Fantastic condition Internal panel with original paintwork from German he111 of KG26 shot down 22 May 1940 during attack on Narviik harbour in Norway

This is a very rare and fantastic condition part from a German he111 shot down very early in the war during the biggest battle in Norway. This is a lovely condition panel which is an internal panel with a lot of its original light blue paintwork and little bit of green paint as well, The part has been very well cleaned and has a lot of original colours it is fairly undamaged by the crash not ripped and bent this is a very nice part at 9 half inches by 5 half inches wide and is a lovely part for display or any collection. The part is from German Heinkel He 111H-3 of II./KG 26 1H+BN which crashed at Sjøvegan near Narvik. The bomber was shot down by Royal navy ships unloading in Narvik harbour on 22nd May 1940 during the German invasion of Norway. The part comes with 2x A5 laminated information sheets with pictures of the crash site. The parts have come from a private collection which the items were collected many years ago directly from the crash sites he visited and found including surface finds or some aircraft that were dug out and recovered all these parts now available for the first time.

This was one of 2 Heinkel bombers that took off from Vaernes late in the evening. Their mission was to drop supplies to the German forces at Narvik. After dropping their supplies they attacked a couple of transport vessels, unloading under the escort of five British cruisers and destroyers. During the attack their left engine got hit and started to burn and the bomber crash landed in a hillside at Sjøvegan. All four survived this rough landing and started walking towards the Swedish border. The crew were Fw. Karl-Heinz Hess. Uffz.August Riehle. Ogfr.Josef Kopitz. Flg.Rudolf Entrich. Four days later they were captured by a Norwegian patrol. The two German officers were brought to England. The wireless operator and the mechanic became POW's in Norway but were soon released. Hess and Riehle spent six years as POWs in Scotland and Canada.

The bomber crew managed to extinguish the fire and drop the rest of their bombload to gain some height. With one engine running they headed back towards Værnes.The pilot Uffz.Riehle had damaged his left arm during an earlier attack and and needed help by his crew to turn the trim wheel to turn the rudder to the left, getting the pressure off the side rudder. In the heat of the situation, it was turned to the right and far too fast. The plane stood vertical on the left wing. Riehle immediately pressed the Heinkel down to horizontal position, but they were now flying at ground level. He managed to steer the Heinkel into a little creek in the hillside. Both wings were ripped off, the fuselage was torn into two pieces and slided 300-400 m until it came to a halt.