RAF Junkers Ju52 at Flensburg 1945

[Larry]

Junkers Ju52/3m, marked as Air Min 104 was at Flensburg in RAF Markings in 1945. What was its RAF serial number, as I think the AM 104 number was just to claim it, in case other Allied nations took it. Apparently the RAF had about 40 (?) Ju52s post war, coded VN... or VM... but what use did they make of them and what unit? Did they just go to storage?

Eleven of this number passed to BEA (or subsidiary Railway Air Services or Scottish Airways). Did Air Ministry 104 get passed to these Civil airlines too?

AM104 had previously been flown by Deutsche Luft Hansa as D-AUAV and had a Wk. Nr. 641038, which suggests a batch for the Luftwaffe, not a civil fit, but what do I know?

[RSwank]

The same photo shows up here: http://silverhawkauthor.com/axis-war...kers_1096.html

with caption:
"Junkers Ju52/3m, (Wk. Nr. 641038), Tante Ju, transport bomber, captured at Flensburg where it had been flown by Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH) as D-AUAV. The Ju 52 was flown to Farnborough on 18 July 1945. Designated RAF AM104, this aircraft was scrapped at Woodley in 1948. (RAF Photo)"

[Graham Boak]

War Prizes, by Phil Butler, from Midland Counties Publications, gives a fuller account. It flew the last DLH scheduled airline flight, from Malmo to Copenhagen and Flensburg, on the 3rd may. It therefore does seem likely to have been in civilian fit. I suggest that the Werke Nummer simply is an indication of wartime build. There may be more on this aspect in other works dedicated to the Ju.52 or DLH. War Prizes include a list of some 15 flights in British hands, the last being 23rd August when it went to farnborough for the German Aircraft Exhibition. It was noted at Farnborough 26th Jnuary 1946, before it was transported to the Miles factory at Woodley. The remains were donated to the Reading Sky Observers, a predecessor of Air Britain, for use as a clubhouse. It is presumed to have been scrapped after the closure of Miles Aircraft in 1947/48.

War Prizes also gives the history of each Ju.52 that did receive an RAF serial, with their varied histories often being very limited indeed. The book of course deals with much, much more.

[Nick Beale]

The Ju 52 Archiv gives this machine as W.Nr. 641038, a Ju 52/3mg14e produced by Amiot and:

LUFTHANSA "Julius Nimis" am 20.03.1944 , 03.05.1945 nach England übertragen, wurde AM104 UK Air Ministry , ab Mitte 1946 zu Miles Aircraft und dort 1948 verschrottet.

= With Lufthansa as "Julius Nimis" on 20 March 1944. Taken to England on 3 May 1945, became Air Ministry AM 104. With Miles Aircraft scrapped there in 1948.

[Larry]

Great Thanks

I must consult with the War Prizes Book!