[Wast1991]

Hello everyone,

my name is Sebastian. I registered here because i am trying to find out something about a family member of mine that got lost during world war two.

I am looking for informations about a FW 190 fighter, that got lost in Latvia around the 4th of August 1944. The 19 year old pilot was my great uncle. His name was Paul-Heinz Friebel, his rank was "Oberfähnrich".

As far as i know, the serial number of the plane was 560208 and some documents i found say that it was an A8 version.

My great uncle was member of the 1. Gruppe, I. Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 54.

His brother (my grandfather) is now 90 years old and he never found out what happened to Paul-Heinz. So right now i am doing research on this case and i really hope, you can help me. It would be great to let my grandfather know about his brothers fate.

And this is, where all of you might help:

I need to find out, in which area he got lost. Or any informations about his unit. Maybe there is something like a war diary that recorded all battles and involved pilots? Or maybe some members of his unit are still alive? This summer i will take a trip to Latvia and try to find out more but before that, i need to collect as much informations as possible.

So, if anyone of you knows something or somebody that could help, i would be so grateful! I already figured out, that there are a lot of professional collectors and historians on this board so maybe there is a chance to find out more.

As far as i know, there are people that are also doing research on lost planes in Latvia. One of them found another FW 190 wreck near the town of Ergli. If anybody knows somebody that is also looking for wrecks in Latvia, please tell me. Every information could help.

Thank you very much in advance. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Best regards

Sebastian