paul SEITER, 3 K. Lw. 3 Rgt 2./VII
- Fritz BRACH, 3 Kp L. 8 Rgt 2./VII - 3./XIII
- August EHSES, Lw. B. Kp. 3./XII
- Nikolaus BOUJONG, Lw. B. Kp. 3./XII