BF 109G-10 77022. New gen

[veltro]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Ferdinando, you're absolutely right, I know very well the cost of the space in a publication and how much you have to work to get as much as possible between data and photos without affecting the text and at the same time limiting costs as much as possible.. Among other things, disgracefully, I am also chief editor of a journal of historical studies.

Glad to know that we agree on that and, BTW, all my best wishes for your activity of giving publishing space to history studies.

Originally Posted by Freddy

It is also true that too much attention has been put to the place where the picture was taken but there was a hope that this would, at least a little, help in identifying the unit.

In reality I didn't say that, I said that were focusing too much on an area where we didn't have precise proofs of Golding's presence. I however take as a good point the photo captioned as "Udine", and would be more than happy to verify that the "770 22x" was found in or around there, as it would at least be coherent to the place where we know NAGr.11 was based...

Originally Posted by Freddy

In the background, behind the plane and just over the white 3, I think I can glimpse something like another plane, but I could be wrong.
It is clear too, but this is irrelevant, that this photo was taken at a later time than the other because the panel to the right of "white 3" had been removed. (Ferdinando, it is the same plane.)

I already said in a previous post of this thread that after further examination I agreed with Marc that the two front and rear photographs showed the same aircraft. However, I do not understand why you are referring to the "770 22x" as "white 3", while it is clear that it is a "white 7"...



The smaller number style and placement is perfectly coherent with the one used by NAGr.11, as shown in other photographs of this unit's aircraft.

Hope this helps.

[Nick Beale]

Could the damage shown in Ferdinando's close-up view possibly have been inflicted with a pickaxe or similar, rather than gunfire or shrapnel?

[veltro]

Definitely. Especially when comparing the rear-view photo with the frontal one, where the same area has been completely removed (looted would be the right word?) being clearly the subject of some "souvenir hunter" or of some civilian living in the area, as scrap metal was very valuable at the time and I have more than one reports of entire aicraft being completely dismantled by civilians whose later sold the metal or used it to make pots, pans as well as roofs for henhouses or the like ...

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by veltro

Definitely. Especially when comparing the rear-view photo with the frontal one, where the same area has been completely removed (looted would be the right word?) being clearly the subject of some "souvenir hunter" or of some civilian living in the area, as scrap metal was very valuable at the time and I have more than one reports of entire aicraft being completely dismantled by civilians whose later sold the metal or used it to make pots, pans as well as roofs for henhouses or the like ...

On this point I don't agree. If I need to use a lever to unhinge the door (even if I think it was easily removable with a simple screwdriver) I would have inserted it in one of the many other smaller holes as this would allow me to apply more power.
I think, instead, that those three mechanics had been sent just to remove from the wreckage those parts still usable or of special interest and to do this they could have removed the panel.

[veltro]

Which door? In that area there were no doors, only a couple of small round (or oval in case of the upper one) fuselage hatches, whereas the area removed is not a panel, but a whole section of the fuselage...

Also, I think we should not apply too much of hindsight logic in case of abandoned, looted or rotten aircraft, because these were subject to the most various experiences, from "souvenir hunters" to metal scrappers, to simply vandalic issues done both by civilian and military alike (take a look at a video on-line showing US troops brutalizing the poor remains of a Bf 109 with hammers, hatchets, and even a baseball bat!).

Such planes, which today for us are precious remains of historical importance, at the time were simply pieces of metal emblazoned with enemy insignia, often a perfect target to let off some steam for people who until a few days or weeks before had risked their lives or lost friends fighting against them or had suffered under them.

In the best cases, those items were simply seen as a way to find some useful or profitable use and as a sort of compensation for the damages (either moral or material, or both) sustained.

IMHO, of course.