[David E. Brown]

HI Jim,

Not at all. I believe that your suggestion makes the most sense given the data available. The photo of the machine on page 145 of Dan's book was definitely taken at Innsbruck-Reichenau looking towards the southeast across the river. I compared some other images of the site and they match what is seen in the photo.

It is interesting that in all the extant photos of Me 262s at München-Riem I do not recall seeing any aircraft that could be identified as being associated with EJG 2. But there were at nearby Brunnthal, e.g. White 9, WNr.111617; and White 2, WNr.170071. Apparently only two aircraft made it to Innsbruck-Reichenau and both from III./EJG 2: White 1, WNr.170047 (from where?), and White 8, above (from Brunnthal). As far as I know, the identified aircraft at Innsbruck-Hötting are all JV 44 machines plus at least one KG 51 kite, and where we have visible werknummern appear on the 26 April 1945 list. Of course there could be others that were not with the unit; for example those aircraft being "converted" at the DLH facilities. Perhaps a couple of those were airworthy and made it out ahead of M-R's capture.

Anyway, your suggestion makes the most sense given the evidence we have. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

David