Ludwig Nitsch 38 "kills"...?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hans

I have my own theory about how these 38 'claims' came about. Nothing exiting just a human reflection on why people tell white lies, not knowing or realizing they will pop up in historical circumstances later.

In 1945 he was quite young (18 years sounds a little too young but may perhaps indicate when he joined the Luftwaffe?). A little odd he stayed for 8 months with an advanced fighter pilot school like JG 108 and never filtered through any of the Ergänzungsunits available or sent quicker to a frontline unit, who were constantly screaming for more pilots, which may indicate he was not the "born" fighter type. Anyway the reputed three claims for B-17s must have been made while with this unit since there is no way they can have been scored with JG 54. Somehow they feel very unlikely to have happened.

He must anyway have been a very inexperienced pilot when arriving to JG 54. It feels extremely unlikely that this youngster would all of a sudden start to outshine the 'veterans'. He may have made a few claims, but going from nothing to suddenly make an average claim of some 3-4 per week is at least to me simply not believable.

I suggest you contact Andrew Arthy (send him a PM) and ask if he has got anything on Nitsch. He is deep into research with regard to the Kurland/Courland pocket.

Cheers
Stig

[Andrei Demjanko]

Very interesting thread! I can add that JG 54 claimed quite a number of victories on several days in 1945. These are not mentioned in any known [to me] claim lists. For example:
17 February 1945 - 15 victory claims
21 February 1945 - 25 victory claims
There were also days when no operations were flown at all.
So it is quite possible that Nitsch could claim a number of victories.

[sveahk]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

In 1945 he was quite young (18 years sounds a little too young but may perhaps indicate when he joined the Luftwaffe?).
Cheers
Stig

According to the Swedish "Centralregistret", naming all the German POWs in Sweden, Ludwig Nitsch was born in Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim 20 June 1920.

Regards Hans K

[sveahk]

Obviously there's a swedish book about the FW 190 Nitsch flew to Sweden - and now restored has returned to Sweden. If I have understood it right, two of the pilots who flew this specific plane during the war, Franz Eisenach and "our" Ludwig Nitsch, are portrayed in the book.

It's called "En svensk Focke-Wulf 190 : En dramatisk svensk-tysk flyghistoria" (A swedish Focke-Wulf 190: A dramatic swedish-german flight history) and is written by Christer Bergström.

I haven't read the book but would be most interested to hear if somebody has - and especially if Nitschs "38 kills" are mentioned in the book...!?

https://vaktelforlag.se/produkt/en-s...-flyghistoria/

[Stig Jarlevik]

Published three months ago....

No I have not bought it either.

Cheers
Stig

[Christer Engdahl]

Originally Posted by sveahk

Obviously there's a swedish book about the FW 190 Nitsch flew to Sweden - and now restored has returned to Sweden.

As I understand it, the original "Nitsch Fw-190" was returned to Russia a while after the wars end. The one which recently "returned" to Sweden is a new build by FlugWerk which has been painted to represent the "Nitsch Fw-190".

[Mikael Olrog]

Just ordered the book to see how it handles the issue of the 38 victories.

The aircraft is said to contain parts of Nitsches Fw 190 that was left behind in Sweden. But I guess the story will be told in the book! :-)

[Christer Engdahl]

Originally Posted by Christer Engdahl

As I understand it, the original "Nitsch Fw-190" was returned to Russia a while after the wars end.

Today, I had a conversation on this subject. I can't find my source for the quoted statement and there is also the possibility that the original was not returned to Russia but was scrapped in Sweden. Sorry for any confusion.

Originally Posted by Mikael Olrog

Just ordered the book ...

Mikael, it probably won't shed any light on the above confusion but did you get the book?

[edwest2]

More information:


http://www.forcedlandingcollection.s...141-Fw190.html
https://luftwaffeinprofile.se/Fw%20190%20Nitsch.html
https://www.flugrevue.de/klassiker/f...-eingetroffen/




Best,
Ed

[Christer Engdahl]

Originally Posted by Christer Engdahl

Today, I had a conversation on this subject. I can't find my source for the quoted statement and there is also the possibility that the original was not returned to Russia but was scrapped in Sweden. Sorry for any confusion.

I went to the library and had a look in Bo Widfeldts "Tyska nödlandare 1939 - 1945" (German forced landings 1939 - 1945). This book was most likely the source of the statement that the aircraft had been returned to Russia.

Nitsch took off from Windau (Ventspils) in Latvia which is the probable cause of the claim for the aircraft from Russia. According to the book, on page 166, it is stated that "the aircraft was recovered to Bulltofta (at the time, a Swedish military airbase) and the wreck was handed over to soviet personnel on November 8, 1945".