Original German WWII Aircraft Inert MG15 Machine Gun Drum Magazine Recovered with Provenance Tags - HE111 Crashed in Wolsey in 1940
Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an exceptionally interesting relic German WWII Luftwaffe MG 15 aircraft machine-gun saddle drum magazine, preserved with two old provenance tags identifying it as recovered from the wreckage of Heinkel He 111P-4 Werknummer 2877 of 2./Kampfgeschwader 55, which crashed at a Workshop Farm, Wolvey, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on the night of 19 November 1940. The magazine is empty and completely inert, and appears to have been filled internally with a molten metal or alloy at some point after recovery in order to stabilize and hold the damaged sections together. Not Available for Export. The first tag identifies the pilot as “Oblt. Hans Klawe Found dead in aircraft” and the observer as “FW Wilhelm Gutekunst, Baled out, POW.” The other tag reads: HE111 2877 of 2/KG55 crashed workshop farm Wolsey 19.11.40. Half of MG15 Saddle Drum Magazine empty but filled with molten alloy - ammo must have been expended during the battle as no exploded rounds or explosive damage. Sandblasted, nice relic, with air intelligence details as reproduced in book “Blitz Then and Now Vol. 2”. The drum itself has no remaining ammo inside, and is stamped on the exterior with serial number 538 / c, next to some inspection stamps. In its current degraded condition, it measures 8 ½ x 5 x 3 ¾”. This relic is particularly significant because its surviving provenance can be connected to a documented individual aircraft loss rather than merely to an unidentified German wreck site. The attached crew-name tag, detailed crash tag, and construction give the piece unusually strong historical context. The molten-alloy stabilization, heavy degradation, sandblasted surface, and absence of ammunition are important later-condition factors, but the magazine remains an evocative surviving component of the Wolvey Heinkel wreck.