Herbert Ihlefeld's He162?

[Johannes]

A serious question about a subject out of my league/field.

There in image of a He162 "Yellow 5" being loaded for transport to U.K ?, it has red arrows on the nose. Image is associated with Herbert Ihlefeld, aircraft is minus it's engine.

Can anybody confirm this, and/or have any additional information please?

Kind Regards

Johannes

[Karoband]

Hi Johannes,

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1952

That is a very good question as the markings of the He 162s of JG 1 are open to speculation. The current assumption is based on this photograph of the personal aircraft of Oblt. Karl Emil Demuth, who deZeng & Stankey say was Kommandeur of I./JG 1 from 15 January 1945 to 12 April 1945. As Major Werner Zober did not replace him until 1 May 1945 and it is Demuth's victory markings on the tail, it is assumed the makings are that at Gruppe level ... double digit in the 1x numerals and nose rings denoting commanding rank. In this case from the nose tip, the colours are red, white and black.

Based on this assumption, it is further assumed that those He 162s marked in the double digits in the 2x numerals represent aircraft of the Geschwaderstab. And the nose rings of commanding officers are from the tip, black, white and red.

For what it is worth, Wolfgang Wollenweber of 3./JG 1 on page 133 of his Thunder Over the Reich, (Crecy, 2012) captions an illustration as "Kommodore Herbert Ihlefeld flies an air defence mission in his 'White 23' in the Flensburg area."

May I ask what is your source for associating Ihlefeld with Yellow 5?

[Johannes]

Hi Karoband

Many thanks for your reply and comments.

You asked about the source, this was a photo purchased at a fair in Speyer, the photo allegedly came from Mrs Ihlefeld. The aircraft was being loaded onto a railway wagon for supposed transportation to England, but it was minus engine and wings, guess wings would need to be removed anyway and the engine is very prominent on the He162.

Kind Regards

Johannes

[Karoband]

Thanks, Johannes.

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1953

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1954

As far as I know, there was only one "Yellow 5" captured at Leck. Richard A. Franks, on page 22 of his Airframe Album 13: The Heinkel He 163/A Detailed Guide to the Luftwaffe's Volksjäger, (Valiant, 2018) captions this photograph as,
"The fuselage of He 162A-1 W/Nr.310003 'Yellow 5' of 3./JG 1 on a rail flatbed prior to shipment to the French Air Force facility at Nantenne; this airframe was never rebuilt to fly, being one of the A-1 series airframes used for spares to keep the A-2s flying."

I hesitate to dismiss the claim concerning Mrs. Ihlefeld because of the very unusual wappen that includes the Geschwader, Gruppe and Staffel emblems.

best regards,

Jim

[Johannes]

Hi Jim

Again thanks for your comments. Almost certainly it is fact this photo was Ihlefeld's, but I guess what we don't know is what his association with it was, or where he got it from.

Kind Regards

Johannes