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About "The Plane" on Kvitanosi

See also: trefall.com/blog/history/kvitanosi

Content:
Preface:
[I have done these translations from Norwegian by myself. My apologies for the bad English! Later on I will ask someone to do a better translation.]

I have always been curious about the wreck of the German aeroplane on the mountain Kvitanosi. As a child I played with wreck parts brought down from the mountain by my grandfather. I visited the wreck first time when I was about 7 years old. I had heard stories told by my father, my grandfather and others about how the survivors were found at the mountain pasture belonging to the farm Ekse, about how the locals where commanded by the Germans to try to transport wreck parts down to the valley of Eksingedalen, about a sledge with one of the motors from the plain disappearing into the woods, and about how the Germans later blow up the wreck.
After searching the internet I first came across "the wreck at Kvitanosi" in a forum about ww2. There I found which type of aeroplane it was, and the name of the crew. Later I came across a page about one of the crew killed in the crash (see later on this page). I also found a page about aeroplane wracks in Norway from ww2.
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.... That was what I wrote in 2004 when these pages started out. Now nine years later, many stories are added, I have been on Kvitanosi together with the son of one of the killed in the crash. Most of the wreck is now at Airbus in Bremen being used in the resturation of a plane of that type. In the spring 2010 I were participating in a group going to Berlin preparing for an exhibition. In 2012 I went by helicopter to Kvitanosi with a Norvegian tv-team. In autumn 2013 opend the exhibition Condoren paa Kvitanosi at Voss.
Condoren pa Kvitanosi

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News:

Updates done after these pages become online (newes listed first):

  • 07.12.2009: Some translations of the faximile articles at The removal of the wreck.
  • 06.12.2009: I have started to translate my article of 2005 about the crash, see "A dramatized version".
  • 05.12.2009: At last some updates on these pages. It is a long time sice the previous in 2005. A lot have happened with the wreck since than. Here some updates. More to come. Here a chronological overview in "reverse order", all found under The removal of the wreck. The removal story starts on The wreck is awakening.

    • The story continues: In return for wreck parts, the Deutche Technikmuseum will assist in an exhibition project. See The removal - the story continues.
    • 13.11.2009: The web version of Hordaland is writing about bringing down the wreck. A journalist from the newspaper is calling. See The removal - interview.
    • 12.11.2009: The helicopter in action again fetching more parts down. One of the parts they brought down on the previous mission is not according to the agreement and must be brought up again. See The removal - bringing the parts down 2.
    • 07.11.2009: A helicopter is bringing the first wreck parts down from Kvitanosi. It is The Norwegian Aviation Museum which is leading the operation.
      The newspaper Hordaland writes about this 10.11.2009.
      See The removal - bringing the parts down.

    • September 2008 / July 2009 Negotiations between Hordaland County Council and the Deutsche Technikmuseum Berlin led to an agreement where the museum can fetch major parts of the wreck at Kvitanosi. See The removal - negotiations and The removal - the agreement.
    • 15.08.2008: I am guiding the the son and daughter of one of the killed in the crash. We are heading for the wreck. See The removal - guided tour.
    • 14.08.2008: At Thursday the 14th of August 2008 an expedition is going to the Kvitanosi wreck for an inspection. The participants are Deutches Teknikmuseum Berlin, Hordaland County Council and Voss Municipality They run into a lot of trouble because of fog. See The removal - the inspection.

  • 08.09.2005: An article from the book "War in Eksingedalen 1940 - 45", issued by Vaksdal Kommune in 1995 at the 50's anniversary of the end of WW2, added: Nils Gullbraa's story.
  • 24.08.2005: The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum witdraws the plans of appealing the local authorities preservation regulation. So the wreck will not be removed! (See more about this in plans of removing the wreck.)
  • 15.08.2005: The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum will appeal against the local authorities preservation regulation and carry out the original plan for removing the wreck (see more about this under The wreck will be removed).
  • 09.08.2005: Thanks to an e-mail from Olav Neset the original Karl Pech page was found in German: Karl Pech (see also te news at 12.07.2005: www.wk2.info removed from the internet).
  • 01.08.2005: Sad news was published in the local newspaper Hordaland Saturday 30/08: The wreck of the plane at Kvitanosi shall be removed! See under the bookmark bokmerket The wreck will be removed.
    Added Monday evening: Albert Gullbraa just called to tell about a temporary preservation regulation for the wreck (see under the bookmark The wreck will be removed).
  • 18.07.2005: Links to winter-hikes to Kvitanosi and to Eksestoelen - Torvedalen, added at The Wreck.
  • 12.07.2005: I just see that the pages mentioned earlyer about one of the killed, Karl Pech, now is removed from the internet. This is unfortunately the natures of internet. Valuable information are suddenly gone. I will try to get in contact with the www.wk2.info crew and ask about permission to publish some pictures and text about Karl Pech earlyer found on that site.
  • 15.03.2005: As a result of Rune Nesheim reading this page, he asked his father to write down his story. A very good day to day "diary" from one of the people involved in this event!

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This is the article as first published in the book Vaksdal Historielag årbok 2005.
4th of October 2011: Corrected the mix of Albrechts and Schartze in the original article.


The plane at Kvitanosi

By Kåre Trefall



Kvitanosi

Here I am again looking throughout the beautiful mountains. Loenahorgi in the south, the glacier Jostedalsbreen in the north-northeast in the distance. Down in the valley in the north is Gullbraa where we have chlimbed up from, and with Eksingedalen further westwards towards the coast. "Wonder if that is the mountain Ulriken by Bergen we are seeing fare out in a distance" one of the others said.

