Info needed on Viterbo Airport in 1944

[harrison987]

Thanks for the reply guys...



Basically, I have an item that is specific to the Me109 that was liberated by Colonel Ejner J. Fulsgang on June 11, 1944. I don't recall what his rank was at that time, but he was an Army Aviator, and acted as an artillery spotter in Italy.

He removed this item from an Me109 that was abandoned on the airfield...so I am trying to narrow down what JG it "could" have been from.

Is there any possibility here?

TIA
Mike

[Larry deZeng]

Does it have to be from a JG "Me109"? The last unit at Viterbo that was equipped with Bf 109s was NAGr. 11.

L.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Quite impressive Larry

I never collected airfield information, but when seing your results begin to wonder if that was not a mistake of mine....

Cheers
Stig

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

Quite impressive Larry
I never collected airfield information, but when seing your results begin to wonder if that was not a mistake of mine....
Cheers
Stig

Thanks, Stig, but I think I bit off more than I can chew. I have about 4,300 airfields I'm working on and only about 1,300 are finished. The odds of my being around long enough to complete them all are not good. Very time-consuming work!

L.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hm Larry

Perhaps I did the right thing after all then....
Good luck with your chewing...., your results are impressive enough!!

Cheers
Stig

[harrison987]

The item is a KG13A Control Stick, 100% from an Me109 based on the electrical codes.

He wrote on it - Me109, Viterbo Airport, 11 June 1944

My guess is that it may be from an abandoned Me109 (derilict)...which means it "could" have been from any JG that was stationed there, even earlier in the year, no?

I guess I am not sure if the Germans got out of there quickly, leaving good machines behind...or whether there were a lot of wrecked aircraft from various units.

hmmmmmm...
Mike

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by harrison987

My guess is that it may be from an abandoned Me109 (derilict)...which means it "could" have been from any JG that was stationed there, even earlier in the year, no?
Mike

It needn't have been a JG, NAG 11 flew Bf 109s too. For the record there was one Bf 109 found at "Viterbo Satellite No. 2" and eight at "Viterbo Main Airfield" (Allied names). The machine at the satellite strip was "completely burnt out and disintegrated", the others were:

1. Bf 109 G-8, W.Nr. 710062, yellow 11, scrap
2. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 161744, burnt out
3. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 162202, yellow 8, scrap
4. Bf 109 G-8 trop. (A/Bo/Rei), W.Nr. 710100, yellow 15, completely stripped
5. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 160747, fuselage and port wing only, badly looted.
6. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 162060, white 8, fuselage only, stripped.
7. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 162158, "1 + 3 (yellow)", RW+DC, fuselage only.
8. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 161118, ace of spades on cowling, fuselage only, badly looted.

Someone with a Bf 109 database may be able to attribute more of these to given units but 3. is definitely from 3./NAG 11 while 1. and 4. are likely from that unit.

6. could have been a fighter, 8. clearly was from JG 53 and 7. is possibly "yellow 3 + I" of III./JG 53 (the only Bf 109 III. Gruppe in Italy at the time).

[harrison987]

Thanks Nick!

The grip is near mint...so the burned out one I could probably cross off...

Of course he could have been one of the culprits of the "looting"... ha ha...

The grip is the first thing to taken by looters, so with this one still remaining when he got there on the 11th...does the date coincide before or after the report on the date?

The story passed down was that being an Artillery observer, he flew over Viterbo, saw the abandoned aircraft, landed, and took the stick grip - but who knows how much of that is accurate.

Do you know of any photos that remain of these birds?

mike