W.Nr. of Me 262 flown by Ofw. Willi Banzhaff

[JonOlsen88]

Excellent information, Adriano! You have helped explain the discrepancy with the dates.

So, perhaps Banzhaff wasn't actually shot down by J.B. Wray after all. To summarize the data which Adriano, Jim, and Michel have kindly contributed, it appears Banzhaff was killed on Nov. 4th in an Me 262 with W.Nr. 110483. Assuming these details are accurate, the Me 262 J.B. Wray shot at (and may or may not have destroyed) on November 3rd was most likely not flown by Banzhaff since he would have died the next day. And the Me 262 that Wray destroyed on Nov. 4th (the same day as Banzhaff's death) likewise couldn't have been Banzhaff's since he didn't crash at Rheine, but near Hittfeld.

This raises another question. If the Me 262 that Wray badly damaged or possibly destroyed on Nov. 3rd wasn't Banzhaff's, whose was it? And can we determine the W.Nr.? I'm especially curious because Wray specifically remembers that the Me 262 he shot on Nov. 3rd was "camouflaged in blue and grey," and I'd like to know if early production Me 262's from the 110*** series were painted in greys.

Does anyone have a different interpretation of events? I'm all ears!

Best regards,

Jon