The location is the mountain top of Kvitanosi, 1433 meters above sea level. It is winter and Easter. It is the year 2005. The cairn on the mountain top is looking as an icy nipple. We came up from Gullbraa, the uppermost farm in the valley of Eksingedalen, we are skiing. Many others have also found their way up to the top in the beautiful winter weather. I've been here many times before, both in summer and winter. But today is the first time I should go to "plane" in wintertime. Now covered with snow, the wreck sight is located on the mountain plateau of Kvitanosi about one kilometer north-northwest of the higest point, where we now are. The GPS is telling me this, together with data collected before the snow covered ribs and plates of aluminum.

When I grew up down at the farm Trefall, we children played with a strange instrument. We thought it was a bomb sight, but it was probably something else. Buttons and switches to operate, with numbers and mirrors turning. This was one of the things my grandfather had brought with him down from the "plane". There was something mysterious and exciting about this: "The plane on Kvitanosi". And we children once more asked our father to tell about when he was ordered by the Germans to carry parts down from the wreck late one winters during the war. And about the living and the dead which had been brought down to the valley in the newyear.

We put on our skis and I am pointing out the course towards "the plane". After skiing down from the cairn on the west side and climbed up a slight slope, we are plowing slowly down a slope towards the west plateau edge. "Almost getting there" I am shouting, when the plane-waypoint is showing up on the GPS and approaching more and more. And suddenly we are there. Today, the landscape is swimming in sun, where we are looking down on Storetoni and Kjaeringanosi. The Kvitanos top could not be seen from here. On the evening of the third day of Christmas almost 63 years ago the weather and the view where quite different.


The crash

It is blizzard. It is starting to darken. It is the third day of Christmas in 1942. A large German four engined bomber of the type Focke Wulf 200C-4 Condor has return from a mission over the North Sea in search of Allied convoys. It is flying low over the landscape with the landing lights turned on, in the direction up from the valley Eksingedalen. On board is the atmosphere not very good. They knew little about the people on the Christmas ball in the school at Ekse which wonder what aircraft being is out that late in the evening in the ugly weather. Or about the children at Gullbraa running out to turn off the lamp outside, seeing them passing low over the valley. They do not know where they are, and they are running out of fuel. The only hope is to try to do an emergency landing. If it was planned to try right here, or if they just are to low, we do not know , where they hit the ground in a slight upward slope at the west at the Kvitenos plateau. One of the wings smashes into a stone, the plane is twisted around and went laying on its back. After the sound of screamin metal and screamin humans has settled, the only the sound is the seething of the warm engines in the snow. And after a while, again only the sound of the wind is to hear. The plain catches no fire. The tail is broken off, and after a while a survivor appears there. He tries to crawl out, but turns quickly into the aircraft body again because of the blizzard. After a while he hears that one of his companions is alive there somewhere in the darkness. It turns out that he is in a bad condition with a broken jaw. There are no sign to hear from the other four. They where all in front in the plane when it chrashed. It is going to be a cold and painful night.


Soon more to be translated. The rest is unfortenately so fare only in norwegian.

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The stories:

Time line:


Sundau 27th of December 1942, in the evening: The sound of an aircraft was heard over Ekse and Gullbraa. A big plane with it's landing lights turnede on was seen passing sothwords. Later it turned out to be that sunday evening a German plain crashed at Kvitanosi.

....
many dates missing, soon to be translated, so fare only in Norwegian.
....

1943 - 2005:Over 62 years went on. Many a hiker has in all these years had the wreck at Kvitanosi as a favorite destination. The wreck has probably slightly decreased a little over the years because of souvenir collectors. The large surfaces on the relatively undamaged wings have become memory books with names and dates scratched onto them.

Saturday the 30th of July 2005: The local newspaper Hordaland has an article on its cover telling that the wreck will be removed. There is a museum in Berlin wanting parts of it for their restoration of an aircraft of this type. Although the military Condor model was produced in 262 copies during the ww2, no one is left now. The museum is very interested in the wings and the tail. That is what is best preserved at Kvitanosi.
This came completely unexpected. No one in the villages around in the area had heard about these planes. A helicopter should bring the wreck parts down to the village Brekkhus, for further transportation to Germany by car. The operation would probably start the coming week.

....
more soon to be translated, so fare only in Norwegian.
....

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My fathers story:

[the text in brackets are added by me]
People in Ekse and Gullbraa saw the plane passing over in low hight that evening 27th of December with course south/southeast in the direction of Voss, and with the landing lights turn on. Later it was told that the plane had been on a raid to Iceland.

Olav Gullbraa was on his way home to Gullbraa in Eksingedalen, skiing via the Naerafjellet mountain (from the Teigdalen valley, and Evanger). Which day this was I don't know. This could have been the day after the plain crashed, but most likely some days later. [On January 6th a message was received from captain Gebhard that he was on his way to Stamnes with the two survivors]. [Nils N Nesheim dates this to 31/12, four days after the crash. See his story below].
When he should pass the mountain pasture of the farm Ekse, Eksestoelen, a German came out from one of the huts there, with a pistol in his hand. This was one of the survivors [this must have been Walter Schwarze]. Olav and the German went down to Ekse together. People from Ekse and Gullbraa started to seek for more survivors in the mountains. One more vas found in a hut in Torvedalen (Ekses Torvedalen) [this must have been Fritz Albrechts, described as hardly injuried], another mountain pasture near by Eksesstoelen. Later they also found the plane and the 4 of the crew who was killed. The body of the plane was relative complete.
The path the two survivors climbed down from the place where the plane crashed was very dangerous, and only to be used for people knowing that area very well. So they were lucky to survive the climb, in addition to surviving the crash.
The bodies of the dead were brought down to Gullbraa, and further down to Nesheim by horses and sledges, one driven by "Daoe" [Nils N Nesheim is telling that this was Lars Ekse], one by Andreas. [From there the transport went by horses and sledges to Stamnes and by boat to Bergen. They are buried at the cemetery of Solheim in Bergen.] [A girl living at Nesheim told later about the sinister feeling with the dead bodies laying outside overnight, for further transportation the day after. My mother told me that story.]

