eBAy: Captured german planes

[ouidjat]

Thanks Rudi,
I suppose the Me 262 is WNr.500226. A-1a. 'Weisse 4'. pictured at Dedelstorf ...
Regards,
Franck.


PS: Roger has been faster than me ... Or he started before

[ChristianK]

Thanks Roger and Franck, good spot

[ouidjat]

You're welcome Christian.

[jim norton]

hi,
yes, dedelsdorf - if all pictures (88, 190 and 262) were taken at the same location!
all the best
jim

[Simon Schatz]

Nothing interesting to see in the background of Ju 88 G-6, White E, but maybe the buildings help to identify the location.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Originally Posted by Simon Schatz

Nothing interesting to see in the background of Ju 88 G-6, White E, but maybe the buildings help to identify the location.

Hi Simon,

The building in the background is the "Flugleitung" of Fliegerhorst Dedelstorf, the picture of "White E" was cut on the right side just before the "control tower". See attached pictures. (The windows have been altered slightly at a later stage, but it's obviously the same building.)

"White A" and "White E" belonged to I./KG66 ("my" unit of interest). In April 1945, I./KG66 discovered some brand new Ju 88 G-6 nightfighters without fuel on a German airfield. They were quickly refuelled and "borrowed" for the rest of the war. With their 20 mm guns, these aircraft excelled at strafing ground targets ("Strassenjagd") and hence proved very popular with their crews. Together with some Ju 88 S-3s and Ju 188 D-2s/D-3s, "White A" and "White E" were part of a group of I./KG66 aircraft that landed at Dedelstorf on 8 May 1945. They had started very early that day from Stavanger-Sola in Norway in order to evacuate German soldiers from the Kurland pocket. (At least that was the intention, most crews had no interest in risking captivity by the Russians and decided to fly straight to Germany instead….) As the crews were already familiar with Dedelstorf (some had even girlfriends there) from a previous posting in September 1944 - March 1945, a considerable number decided to land there. With the exception of 2 pilots, all were immediately captured by the Americans (which is obviously were the pictures in this thread came from).

NB 1: The pictures of the wrecked He 111 Z ("Zwilling") and Go 242 earlier in this thread were also taken at Dedelstorf.

NB2: For those of you scrambling to Google Earth (try "Dedelstorfer Allee, Dedelstorf"): Fliegerhorst Dedelstorf survived the war relatively intact and postwar became a Bundeswehr Barracks (later with M-109 Self Propelled Houwitzers). In 1994 it became one of the first victims of the End of the Cold War when it was closed down. In 2018, this little gem of a prewar Fliegerhorst was completely destroyed - with the exception of the beautiful Kasino (thanks to the so-called "Denkmalschütz") - when someone bought the terrain and converted it into a private hunting ground…On Google Earth, only a shadow of its former self remains…

Best regards,

Marcel van Heijkop
I./KG66 Research

[Simon Schatz]

Hello Marcel,
thank you for the detailed answer!
Best regards,
Simon

[ChristianK]

Thank you very much indeed Marcel
Great info - may I ask what's your source for the story with the "borrowed" night fighters? Also for your allocation of the He 111 Z to Dedelstorf?


Cheers,
Christian

[jim norton]

Originally Posted by ChristianK

Thank you very much indeed Marcel
Great info - may I ask what's your source for the story with the "borrowed" night fighters? Also for your allocation of the He 111 Z to Dedelstorf?


Cheers,
Christian

yes, that would be interesting!

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Originally Posted by ChristianK

Thank you very much indeed Marcel
Great info - may I ask what's your source for the story with the "borrowed" night fighters? Also for your allocation of the He 111 Z to Dedelstorf?


Cheers,
Christian

Hi Christian (and Jim),

My sources for the "borrowed night fighters" are interviews with 2 former I./KG66 members (and they told it independent of each other). According to the Kennzeichen (aircraft codes) in my I./KG66 Flugbuch collection, apart from "White A" and "White E" there were at least 6 other different Ju 88 G-6's with I./KG66. PS Airfield in question was Neubrandenburg and as several Ju 88 G-6s had "D5+..P" in their previous Kennzeichen, they must have belonged to 6./NJG3 at a certain stage.

Regarding the He 111 Z: When I./KG66 arrived at Dedelstorf in mid September 1944, glider activity was still going on. The He 111 Z was possibly used for towing them in the air. One 1.Wart (Crew Chief) of 1./KG66 took pictures of the He 111 Z in flight and close to touchdown. These pictures are now in my collection. Unfortunately the weather conditions (sunshine) on that day prevented a clear picture of the aircraft code on the side. I'll have a look at the negatives to see if I can sharpen/enlarge them just a bit to make them readable again. Some time later the "Zwilling" was parked on the edge of the airfield and possibly camouflaged. The aircraft was blown up in April 1945 to prevent it from being captured by the Americans. A year later, the now former 1. Wart returned to Dedelstorf and took pictures of the wrecks of the He 111 Z and a Go 242. His pictures are remarkably similar to the ones offered on Ebay (see pictures a few pages back on this thread).

Hope this helps,

Marcel