Meissler's (7./JG52) story and interrogation report

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

Hello, friends!

Well-known story:
28.5.43 Uffz Herbert Meissler (7./JG52) in Hartmann's Bf109G-4 14997 made a force landing and became a POW. He return to Germany after the war. From his words, his Bf109 had a technical troubles, nothing about battle damages.
The Soviet version was that Bf109 was damaged in dogfight and than forced by 3 Yak-1 to landing on the Soviet side. But after Meissler's postwar story this version was blamed as propaganda.

But ... just read the interrogation report in TsAMO. Meissler told that his Bf109 mission was escort of "Stuka" formation. Just before the target area (Krymskaya) the formation was attacked by 8 Yaks. One of the Yaks hit Meissler's Bf109's engine by cannon fire. Meisler made an attempt to escape to the West, but was tied by 3 Yaks [812.IAP] and forced to land. His hope was to escape [by feet] after the landing, but Yaks remained in area and had opened a fire, then he tried to escape.

So his postwar version "upgraded" the reality a bit. Sadly, his version appeared even in reputable B.Barbas's volume about III./JG52.

Best regards,
Andrey