Geschwader Stab Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - KG3 code 5K+

 Dornier Do 17Z Geschwader Stab KG3 5K+EA Battle of Poland 1939 0A

 Dornier Do 17Z Geschwader Stab KG3 5K+EA Frankreich France 1940 01

 Dornier Do 17Z Geschwader Stab KG3 5K+EA Le Culot France 1940 0A

 Dornier Do 17Z Geschwader Stab KG3 under going engine maintenance check France 1940 01

Dornier Do 17Z Geschwader Stab KG3 under going engine maintenance check France 1940 01

The port engine of this Do 17 Z of the Geschwader Stab of KG 3 is being run up during a maintenance check the aircraft carries standard RLM 70 black green and RLM 71 dark green upper surfaces with pale blue beneath the unit badge - the arms of the city of Elbing where the unit was formed—is painted in red and white on both sides of the aircraft's nose. Note the open crew entry hatch. (Photo courtesy of EN-Archive)

Source: Flight Journal AUGUST 2015

Dornier Do 17 Z-2 Stab III./KG3 (5K+FD) Heiligenbeil airfield Prusia Germany 1939

54°28'23"N 019°57'54"E Runway: 08/26 - 1000x200meters/0000feet - dirt/grass (estimated, on a 1200x1000 grass field)
Air field Heiligenbeil (German: Fliegerhorst Heiligenbeil, Russian: Хайлигенбайля аэродрома) was an airfield in the Kaliningrad exclave, Russia.
The airfield was built in the 1930s by the Luftwaffe in what was then East Prussia (Ostpreußen). A unit known to have operated from the airfield was I./JG1, flying Bf-109E.
The Heligenbeil pocket was captured by the Red Army on 26 March 1945. At the end of the war it was used by the 1st and 523rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (1 IAP "Normandie-Niemen" (Нормандия-Неман) of France and 523rd "Red Banner Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky" Fighter Aviation Regiment). So far I have not been able to trace anything of the airfields history between the end of the war and the 1990s. Source: http://forum.kenig.org/

  

I Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - I./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG3 5K+IH Frankreich France 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG3 5K+LH Frankreich France 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG3 5K+LH Frankreich France 02

 Dornier Do 17Z 1./KG3 5K+LH Frankreich France 03

2 Staffel I Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - 2./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z 2./KG3 5K+JK Frankreich France 1939 01

Dornier Do 17Z 3./KG3 5K+KL Frankreich

  

II Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' II./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z Stab II./KG3 5K+AC showing the II Gruppes emblem Antwerp Belgium 1940 ebay 01

 Dornier Do 17Z Stab II./KG3 5K+AC showing the II Gruppes emblem Antwerp Belgium 1940 ebay 02

 Dornier Do 17Z3 4./KG3 WNr 2669 crashed at Sandwich Flats nr Ramsgate 31 Aug 1940 IWM HU104728

Dornier Do 17Z-3 W.Nr. 2669 of 4./KG3 burning itself out after crash-landing at Princes Golf Club on Sandwich Flats, near Ramsgate, following an attack on Hornchurch, 31 August 1940.

Imperial War Museum IWM FX 68707 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205222012

 Dornier Do 17Z3 4./KG3 5K+BM Russia 1941 01

 Dornier Do 17Z3 4./KG3 5K+BM Russia 1941 02

 Dornier Do 17Z 4./KG3 5K+AM Battle of Poland 1939 0A

5 Staffel II Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - 5./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z 5./KG3 5K+BN red B Heiligenbeil Battle of Poland 1939 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 5./KG3 5K+BN red B Heiligenbeil Battle of Poland 1939 0A

 Dornier Do 17Z 5./KG3 5K+FN showing the units emblem Antwerp Belgium 1940 ebay 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 5./KG3 5K+FN showing the units emblem Antwerp Belgium ebay 02

  

III Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' III./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z2 Stab III./KG3 5K+FD Heiligenbeil airfield Prusia Germany 1939 0A

 Dornier Do 17Z2 Stab III./KG3 5K+FD Heiligenbeil airfield Prusia Germany 1939 0B

7 Staffel III Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - 7./KG3

 Dornier Do 17Z2 7./KG3 5K+AR WNr 1160 France 1940 0A

Dornier Do 17Z 7./KG3 (5K+AR) shot down Battle of Britain Aug 1940

RAF Museum, Hendon indicate that the wreck is Do 17 Z-2 Werk No 1160 of 7/III/KG3 (5K+AR) lost on 26th August 1940, the height of the Battle of Britain.

The Dornier 17 was part of a large enemy formation intercepted by RAF fighter aircraft at midday on 26 August 1940 as they attempted to attack airfields in Essex. This particular aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on the Goodwin Sands at low tide after an attack by Defiant fighters of No 264 Sqn that left both engines stopped and the crew wounded.

The Dornier, flown by Feldwebel (Flt Sgt) Willi Effmert attempted a wheels-up landing on the Goodwin Sands. He touched down safely and the aircraft sank inverted. Effmert and his observer were captured but the other crewmen died and their bodies were washed ashore later.

Raising the Dornier 17

The aircraft is in remarkable condition - considering the events surrounding its loss plus the effects of spending so many years under water. Other than marine concretion it is largely intact, the main undercarriage tyres remain inflated and the propellers clearly show the damage inflicted during their final landing. Work to conserve and prepare the Dornier for display will be undertaken at the RAF Museum's award-winning conservation centre at Cosford. Here the Dornier will be placed alongside the Museum's Vickers Wellington which is currently undergoing long term restoration.

Dornier Do 17 Aircraft restoration

Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, Director General of the RAF Museum said that "The discovery of the Dornier is of national and international importance. The aircraft is a unique and unprecedented survivor from The Battle of Britain. It is particularly significant because, as a bomber, it formed the heart of the Luftwaffe assault and the subsequent Blitz." The RAF Museum, with the support of English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence, is now developing a recovery plan to protect the aircraft from any further damage and to provide for its long term preservation. There is concern, however, that material has recently been removed illegally from the wreck site - although a number of items have now been retrieved.

 Dornier Do 17Z2 7./KG3 Blitz emblem 01

 Dornier Do 17Z2 7./KG3 5K+HR Vitebsk Byelorussia Nov 1941 01

 Dornier Do 17Z3 7./KG3 5K+CR WNr 2818 Tampere Finland Feb 12 1942 01

 Dornier Do 17Zs 7./KG76 flying in formation Battle of Britain 1940 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 7./KG3 Blitz formation during the Battle of Britain Aug 1940 01

8 Staffel III Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - 8./KG3

 Dornier Do 17E 8./KG153 and later became 8./KG3 ebay 01

 Dornier Do 17E 8./KG153 and later became 8./KG3 Heiligenbeil Airport East Prussia ebay 01

9 Staffel III Grupp Kampfgeschwader 3 'Blitz' - 9./KG3

 Dornier Do 17 9./KG153 and later became 9./KG3 Wertheim Wuerzburg ebay 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 9./KG3 5K+xT taxing accident with a Bf 109 Amsterdam 1940 01

 Dornier Do 17Z 9./KG3 5K+xT taxing accident with a Bf 109 Amsterdam 1940 02

 Dornier Do 17Z 9./KG3 5K+xT taxing accident with a Bf 109 Amsterdam 1940 ebay 01