Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis – Messerschmitt Bf 110 LN+FR


Messerschmitt Bf-110 E1 Zerstorer 13.(Z) JG5 LN+FR – pilot Felix-Maria Brandis after landing in Tärendö, Sweden September 1941- Courtesy Asisbiz

LandmarkScout received a great headsup from Roine Norström in Sweden regarding a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy figther that we have in our photo collection. This was a great opportunity to delve deeper into the background of Roine’s story.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Kiruna, Sweden 2013-04-09

It came to my knowledge that you have an aeroplane, a Messerschmitt Bf 110, in your photo collections which belonged to Jagdgeschwader 5 and JG 77 with registration number LN+NR.

The interesting thing is that this looks like a Messerschmitt Bf 110 which was forced to land in my home area at Tärendö in Norrbotten, Sweden, on the 1st of September in 1941. This aeroplane was from JG 77 (LN+FR) flown by Lt. Felix Brandis with Albert Harnack as Bordfunker (radio operator). The landing was naturally a huge event in this small village and people came from all over to look at the plane. Some people had never seen an aeroplane before. Anyway, the plane was later returned to the Luftwaffe, as it was undamaged.

JG=Jagdgeschwader, Eng. Fighter Squadron.

Messerschmitt Bf 110 E1 Zerstorer 13.(Z) JG5 LN+FR Luftwaffe Ace Felix-Maria Brandis – 1 September 1941, Tärendö in Sweden – Courtesy Asisbiz

The story goes as follows

On the 1st of September 1941 there was a German aerial attack on Murmansk, Russia, and four Luftwaffe Messerschmitts Bf 110 E-1 from the first Staffel of JG 77 (Eng. 1st Squadron of Fighter Squadron 77) participated as Jagdverteidigung (Eng. hunting defense). When returning to their base in the Finnish town Rovaniemi, three of the four heavy fighters lost orientation and flew to the southwest crossing the Swedish border. One of the Bf 110’s corrected his flight path and landed eventually on his base in Finland while the other two planes searched until they ran out of fuel.
One of these planes, with registration number LN+FR and with Werke number 4114 (Eng. construction number) flown by the pilot Lt. Felix Brandis, made a perfect forced landing on a field at Tärendö Sweden, 50 kilometers from the Finnish border. The second Messerschmitt Bf 110 which returned from Murmansk ended up near the Swedish village Pajala on the 1st of September 1941 (registration number LN+KR and Werke number 4113). The Bf 110 was wrecked.

In October the same year Felix Brandis made another forced landing outside Petsamo (Finnland) but this time the aeroplane was wrecked during the landing. One year later, on the 2nd of February in 1942, Felix Brandis died, aged 26, in a plane crash. He hit the ground at Olanka, Sweden, flying another Messerschmitt Bf 110.

Ps. I participated in the salvage of a Messerschmitt 110 from a Swedish mountain lake in 1995 with registration number M8+?? and the letters N O D S under the wings!  Ds.

Have a great time!

Roine Norström
Kiruna, Sweden

Messerschmitt Bf-110 E1 Zerstorer 13.(Z) JG5 LN+FR- pilot Felix-Maria Brandis after landing in Sweden- Courtesy Asisbiz
Messerschmitt Bf-110 E1 Zerstorer 13.(Z) JG5 LN+FR – pilot Felix-Maria Brandis after landing in Sweden September 1941- Courtesy Asisbiz

Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis

Squadron’s mascot – Dackel (Badger dog) Lockheed, Bamse und Herdla. Lt. Max Franzisket and Lt. Felix Brandis (right) – Herdla, Norway, June 1941- courtsey Jagdgeschwader5und7

First lieutenant or Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis was born in Ahaus Germany on 9 September 1919. His flying training started in Dresden on 14 September 1939 at the Luftkriegschule 1. He was serving in Jagdgeschwader 5 which developed into Jagdgeschwader 77 in early 1941. They adopted the Dachshund (Eng. Badger dog) as mascot and painted this on the nose of the Bf 110, a Dachshund with a Russian Polikarpov I-16 fighter plane in its mouth. The unit had three Badgers named Herdla (after an airfield in Norway), Bamse (bear in Finnish) and Lockheed (after the an aerial victory in Norway).

Felix Brandis was assigned to a Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörerkette for coastal patrol missions in Norway (Kirkenes). Form the start of Operation Barbarossa the unit had grown to Staffel strength designated 1 (Z)/JG 77 and started to operate from Finnish airfields. During the war Oblt. Felix Brandis flew more than one Bf 110 Zerstörer (Eng. Destroyer or Heavy fighter) from his unit and had more than one forced landings during the war. He had taken command of his unit in 1942. They adopted the Jagdgeschwader 77

Luftwaffe pilot Felix-Maria Brandis and with all three Bagder dogs, Herdla, Lockheed and Bamse on a Bf 110 – Courtesy Asisbiz
Messerschmitt Bf-110E-2 Zerstorer 1.(Z) JG77 LN+AR Luftwaffe pilot Felix-Maria Brandis WNr 2546 in Petsamo Finland 1941- Courtesy Asisbiz

On the 2nd of February 1942 Oblt. Felix-Maria Brandis and his unit of Bf 110 heavy fighters were returning from a low level train destroyer mission along the railway line south of Murmansk when they encountered bad weather. This closed their own airbase and they were diverted to Rovaniemi in Finland. Oblt. Felix-Maria Brandis and his Radio operator Feldwebel Herbert Baus did not return. In bad weather with zero visibility conditions they crash landed on the frozen lake of Pjaosero. Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis suffered a fracture of the base of his skull and died instantly, Feldwebel and radio operator Herbert Baus flew out of the Bf 110 together with the canopy. He suffered severe head injuries of which he later died.

Luftwaffe Ace

Luftwaffe pilot Felix-Maria Brandis and a Dachshund – Courtesy Asisbiz

Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis was credited with 14 aerial victories during World War Two making him a Luftwaffe Ace with the Messerschmitt Bf 110.

His aerial victories are:

Two British Blenheim’s near Bergen, Norway
One British Hudson near Herdla, Norway
One Russian SB-3 bomber
Two Russian I-18 fighters
One Russian Polikarpov I-180 fighter (prototype aircraft)
Two British Fairey Albacore biplane torpedo bomber near Kirkenes
One Russian Polikarpov I-153 fighter
One Hurricane near Murmansk (lend-lease program)

Oberleutnant Felix-Maria Brandis is buried at Rovaniemi-Norvajaerui in Finland. After his death, on 6 March 1942, he was posthumously awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold.

Radio Operator Herbert-Baus and pilot Felix-Maria Brandis showing 14 aerial victories – Bf-110 E2 (LN+LH) February 1942 – Courtesy Asisbiz

Visit

The Messerschmitt Bf 110 LN+NR with the Dachshund mascot painting from the same unit Felix Brandis served in can be seen in the Deutsches Museum in Berlin.
It is one of two surviving Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter planes left today, the second one can be found in the United Kingdom.

Messerschmitt Bf 110 with Dachshund / Badger dog mascot – photo 2016 Deutsches Museum Berlin
Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer – photo 2016

P.s.
A big compliment and thanks to Roine Norström for sending us the story.


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