The Heinkel He 111 was a German bomber aircraft.
Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke designed it in 1934.
Restrictions placed on Germany after the First World War prohibited bombers. Thus, it masqueraded as a civil airline – described as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
It was the most numerous Luftwaffe bomber during the early stages of World War II.
Perhaps the best-recognised German bomber due to the distinctive, extensively glazed “greenhouse” nose of later versions.
The Nazis used it as the war progressed in a variety of roles on every front in the European theatre. It acted as a strategic bomber during the Battle of Britain. It served as a torpedo bomber in the Atlantic and Arctic. The Nazis also used it as a medium bomber and a transport aircraft on most fronts.
The bomber fared well until the Battle of Britain, when its weak defensive armament exposed itself. Nevertheless, it proved capable of sustaining heavy damage and remaining airborne.
