Late-war Ju 290A-5s in the Munich area

[RolandF]

Two Ju 290A-5 are depicted on post-war photographs of Munich-Riem scrapyard respectively Neubiberg/Hofolding forest in the vicinity of Munich.
One Ju 290A-5 can be seen dumped behind Do 335A-05 in Wings of the Black Cross 4 p. 23. Visible is the civil registration "D-A..." (as to be expected...) and maybe letters "I" or "T" on the right wing. Camo looks mostly faded revealing the code. At the left tailfin Me 262 A-1 "Yellow 3 + I " from III./KG(J)54 - well-known with its blue/white chequered tailband can be spotted.

The Ju 290 appears also on other pics in "Götterdämmerung" p. 88 being dumped behind JV 44´s Me 262B-1a trainer "White S". The plane is heavilily weathered with a civil paintshop shining thorough; especially the red tailfin band with the white disc with supraposed swastika is clearly evident beneath a faded camouflage. The photo in Smith/Creek: Me 262 Vol 4 p. 712 depicts the rear edge of the Ju 290´s tailfin. It can be assumed that the camo is a temporary black night camo peeling off heavily.
On the fuselage the letters "..IT." can be spotted beneath the paint.
A further Ju 290A can be seen in "WotBC4" on a scrapyard close to Munich (= Neubiberg/Hofolding forest) behind Me 262A-1a W.Nr. 111685 9K + FH. The identity of being a 290 is not quite certain, but the camo is very bright, maybe the civil Lufthansa grey.
Most likey the first Ju 290 is either W.Nr. 290110174 D-AITP "Sachsen" or W.Nr. 290110176 D-AITQ "Preussen" being reported damaged in Riem in 27.12.1944 (crash-landed) resp. 07.04.1945 (strafed).
Can somebody verify the true identity of those Ju 290s? The late-war 290´s of the Munich area have some interesting history to offer connected with not quite certain rescue operations concerning Franco´s Spain.
Thx in advance.

Regards

Roland

[David E. Brown]

Hi Roland,

Here is what I have in my files on these well-photographed aircraft:

WNr.900176
Ju 290 A-5
LUFTWAFFE: KR+LG (later 9V+GH of FAGr.5) - Dec.43 to Sep.44.
LUFTHANSA: D-AITQ - Oct. 44 to Apr.45, named 'Preussen'. Damaged on landing at Munich, not repaired and later dragged to the aircraft dump at the NE corner of the München-Riem airfield. Scrapped.

WNr.900191
Ju 290 A-7
LUFTWAFFE: KR+LV (later 9V+AB of FAGr.5)- Apr.44 to Sep.44 when damaged during air raid at Brunnthal (south of Neubiberg) where its remains were discovered in April 1945. Scrapped.

I would think that there is more information out there regarding their respective histories.

Cheers,

David

[edNorth]

David,

The W.Nr´s should read 290 011xxxx (i.e. 2900110176 and 2900110191 respectevely). The prefix (abowe) has already been proved by actual surviving data plate from another Ju 290.

Best regards
ed

[David E. Brown]

Thanks Ed,

I have the information you kindly provided, but foolishly used shorthand instead in my original post. Thanks for the reminder.

David

[RolandF]

Thanks for your response, especially about the fact that the 2nd plane is indeed a Ju 290.

Does somebody know abything about the respective camouflage, especially from D-AITQ? This one seems to have an interesting history, from FAGr. 5 to Lufthansa and ending at Riem with a night camo applied?

Afaik "Preussen" made flights to Spain almost until the end preparing for the evacuation of Nazi VIPs and supplying important goods for the final war effort. Is there any info available?

Regards

Roland