© kjell sørensen 7.7 2003

De to andre Fw 190 flyene fra samme overførings flyging, måtte også nødlande. Et måtte buklande på Dale i Høyanger. Uffz.Hornberger kom velberget ifra dette havariet.

Den tredje nødlandingen ble foretatt på Fjell, sør for Bergen. Piloten, Uffz.Heinrich Reber kunne krabbe uskadd ut av sin Focke-Wulf (WNr.0132158). Bare fem dager senere havarerte han igjen med det samme flyet, på Sola flyplass. Da var han gefreiter.

On 4.7-43 Uffz.Merkl was credited a Beaufighter off Kristiansund (JM133 of No.404 Sqn RCAF). Both F/O James Rudolph Rumbel from Kokomo, Indiana, USA, and P/O (Navigator). Joseph Moise Gaston Lalonde of Ottawa, Ontario were KIA. They are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

At the crash site

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 Geitebotnfjell, Høyanger

10./IV./JG 5 WNr.472 Uffz.Robert Merkl (KIA) 06.02 1944

Three Fw's of JG 5 took off from Herdla on a transfer flight to Gossen. The aircrafts ran into snowy weather, lost their direction and ran out of fuel. Uffz. Merkl and Uffz.Hornberger flew along the Sognefjord to escape the bad weather. Hornberger made a succesful belly landing at Dale in Høyanger, while Uffz.Merkl continued up Gautingdalen where he finally crashed into Geitebotnfjell. The aircraft and Uffz. Merkl's body was found seven months later (13.9-44). He was buried at Ehrenfriedhof Solheim in Bergen 15.09 1944

Gautingdalen
© roland merkl