People from Trefall: my father and Gunnar, and people from Ekse and Gullbraa, were ordered by the Germans to bring parts of the wreck from the mountain Kvitanosi down to Gullbraa. They used a new sledge made by Johannes Fosse, owned by Andreas, which the German saw and demanded. The parts brought down were instruments, fuel tanks with rubber surface inside preventing fuel leakage if a bullet went through, and other "confidential" things, rumors talked about later by the people in the valley. These wreck parts were also transported to Nesheim for further transportation to Stamnes and Bergen.
The Germans wanted to take down the four motors. Trying to get down the first one on the sledge used for the purpose, failed. The sledge and the motor rushed downhill in Veslelia out of control and the sledge was smashed against some trees. Further attempt to get down the motors was abandoned. This motor was blown up soon afterwards [parts could still be seen on the place, I will locate them with GPS position the coming summer].

My father also went with the Germans on the last hike. This time they blew up the three other motors, together with some other parts of the plane. "After the explosives where strapped to motors we where ordered to seek shelter. We were hiding behind some rocks. It rained with metal pieces all over the place, but luckily no one were hurt".

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Nils N Nesheim's story: The crash at Kvitanosi 27-12-1942 written down as I remember it:

27/12: The traditional Christmas celebration in the School of Ekse. A continuing sound of an aero plane. 1 hour - maybe 2. It sounds like circling over the area. Suddenly the sound was gone. We wandered maybe a little what this could have been, but soon forgot it.

31/12: Olav Gullbraa, the responsible at Evanger PowerStation, was on his way home to the farm Gullbraa in the valley of Eksingedalen to celebrate the New Years Eve with his family. He was skiing the short trail over the mountain Oevrafjellet. Passing Nils Ekse's hut in the mountain pasture Eksestoelen, he saw some footprints in the snow. A German solider was coming out of the hut with a pistol in his hand.

1/1-1943: People from the farms Ekse and Gullbraa are searching in the mountains for one more German survivor from the crash. He was found in a hut in the mountain pasture Torvedalen. He was transported down to Ekse by partly carrying him, partly pulling him on a parachute he had brought from the plane. On the traditional New Years celebration on the farm Brakestad the news was spread among the locals.

3/1 (Sunday): Norvald, Gunnar and I where on our way to the mountain of Kvitanosi skiing. In Dyratoni we found wreck parts. We had to turn back home because of bad weather, skiing the shortest trail down Kvitestakken to Brakestad. Just after Brakestad, in Brakestadlia, we met a German patrol led by the Norwegian police sergeant for the area Albert Sortevik. They where heading for Ekse where the survivors stayed. Coming to Nesheim we found Nils N Nesheim's house "occupied" by 10-12 German soldiers. They had a young man from the farm Brekkhus in the valley of Teigdalen as a guide.

4/1. Gunnar and I where ordered, together with one German soldier, to go to Brekkhus for different equipment and supplies. Two locals from Brekkhus had to follow us on the way back to carry all the equipment. Stayed overnight at Nesheim.

5/1: To Gullbraa with the supplies. There was waiting an order to continue to the mountain of Kvitanosi. Arriving the plain, the Germans with help from some locals where working trying to get the dead out of the wreck. It was a difficult job, and the only tools they had available were some axes and crowbars. At last we get the dead out of the wreck and placed them on tow sledges, two on each. On the way down to Gullbraa we had to walk on our foots pulling the sledges with the dead. Four Germans and four Norwegians on each sledge. Marching one hour, then resting in ten minutes, continuing this way we arrived Gullbraa late in the evening. Stayed overnight at Gullbraa.

6/1: Up again to Kvitanosi to bring down different equipment from the plane. Lars Ekse and Andreas Trefall with a horse and a sledge each brought the dead Germans down to Nesheim, where the bodies were placed at Smiemyra just covered with some snow, and guarded by German soldiers overnight.

7/1: David Gullbraa and Andreas Trefall arrived again to Nesheim with horses and sledges full of equipment from the plane. Norvald and I was ordered to transport the dead further down the valley to Flatekval. Two horses with sledges, two bodies on each sledge. The Germans stayed overnight at Dalastova at Flatekval, the dead were placed in the shed. On this point my mission on the plane-crash at Kvitanosi was fulfilled.

8/1: The road in the valley of Eksingedalen was not cleared from snow during the war, so the transport of the dead continued with horses and sledges. Friday was "The Boat Day", and the boat from the city of Bergen sailed as log as it could before the ice in the fjord prevent further passing. It was told that the dead were winched and dropped on-board into the boat. The boat that day was either "DS Jonas Jeasper" or "DS Hamre".

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The crash at Kvitanosi 27/12-42 told by Nils Gullbraa (f.1929)

From the book "War in Eksingedalen 1940 - 45", issued by Vaksdal Kommune in 1995 at the 50's anniversary of the end of WW2, editor Aage Lavik. Here printed with the permission of the author and Vaksdal Kommune.

After a period with bad weather and much snow starting before Christmas, it stopped snowing at the 27th. But the clouds still stayed at 1000 m above sea level. My brother and I where waiting for our father to come home. Because of the bad weather, he could not cross the mountains skiing from Evanger. He worked at the PowerStation at Evanger.

