[Adriano Baumgartner]

Hello Tim O.

I am not a miltary pilot, rather an ex-civilian one and will try to put my own opinions here, not based on former Flugbuchs entries, etc. However, since each Flubuch was written by its owner and it seems there was NO special rule to restrain using the owner's own words and commentaries.
Here we go:
1-If the flight was carried out in winter time, in Russia, we can only guess the kind of weather this crewman had to fight or go through. With 2 bombs of 250Kg + a lot of fuel, and ammunition for the guns and machine guns (of a Bf 110 E, for example), the "Bird" would be almost "topped", I mean, very near the maximum take-off weight. If you add the acumulation of ice, flying through low and freezing clouds; this guy certainly had a real problem to fight with the controls and choose therefore to jettison the bombs and return back to base (or land on an alternative base). I remember Reading on Wilhelm Johnen book about a former Bf 110 night-fighter pilot who crashed just after take-off on a similar cold and winter night, when the full loaded night-fighter suffered from icing and lost control. Off course, the pilot may have had lost control (spatial disorientation) or another failure (of his artificial horizont, for instance). Another famous Bf 109 ace lost control, in late 1944, while flying through cloud and hit the deck. There are quite a large number of this kind of "fights with the Weather", and those who were (or are) Military and Civilian pilots here may have more comments and "lessons" from Mother Earth, just to remember us, how small we are...and how much we do must trust the instruments while flying on IMC and bad WX.
2- Google Translator gave me: 'Two lancers taken away' for this one. Well, ZG 1 flew, from memory some Bf 110 equipped with 37mm gun. This could be related to his machine being stripped out of one or two guns (do not know); or to the pilot being hit by Flak and loosing one or two antenas (FuG16?)? Do you have more on the second entry to enlight us? Was his machine hit? Maybe the crew HIT something on the ground...two tanks for example...hence the expression. "Two lancers taken away".

We must remember that each Flugbuch or RAF Logbook was signed by the Commanding Officer (of the Squadron) or Staffelkapitän and even Gruppenkommandeur, so if one wrote silly things, this should have been informed verbally (as far as I understand)!

Again, I do apologize for expressing my own opinions about the incredible work you are doing (and it looks very interesting to read in the futur). I passed throughout the same process Reading, re-reading and identifying the slang of a Brazilian born RFC and WW1 RAF pilot, Captain Gordon Fox Rule, DFC, CdG* on his 2 Army Books 425 (Pilot's Log Books). I can assure you, pilots do express their own vivid memories on those Logbooks/Flugbuchs in their own words...

I do owe you a Picture, which I will send as promissed. Sorry for the long delay.

Adriano B.