Quote:
Originally Posted by Karoband
242. The following is my poor translation of the caption to this photograph found on page 132 of Manfred Jurleit's Strahljäger Me 262 im Einsatz, (1995) :
"Due to engine damage, this 'White 4' of II./JG 7 had to make an emergency landing at Perleberg on 15 April 1945. Obviously, it is a machine of III./EJG 2 which at this time had given its aircraft to those pilots of that unit who were fully trained."
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This story goes back (at least) to Profile Publications No. 130, The Messerschmitt Me 262 by J. Richard Smith (no date but "Price Two Shillings" so pre-1971).
On page 3 is Karoband No. 243, credited "Rumler via Hans Obert". The caption reads:
An Me 262 A-1a of Jagdgeschwader 7, photographed at Perleberg on 15th April 1945. The NCO pilot landed at the airfield to refuel after an interception sortie, not having enough left in his tanks to take him back to his home base at Parchim. One of his engines failed on take-off from Perleberg; icy slush had collected in the nacelle during his stopover. Both pilot and aircraft survived this mishap, and an engine change was carried out in about three hours. The mechanic on the right wearing a peaked field-cap is Herr Rumler, to whom we are grateful for making this photograph available.
So we have a veteran’s memory attached to a photograph but do we have any corroboration at all for that story? Unless I’m missing some critical setail, it seems far more likely that the photo was taken at the same time as the line up in Karoband No. 240. On 15 April, the US 8th Air Force attacked the German “fortress” of Royan in France although Marauders did raid multiple targets in Bavaria (a long way from Parchim and Perleberg) and III./EJG 2 put up six Me 262s in response. The Germans did log nine individual reconnaissance incursions by Allied aircraft over Northern Germany but the situation report mentions no jet operations there.
Note: The German sitreps are in Bundesarchiv RL 2-II/389 and RL 2-II/391 (both files are downloadable).