We kids had placed the radio in the living room for the Christmas. We thought we where safe for the Germans to come and find it in this bad weather.

At 10:15 in the evening at the 27th we hear the sound of an aero plane, and ran out to turn off the light outside. Standing outside the house, we saw a big 4 engine aero plan with its landing lights turned on, passing low over the valley. When disappearing west of the mountain Kjaeringanosi, suddenly the sound stopped. Had the plane crashed?

The bad weather would not stop. The next day the clouds were even thicker, and the snow blizzard continued all of the 28th. At Tuesday the 29th the weather was better, still clouds, but possible to go up into the mountains.

In the evening our father arrived. He told that he, together with the tailor Olav Ekse, had found a German when they where passing Nils Ekse's hut at the mountain pasture Eksestoelen. They had brought him down to the valley of Eksingedalen, to Ekse. There Lars Ekse gave him shelter.

The New Year Day, 1/1 1943, it was snowing wet snow. We contacted a man from Bergen which was at "Christmas holidays" (stayed there because of the war). He knew the German language and was able to speak with the person brought down from the mountain. The German told that he had been one of the crew members at a plane which had crashed in the mountains. One other crew member also had survived, but they had been separated in the attempt to climb down when one of them rushed downhill. The other returned to the wreck after getting no answer when yelling downhill.

At Saturday 2d January the weather turned better. We started climbing up into the mountains to look for the missing plane. Five adults: Olav Gullbraa, Ingvald Gullbraa, Harald Gullbraa, Andreas Trefall, and the "translator" from Bergen. After the adults come my brother Johan, age 15, and I, age 13 1/2. We passed Kjaeringanosi skiing across the plateau Storetoni, west of the mountain hiding for the top of Kvitanosi. We followed the edge. We found footpaths in the snow of a person without skies. We continued, and after a while we found the plane. It had crashed in a slow hillside. Because of the snow, the plane was not totally crashed. The left wing had smashed into a big stone, and the plane had turned 180 degrees and stopped lying at its back. The taili, from the back up to the point where the wings started, was almost undamaged. The cockpit was smashed backwards into the the wing mount. We saw one of the pilots hanging upside down in his seatbelts.

It was getting late, so we had to return when still daylight. We went the same path back. Passing Dyratoni, we saw a person waiving from one of the huts down in the mountain pasture Torvedalen. We climbed down Dyratoni, and further down to the hut. This was the other surviving German. His jawbone was broken, and he was badly injuried. We partly carried and partly pulled him down to the valley on a parachute he had brought from the plane. He was to weak to walk himself. About at 7 hour in the evening we arrived to Ekse.

At Sunday 3d January there was a new snow blizzard.

My father and Olav Ekse, which found the first German at Eksestoelen, got later a bottle of Italian wine each for the help.

About the 15th or 16th January an alpine troop (from Austria) came. Thayr mission was to bring down the dead from the wreck. Here at Gullbraa they stayed in Nils B. Gullbraa's house. They where good skiers.

The alpine troops ordered some locals from Eksingedalen to assist them on their mission. They went to the plane skiing, and brought with them a sledge. The work was difficult, and they returned to Gullbraa late that evening.

The third day they got horses and sledges to transport the dead down the valley of Eksingedalen. David Gullgraa and Lars Ekse drove two horses with sledges, one each.

At Monday the 3d of June a new alpine troop arrived. The stayed in Nils Bergesen Gullbraa's house. I participated at two hikes to Kvitanosi, and found them to be nice people. One of them spoke Norwegian very well.

Now the plane should be emptied for all values. Some locals where ordered to assist them: Johannes Gullbraa, Herman Gullbraa, Harald Gullbraa, Ingvald Gullbraa, Haakon Trefall and Andreas Trefall.

At the first hike, my uncle Ingvald and I where ahead of the others. As we arrived the wreck, we saw two people. They asked what we where doing at the wreck site. My uncle turned and pointed back the path we came and said that a troop of Germans where on their way. Never, sooner or later, have I seen someone who jumped into their skis and skied so fast. I do not dear to think of what would happened if the Germans had seen them running away.

One day the Germans had pulled two of the engines down to Naevene. One of the engines continued on its own on its sledge down into the woods. The sledge was smashed. The landing wheels and many other parts where transported down to Gullbraa, but they gave up getting down the engines.

At Thursday the 10th of July I participated again. Now they should finish theyr mission. The rest of the parts to be transported down to the valley where collected. Then blocks of TNT where strapped onto different parts of the plane. Belts of ammunition 20.5 where placed above. We seeked shelter behind some rocks, and when the explosion come there was an inferno of metal peaces, flying and spread widely in the area.

The two remaining motors where also blown up. This Friday the 11th the Germans got all parts brought down to the valley, brought further down to Trefall to the car-road.

That evening the 11th the Germans left after completed mission.

(The dates in this story are from my father Olav Gullbraa.s diaries.)

[Added by me after a phone call with Nils Gullbraa 28/5]
Nils: The tail part was almost complete, and with a big room inside. The food the two survivors had been eating before they had to leave the plane was located there, and this was also the place they had seeked they're shelter. At the last hike I asked the person in command if they could leave this part undamaged. "I could so, but there are more of us", was the answer. The tail of the plane was also blown up.

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The plane trying to land at Kvitanosi told by Kaare Flaaskjer

From the book "War in Eksingedalen 1940 - 45", issued by Vaksdal Kommune in 1995 at the 50's anniversary of the end of WW2, editor Aage Lavik. Here printed with the permission of the author's daughter Sigrun Eng in Gol, Buskerud, and Vaksdal Kommune.

