So for a week I spent several nights before bed writing and studying this plane crash. I got waaay carried away with analyzing the parts. Since I was a young teen I've watched all the Aircraft Investigation/Mayday on NGC and later on YouTube. I don't know why I obsess over aircrafts in general, but I know I'm weird, ok!
I’ve lived not far from these areas for 8 years and I never heard about this planecrash with debris still there. My mother stumbled upon this on the internet by complete random. Finding the plane would have been very difficult without today’s technology since it's so hidden and uknown. We could search online for clues from other people’s blog – and with GPS we should navigate us fairly easy. When the weather agreed, we drove higher and higher up into the countryside north of Oslo and parked as near the cordinates as we could. We met some helpful and friendly locals on our way - a man with his grandaughter, a couple and a jogger. They instantly knew what we meant when asking about the crash site. We went off trail, on trail, off again, stumbling in the wilderness. It had been raining earlier this day, so the forest smelled so rich of birchand spruce trees, rocks and soil. The redness reminded me much about autumn, but these are blueberry bushes that should be full of riped blueberries now - but the intense heatwave in Norway has basically fried them red.
And then...after an hour of walking in the wilderness we saw something grey and shining…resting silent underneath tall old trees by a steep mountain wall.
Here three men died in a plane crash. But the debris are still resting here.
So what happened? Who were these pilots, and why did they crash?
The Story
It all began 76 years ago. It was the 2. of july 1942. A rainy summerday with thick fog laying on the silent mountains. A local man, called Sheldon Reinholdt, heard a plane flying low and then a loud crash. As he approached the crash he heard fires making gittering sound, louder and louder and it got warmer and warmer. The trees were cut in half, but it showed the plane had gotten a lift. But it was too late. The plane had crashed into the steep mountainwall (see picture 9) and the plane was in million scattered pieces. All three pilots were intact, but sadly killed on impact. Remember this was back in 1942, so Reinholdt had to run home and get his bicycle and hurry into town for the nearest phone. He called police. The germans made him show where the plane crashed, and after that he had nothing more to do with it. This was under the second world war, and he said he helped the germans because he didn't want any trouble if anyone saw him there and he didn't contact anyone. Read Sheldon Reinholdt's story from 1986 here. The plane was a Dorner DO-17MI. The three germans were flying (most likely because this was a frequently used route) from Gardemoen to Fornebu. The place they’ve crashed is the lowest point they would fly on the route but as we know, they flew too low. Most of the wreckage was on top of the hill, but now it's not there anymore. Some claim the other engine is still around somewhere, but we couldnt find it even though we used cordinates. What I find very intresting, is there are people obsessed with the history of WW2 and collect items from various related things. People can't keep their fingers away from this debri either, but here so many intriguing parts are left. For almost 80 years. I did not bring anything back home because it dosen't feel right and it's not mine to take.
About the parts
Most of the parts we found were from the marked areas, This is where I got REALLY carried away. Please correct me, add your theories, or explain the parts I can't identify if you know in the comments.
Sources og WW2 images:: Bundesarchive
I marked the places on the plane where we found most of the debris from. Also, look at the engine! It’s a radial engine which means the cylinders are situated in a circle as opposed to inline, v, flat engines etc. Pretty cool. You're gonna recognise it in the pictures below.
1. The wreckage and I, as I look up the moountainwall where they crashed. The thing beside me are claimed to be the middle part, with wings coming out on either side. We have a theory that this is so small, it might the tail upside down. And also - behind you can see the rusty undercarriage in the background.
Notice the top on the left picture how steep it is.
2. Some people claim this to be the cockpit with instrument panels because of the holes, but firstly it’s far too tiny. Secondly, it would be the other way around. And remember the cockpit of this plane is infront of the wings. Thirdly, the holes -which are found throughout the structure - are actually there to reduce weight.
2b. Other side of the middle section. Notice the flap that are still attached on the right! But can you imagen this as the tail upside down though? And it's not the flap, but the tails elevator.
I know this bomber were called "the flying pencil" because it was super slim, but it wasn't made for squirrels to fly it. The plain could fit 5 humans. What do you think?
3. One of the engines, which exploded in two. My favourite picture of them all.
4. Look at the rusty cylinders!
5. Other angle of the engine. One cylinder heads remains (the grey piece with the stripy structure). I believe this is called "heat sink"? That's what they're called when used in computers anyway.
6. These are two parts of the same engine, if you twist the closest one it would fit onto the other. Here we can see the rusty cylinders.
7. Cloth. Probably part of the inside of the cockpit. I found it very haunting.
8. This looks like a switch from the cockpit.
9. I thought this was a window, but the plane dosen't have round windows. So I have no idea what this is...
10. Uknown part. I find this one so intriquing. It was REALLY heavy!
11. Engine.
12. This tiny thing though. What could it be?
Hope you enjoyed this. It was very intresting for me to investigate the different parts and research the story. You might think it’s crazy I could identify plane debris and you’re right. My boyfriend has a degree in aerospace engineering and that helped *alot*! Hope he wasn't too bothered with me asking so many questions late at night. Anyway, I wish you a great day and thank you for reading!