Dear Mike,

I spoke with the Parker's grandson. His grandfather is still living! Several years ago I sent Myron a package and it was returned with "Not here" written on it. I presumed he died. When I located his grandson, he said Myron was living with him. He is extremely hard of hearing and can barely speak. I shouted over the telephone if anyone filmed Padell's flight in the Do335. He eventually mumbled no. It was impossible to obtain any further information because of his hearing deficit and possibly the frailty of old age.

The runways at Oberphaffenhofen were damaged by allied bombing. Most of craters were filled in, but the Do335s could not take off with a full load of fuel because of the field conditions. Therefore, each aircraft was ferried with enough fuel to Oberweisenfeld, to prepare for the long ferry flight to Cherbourg.

The first ferry flight was not photographed because, as Parker said, he told Padell to leave the Mustangs "in the dust". I know nothing about the second ferry flight. I should have inquired at the time, if it also was escorted by Mustangs?

No doubt the Mustang pilots were angry with Padell leaving them behind and felt embarassed. They may have launched a protest resulting in Padell faithfully obeying orders on the second ferry flight? I do not know if any Mustangs were involved in escorting the second aircraft to Cherbourg--perhaps not. ATI had full trust in Padell; they realized the German workers took great pride in their workmanship and would never sabotage the Do335 aircraft. This is my impresssion when interviewing Parker.

Regarding the two-seat Do335. Myron and his ADS men never worked on this aircraft--only the two single-seat aircraft. I surmise that after Parker and his men left the project, the civil Dornier factory workers were proficient to fully-restore this aircraft to flyable condition. As mentioned above, they were extremely proud in their involvement with the original Do335 aircraft production.

A Luftwafe colonel by the name of Oberst Edgar Petersen, who spoke excellent English, worked with Parker and his men, plus the factory workers, to restore the two Do335s. Possibly, he may have continued in charge of restoring the two-seater after the ADS men left?

I have no knowledge of when the cine/movie film was taken. Sorry.

Several books on the D0335 have appeared. Unfortunately, my library will not be accessible until 22 June. I will post on this thread information to correct misleading photo captions. One of the books has a photo of Sgt. Henry Hodler, which the author incorrectly states is Hans Padell. And another has a photo of Parker and Oberst Peterson working on a Do335, information that is missing in the caption.

Norman Malayney