Soon to be translated. So fare only in norwegian.

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Gunnar Nesheim's story:

From the book "War in Eksingedalen 1940 - 45", issued by Vaksdal Kommune in 1995 at the 50's anniversary of the end of WW2, editor Aage Lavik. A small fragment from the book, here printed with the permission of Vaksdal Kommune.

Soon to be translated. So fare only in norwegian.

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Nils Kvamsdal's story:

Soon to be translated. So fare only in norwegian.

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A German source:

Soon to be translated. So fare only in norwegian.

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Links:
* A German fw200 page
* A fw200 data page
* Wikipedia fw200.
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The plane:
The German aeroplane which crashed at the mountain Kvitanosi 27th of December 1942 was of the type Focke Wulf 200C-4 Condor (Kondor), and came from Sola airport outside Stavanger.

Detaild type description: Focke Wulf FW 200C-4 Condor Werkenummer 0140 with unit code F8+AK.

Pictures of the Focke Wulf 200 Condor:

Three photos provided by www.wk2.info:


Six pictures from this very good page: Fw 200 in German (including the engine drawings).
All these could be found in better quality in that page:

Engines: four 1200hp BMW-Bramo 323R-2 Fafnir nine-cylinder radial engines

A Focke Wulf 200C page with some history and technical data.

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The crew:


Of the crew of 6, 4 were killed:
  • First Lieutenant Waldemar Hackel (Pilot in Command / Captain), born 03.01.1915 Breslau
  • Sergeant Adolf Liebscher (Pilot / First Officer), born 26.11.1920 Moldau
  • Staff Sergeant Erwin Kopp (Radio Operator), born 05.03.1913 Berlin
  • Private first class Karl Pech (Gunner), 15.10.1922 St.Georgenthal
Two survived:
  • Staff Sergeant Walter Schwarze (Radio Operator)
    [the person found at the mounitain pasture Eksestoelen]
  • Sergeant Fritz Albrechts (Mechanic / Flight Engineer)
    [the person found at the mounitain pasture Torvedalen, described as hardly injuried]

On January 6, 1943 a message was received that Captain Gebhardt was on his way to Stamnes with two casualties, Sergeant Walter Schwarze and Staff Sergeant Fritz Albrechts.

The bodies of the dead where brought down to Gullbraa, further down the valley of Eksingedalen, and to the city of Bergen via Stamnes. They where buried in Bergen at the cemetery of Solheim.


Karl Pech, born October 15, 1922 in St. Georgenthal,
the former Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia), near the Saxony border (about 6 km).
Fallen December 27, 1942 in Kvitanosi, Norway.

On www.wk2.info there where a set of pages made in memoriam one of the persons which died in the crash at Kvitanosi 27th of December 1942: Karl Pech. These pages are unfortunately removed from the internet! Some of the content could be found on this link: Es geschah 3 Tage nach Weihnachten - vor 65 Jahren.

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The werck:


A picture serie from August 2005, and pictures from the wreck and the hike to it in the summer 2004.

Somwere I have heard that parts from the wreck have been brougt to a museum, flown down by a helicopter. On the picture below from 1971 it seems to be more wreck parts than today. I have to check that information!!

Someone knowing about this? Please send an e-mail to kaare@trefall.com!

A photo of the wreck taken by me in 1971:

Other pages: Aeroplane wrecks in Norway from ww2, and the Kvitanosi wreck described there.
Many good pictures from Kvitanosi, including some of the wreck, by Svein Ulvund at "Woss Now", here a link to "search at Kvitanosi" (use the "Neste" (=next in norwegian) link at the button of the page to go to the next set of pictures).

The position of the wreck is (WGS84):
UTM: 32 V 349779 6741228
Lat/Long dd mm ss.s: N60 46 41.1 E6 14 28.3
(Lat/Long dd mm mm.mmm: N60 46.685 E6 14.472)
1342 meters above sea level (the top of the mountain Kvitenosi is 1420 m)

The position is shown as a littel aeroplane symbol on the maps. The dotted line is a hike done in the summer 2004. The hike up is the "west path" (via Kjaeringanosi). This is the same path which the dead, and later wreck parts, was brought down to Gullbraa in Eksingedalen.

The winter trail used when transporting the dead down to the valley of Eksingedalen, + more detailed maps from the crash-place, could be found by clicking on the map to the left below.
The trail the survivors where brought down to the valley could be seen by clicking on the map to the right below.

Winter pictures from the crash-scene (the crash took place in the winter), + trip data from Kvitanosi Easter 2005 , could be found by clicking on the picture to the left below.
Winter pictures from the places the two survivors were fond and brought down to the valley of Eksingedalen, + trip description Eksestoelen and Torvedalen , could be found by clicking on the picture to the right below.

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3D maps:
Som 3D maps of the mountain Kvitanosi and its surroundings.



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Three different paths to hike to Kvitanosi.


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Marking of paths and the werck:

Soon to be translated. So fare only in norwegian.

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The destiny of the wreck (Flying again):

As I wrote in the Timeline :

1943 - 2005:Over 62 years went on. Many a hiker has in all these years had the wreck at Kvitanosi as a favorite destination. The wreck has probably slightly decreased a little over the years because of souvenir collectors. The large surfaces on the relatively undamaged wings have become memory books with names and dates scratched onto them.

Saturday the 30th of July 2005: The local newspaper Hordaland has an article on its cover telling that the wreck will be removed. There is a museum in Berlin wanting parts of it for their restoration of an aircraft of this type. Although the military Condor model was produced in 262 copies during the ww2, no one is left now. The museum is very interested in the wings and the tail. That is what is best preserved at Kvitanosi.

