History:

At the begining of the war, Helmut Lent was Staffelkapitan of 1/ZestorerGeschwader 76. ZestorerGeschwader (ZG) 76 saw action in Poland, with Lent racking up his first air-to-air victory against the Polish. After the fall of Poland, I/ZG 76 was transferred to the area of Heligoland Bight in December of 1939. Leutnant Lent participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on December 18, accounting for three Wellington bombers (though one of these claims was later denied.)

In April, 1940, I/ZG 76 participated in the invasion of Denmark and Norway. 1/ZG 76 was earmarked with the task of providing aircover for the airborne assault against Oslo-Fornebu Airfield, outside the Norwegian capitol. As the Me-110 could not carry enough fuel to fly to Norway and back to its own base, it was decided that 1/ZG 76 would cover the airborne assault, then when the paratroops had secured the field, they would land and refuel.

Poor weather made chaos of the operation. A front had set in as the air units formed up to fly north, some units turning back, while others pushed forward. As 1/ZG 76 approached Norwegian airpace, they emerged from the clouds to be greeted by sunny skies over Norway. As they made their way up the Oslo Fjord, they were intercepted by 7-9 Norwegian Gladiators. Two 110's were lost and three damaged before the Galdiators, who lost several of their own, withdrew. Lent was able to account for one of the Gladiators, bringing his total kills to five.

1/ZG 76 then made their way to Oslo-Fornebu airfield, and strafed the Norwegian defenses there. The Paratroopers failed to show up, and the situation started to turn serious. The aircraft were starting to run dangerously low on fuel, and faced the prospect that they would soon have to land regardless of whether their troops arrived or not.

At that moment, German Ju-52's arrived over the field. But instead of dropping paratroops to capture the base, they entered a landing pattern and prepared to set down. What no one realized was that the paratroops, charged with taking the airfield, had been forced back by the weather. The second wave of assault troops had arrived, and thinking that the paratroops had already secured the field, they were landing! As the first Ju-52 touched down, it started taking fire from the Norwegian defenders, and just barely made it back off the field.

In the meantime, the Me 110s were out of fuel. They had to land or crash! Lent, one engine damaged by the Norwegian Gladiators, was selected to land his aircraft first, while the others provided covering fire. He brought his aircraft in hot and fast. At the last minute he had to dodge a Ju-52 landing on an intersecting runway, and ran off the field, through the perimeter wire and down an embankment, coming to rest in the garden of a house adjoining the field. The other Me 110s proceeded to land, arranging their aircraft so that the tail gunners were turned toward the Norwegian positions to provide covering fire as the remaining Ju-52's landed. But the Norwegians had been ordered to withdraw, and the airfield was secured quickly, even as Lent and his gunner arrived on foot with their aircraft weapon, anticipating a fight.

The remaining undamaged aircraft were quickly serviced and refueled, and started flying patrols over the Oslo Fjord. Lent, flying one such patrol that evening, intercepted and shot down a lone Sunderland patrol aircraft flying over the fjord.

Colors:

M8+DH was finished in a splinter pattern of dark greens (RLM 70 & 71) on the upper surfaces, with light blue (RLM 65) underneath. The upper wing crosses had been enlarged to improve visibility, as had the older style fuselage cross. Codes and other markings were standard, the only unusual marking being a diamond-shaped marking on the rear fuselage under the tail.

References:

J Vasco & P Cornwell, Zestorer: the Messerschmitt 110 and its Units in 1940 (JAC Publications/1995)
John Weal, Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zestorer Aces of WW 2 (Osprey Aviation/1999)
Jerry Campbell, Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zestorer In Action (Squadron/Signal 1977)

Thanks to James Grimes for permission to do repaints for his excellent Messerschmitt bf-110C Zestorer. The original model can be downloaded from: Virtual RLM for Combat Flight Simulator 2.

Copyright Info: This repaint is released as freeware, for all to use and enjoy. The repainted textures may not be used in any commercial package or project, nor may they be sold or altered for any purpose without the express permission of the author. This is my blood and sweat, if I'm not going to make any money off it, nobody else is either!

This notice does not supercede the original copyright of James Grimes for his creation! Please respect both my rights as an authorized repainter, and his as the creator of this virtual aircraft!

I do not guarantee that this plane will work on your system. It works on mine, sorry but everyone else has to figure it out for themselves. I had no problems with it, but I offer no warrantees. Your computer blows up, you are on your own.