This came completely unexpected. No one in the villages around in the area had heard about these planes. A helicopter should bring the wreck parts down to the village Brekkhus, for further transportation to Germany by car. The operation would probably start the coming week.
Photo: © Oeyvind Aandevik
This causes a new era for the wreck. It is awakening after 63 years asleep. Four years later it is flying again. First to Boemoen at Voss. Than home to Germany!

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Plans for removing the wreck:
In the summer of 2005 something happens at Kvitanosi. Here as I experienced it at that time, and as I chronologly published the news that time.

All started with what the newspaper Hordaland had to tell Saturday 30th of July 2005. Here the front page:

Sad news was published in the local newspaper Hordaland Saturday the 30th: The wreck will be removed. The wreck will be removed from Kvitanosi and build up again in a museum in Berlin, Germany. This could be done the coming week or the next. Here a facsimile of this Norwegian news article.

Here is translation from Norwegian to English of this article (a short version) © www.avisa-hordaland.no:

"For nearly 62 years the German plane wreck has been a ww2 memorial on Kvitanosi, now to be sent to a museum in Berlin.
On The Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodoe's initiative this is a corporation with The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, Deutches Teknikmuseum and Royal Norwegian Air Force Squadron 330 at Sola Stavanger.
Birger Larsen at The Norwegian Aviation Museum tells that this is an inter-European project, and that The Focke Wulf FW 200 is an important part of the development of advanced modern aero planes, and originally build for Lufthansa.
Bad weather at Vaernes redirected the plain to go to Sola, but lack of fuel forced the plane to make a forced landing.
The Focke Wulf FW 200 is after retirement in the early 50s not to be found in any museum. This is the reason for the interest of the wreck at Kvitanosi. The reconstruction is a corporation between Lufthansa Technik AG, Airbus Deutchland Gmbh and Rolls Royce Deutchland Gmbh, and the result should be palced at Deutches Teknikmuseum in Berlin.
The crashed Focke Wulf FW FW 200 at Kvitanosi was build at the Focke Wulf factory in Bremen.
Tor Egil Hilstad at Squadron 330 tells that the transportation of the wreck down from the mouintain with a Sea-King helicopter will start next week or the week after."

The day after this news was published I was at Kvitanosi taking some pictures: The Wreck at Kvitanosi 31.07.2005. Maybe this is the last pictures of this important local ww2 memorial, a target for many hikes to Kvitanosi.
Preparations for the removal already seem to be started, by collecting the wreck parts 3 places. So some damage is already done.

This will be a great loss for the local area. Nobody of the locals knew anything about this until at the end at last week. It seems as the planning is done, and now ready for execution. Referring to the local newspaper Hordaland, this is a cooperation between The Norwegian Aviation Museum, The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, Deutsches Teknikemuseum, and The 330 Airborne Squadron at Sola Stavanger.

New Monday evening (1/8): Albert Gullbraa just called to tell that the local authorities had agreed on a temporary preservation regulation for the wreck. This was good news! The wreck is temporarily saved from removal.
Albert had done a lot of calls that day. And so had many others who want the wreck to stay at Kvitanosi.

News Tuesday (2/8): The local newspaper Hordaland tells the same story today in The removal of the Wreck is stopped.

News 8/8: Some information (in Norwegian) about rescuing the wreck: "Nyhende 03.08.2005" at Voss kommune's web pages.

News 15/8: The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, appeal against the local authorities decision on stopping the removal of the wreck at Kvitanosi, and carry out the original plans of removing it. The local newspaper Hordaland tells this news today in this article: Synfaring på Kvitanosi.

News 24/8: Good news: I just spoke to Kristian Hovstad from the Norwegian Broadcasting Coorporation NRK Hordaland His messages was that the The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum has terminated the plans of appealing the temporary preservation regulation for the wreck. So the wreck will stay as a war memorial at Kvitanosi!! The reason for this desition is the overwelming reactions from the locals against removal of the wreck.

News 25/8: The local radiostation NRK Hordaland has an aricle today on theyer web pages about permanent preservation: The wreck will not be removed. This also contains an interview with Johan Gullbraa (an audio file).

News 25/8: Also the local Newspaper Hordaland confirms the news from yesterday in the article No removal of the ww2 wreck.


Local televsion 25/8: about saving the wreck.



Cleanup:

When preparing for removal of the wreck, parts have been collected and placed together. So the wreck site look different from the passed 62 years. But the important thing is: placing parts one above another could cause new damages on them when they in the coming winter will be covered with 2-4 meters of snow!

To illustrate the problem, here are two pictures.
First one "before picture", than one "after picture":


Some type of "cleanup" after the "moving preparations" shoul be done before the winter to prevent this.
Opinions? Send me an e-mail: kaare@trefall.com.

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BT about the preservation, and about the British which took the rudder in february 1977.
In an article under the headline "Wreck going to be attraction" 3/11, the newspaper Bergens Tidende refers the County Council Curator Gerd Bolstad about the temporary preservation of the Kvitanos-wreck. She said that further hearing of the case would be done in the spring when the snow goes. It will then be decided if the preservation will become permanent. BT is telling that the museum in Berlin does not have drawings for their reconstruction. However, pictures and measurements of wreck-parts where they now are lying will also be useful, if the museum will not get the wreck. Preservation on the wreck-site will have the negative side that the wreck little by little disappear.

One thing which is not written about yet, other than on these pages, is the concern whether the wreck will be incurred by "new" damage during the winter because it was moved ito collection of many parts toghether, during the preparation to bring it to the museum. But it is now too late in the autumn to do anything about this.

I have also here on these pages called for information about a history that says that someone earlier had fetched parts down by helicopter. The article in BT is telling about this. It was done by the British as part of a winter exercise in 1977, and it was the tail rudder they took. The article also has a photo from this event. So finally facts!

Facsimile of the headline of an article in BT 3d of November 2005
What I thought was the tail rudder turns out to be right wing-tip. See about this here: "The tail rudder".

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The removal:
After the inspection on Kvitanosi in August 2008, with following negotiations, it is decided that the Deutches Technikmuseum will get part of the wreck to their restoration of a FW200 Focke Wolf copy in Berlin. In the autumn of 2009 the Kvitanos plane is flying again. This time a little longer than in previous attempt. But in the same direction. Now with helicopter assistance. The flight goes to Boemoen at Voss. For further transport from there home to Germany.

(In the Norwegian version much of this story is told by facsimiles of newspaper articles. The facsimiles will also be presented here in the English version. But since they are in Norwegian, some of the articles are translated, others to come.)

The inspection of the wreck (August 2008):

At Monday 11th of August 2008 the newspaper Hordaland reports on their internet pages that a delegation with representatives from a German museum, Hordaland County Council and Voss Municipality, the coming Thursday will go for an inspection of the wreck at Kvitanosi. See the newspaper Hordaland's internet pages about The Kvitanos inspection.

About how this inspection went on could be read in the newspaper the coming Saturday.

Facsimile of the front page of Hordaland Saturday 16th of August 2008:

The headeline says:
The Germans stuck at Kvitanosi


Facsimile of the article inside the newspaper:
Her a translation of (parts of) the above article:

Dramatic inspection at Kvitanosi.
The inspection of the German aircraft wreck at Kvitanosi ended dramaticly. Eight persons went walking in the rain and the fog in the dark after nightfall. After big hardships they at last managed to climbed down to the road and waiting cars, about 02:30 Friday night.

(More translation to come)




A guided tour (August 2008):

The next day I am guide to the wreck for the son of one of those who were killed in the crash. We tried the day before, but had to return in Storatoni because of thick fog. On that hile also the daughter participated. It was a big coincidence that our hikes happened at the same time as "the other Germans". But this is an other story. I will come back to it later.



Negotiations (September 2008):

The inspection at Kvitanosi led to further meetings and negotiations between the Hordaland County Council and the Deutsche Technikmuseum Berlin in the autumn 2008, and this resulted in an initial treaty in September. The museum shall have 7 main parts from Kvitanos-wreck for their restoration in Berlin of the FW200 model they are building up there.
The newspaper Hordaland writes about this 19th of September 2008: Getting wreck parts.
The newspaper Bergens Tidende also writes about this 16th of September 2008: Allowing to remove the wreck parts.



Information board (August 2008):

On the inspection-trip mentioned above, Voss Municipality put up an information board at the wreck site. See Voss Municipality about the Information board, and the newspaper Hordaland's web article about the board.



Agreement (July 2009):

On this site you can read the agreement between the Hordaland County Council and the Deutsche Technikmuseum Berlin dated 3d of July 2009, with details on what parts of the wreck which the museum will have.

The parts are:
  • Vertical Rudder
  • Horizontal fin and elevator including minor parts|
  • Right outer wing
  • Right outer vinge tip
  • Left outer Wing
  • All parts of ailerons
  • Engine fairing
The parts are flown down (November 2009):

So it happens. The plane at Kvitanosi is flying again. 24 422 days have passed since the crash about 10 PM the evening of 27th of December 1942. Now it's 7th of November 2009. A helicopter is flying the first parts down from Kvitenosi to Bømoen at Voss. The newspaper Hordaland writes about this Tuesday 10th of November.

Facsimile from the newspaper Hordaland Tuesday 10th of November 2009:


Her a translation of the above article:

(Picture text: The inspection at Kvitanosi in August last year. Now some of the parts will be removed.)

Wreck-parts brought down from Kvitanosi.

Voss: Saturday afternoon was eleven main parts from wreck of the German plan at Kvitanosi brought down from the mountain.

The parts which are from a Focke-Wolf Condor FW-200 bomber which crashed at Kvitanosi the third day of Christmas 1942, shall after 67 years be brought back home to Germany.
- As soon as we have been to Kvitanosi and approved that the parts taken down are according to the agreement with the Germans, the parts will be brought home to Germany by Deutsche Teknikmusem, says Special Advisor Stein Ottosen from Hordaland County Council.
It was 17. of September last year the Hordaland County Council gave dispensation from the cultural monument regulations so they could fetch some of the parts for their use.

A teamwork project.
Hordaland County Council now co-operates with Deutches Teknichmuseun in a common project which shall tell the story behind what happened at Kvitanosi in 1942, and up to this day.
- It is difficult to say how much of the wreck that will be removed, but I can promise that many parts will be left. Kvitanosi will be taken care of as a war memorial. Which also includes that wreck-parts will be left at Kvitanosi, says Stein Ottosen.


The coming week, Thursday 12th of November, is the helicopter in action again. Stein Ottosen from Hordaland County Council is in place and checking to ensure that the parts taken down are according to the agreement. One of the parts they brought down on the previous mission must be brought up again. More on this can be read on Friday 13th of November in the newspaper Hordaland's web pages: Landed for the last time.

Friday morning a journalist from Hordaland is calling me. This leads to the article about bringing the wreck down from Kvitanosi in the Saturday the 14th issue.

Facsimile of the newspaper Hordaland's article at Saturday 14th of October 2009:


Her a translation of the above article:

(Picture test: Boemoen: Here the right wing from the German bomber is stropped to be transported to a secrete place at Voss.)

Removal of aircraft wreck-parts causing emotions

Since Kaare Trefall (54) was young, he has each year visited the aircraft wreck at Kvitanosi.

Kaare Trefall became surprised when "Hordaland" is calling and telling that many big wreck-parts now are removed from the wreck he has visited since his childhood.
- I expected Hordaland County Council to notify me before this happened, he is telling a bit resigned. He also reacts on that the number of parts which is brought down are as high as eleven [they are seven].
- If so many parts are removes that is too many.
Trefall have for a long time been prepared of the removal of wreck-parts from Kvitanosi, so the news is no shock. In 2005 the Germans wanted to fetch the wrack, but because of massive protests from people in the area the wreck at that time was temporarily preserved.
- The removal this time is a compromise.

50 years on Kvitanosi.
Trefall has always been curious about the German aircraft wreck. When he was a child he played with parts his grandfather had brought down from the mountains.
- The first time I was to Kvitanosi I was about seven, he is telling. Since then I have been there almost every summer. The story about what happened that third day of Christmas in 1942 his father and other people in the area have told him.

Casing emotions.
Trefall says it causes emotions when the main parts of the wreck are removed.
- Of cause this is an emotional thing. I will miss the parts which now are gone. He says that it is an splitted feeling.
- It is good that the removed parts are going to be used for a restoration in the German aviation museum in Munchen [shall be Berlin].
- Are you going to visit Germany and see the plane when it is finished? Yes I think I will do that. That the parts are brought to Germany instead if the Norwegian aviation museum in Bodoe, Trefall thinks is ok.
- It is best that the German expertise are using them.

Less exiting adventure
Trefall fears that it will be less interest for hiking to the wreck at Kvitanosi now as most of it is removed.
- The experience people now will have will visiting the wreck will be reduced, because of the removal of the big parts. But there will be the new information board, and there will be some remaining parts.


Controlling the wreck-parts
Boemoen - The County Council sent a person to Voss to control that the parts brought down from the mountains are according to the agreement.

Stein Ottosen from Hordaland County Council arrived Thursday at Voss and looked over the parts brought down from the mountains. One of the wings had to be brought up again with the helicopter later that day, he is telling.

Missing drawings.
- Eleven major parts were removed [should be 7] from Kvitanosi. Now it is only two major parts left up there, in addition to many small parts, says Ottosen.
The other parts which where controlled at Thursday was "approved", and will in short time be transported to Munchen [Berlin] in Germany. There the parts will be assembled together with parts from an other aircraft of the same type which ended its days in the fjord outside Trondheim.
The drawings are missing for this aircraft model. Because of this it will be a lot of work to reassemble it. The parts which are still missing to complete rebuilding the Focke-Wolc Condor FW-200 bomber, the Germans will produce themselves.



Also the newspaper Bergens Tidende writes about bringing down the wreck this day.

Facsimile of the article in Bergens Tidende Saturday 14th of October 2009

No translation of this artile so fare. The content is much the same as the two above articles from "Hordaland".


Information about the removal added as news 21/11 at Bodoe Aviation Historical Society.

An article Ole Bjoern Saelensminde in the German journal Flugzeug Classic in March 2010.




Kvitanosi November 2009:

I have not been up to Kvitanosi after the removal. The winter has made its entrance. Bringing down the parts was just in time if it should be done this year. Next hike to Kvitanosi would perhaps be in the winter when the snow is covering what is left. When going up there the coming summer I think I will miss the "wreck" I have "lived with" in all these years. As the wing I scratched my name on back in my childhood. Now the aircraft will start a new life "at home in Germany".

In the summer of 2005 I was a warm supporter of keeping the wreck at Kvitanosi, both as a dear hiking destinations and as a war memorial, and I wrote about this here on these pages. I have received several "hate mails" for that. I have of course all the way seen the value of using the wreck for the restoration of a copy of the aircraft. Especially since there are almost nothing left of this type of aircraft, and that the drawings are lost. But fortunately at that time, the wreck removal was stopped. What now has happened I think could be called a compromise. Parts of the wreck are still on the crash site, there have been put up an information plate, and there will be an exhibition.

So I hoped that the Kvitanos wreck still will be a favorite destination, both for people from Eksingedalen and Voss, and for hikers from all over the world. Maybe a book about the happening could be pulled out of the rucksack, for a short refresh of what rally happened here?



The story continues:

In the spring of 2010 a small project group will start to collect material for an exhibition of the Kvitanos plane. In return for wreck parts the Deutche Technikmuseum will assist on this. It is applied and received EU monies for this project. Detailed planning has not yet started, but the plan is to present information of the Kvitanos plane both in Voss and in Berlin, and maybe in valley of Eksingedalen too. Time will show. I think material from these pages will be a part of it. I am invited as Voss Municipality's representative.



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Kvitanosi chapter 2
More
Most of it unfortenately, so fare only in Norwegian.

Condoren paa Kvitanosi opens
The exhibition Condoren paa Kvitanosi opned 29th of September 2013 in Voss culture house.

See The Condor page.

See also facebook.









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Pictures and hike descriptions for Kvitanosi:

On the page "Other places and hikes" you can find picture series and hike descriptions for the mouintan Kvitanosi.

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More:

Someone having more information on this event? Please send an e-mail to kaare@trefall.com!

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Kvitenos links / FW200 links:

Som links related to the mouintan Kvitanosi:
FW200 links:

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Now to be found at this link.
Main page: www.trefall.com/kvitanosi/.


Copyright © kaare@trefall.com 2004-2023 (pgp)
Last updated 17th of April 2023

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