Some enlarged and 'tweaked' photos of He 162s

[Karoband]

In this and the following weekly series of posts, I will be first examining the identities of the He 162s captured at Leck, using photographs to compare with information mainly found in Richard A. Franks, Airframe Album 13: The Heinkel He 162, (2018), and in Wolfgang Wollenweber's Thunder over the Reich, (Hikoki edition, 2014), especially referring to his diagram of the line-up on p. 138.

The capitulation of German forces in Germany and Denmark was effective as of 08:00 hours on the morning of 5 May 1945, but it took a few days for British forces to occupy all of the northern states of Germany. The British reached the perimeter of Flugplatz Leck on the evening of 6 May "and on the 8th took possession of the whole airfield", Franks, p. 16. Possibly on British instruction, moveable He 162s were lined up on both sides of the taxiway to Runway 11 (Wollenweber, p. 138) in preparation for a formal surrender the next day. In today's post, it is clear from the spit and polish of the officer's uniforms that they were waiting for the formal arrival of the British. According to captions on the backs of some photos, these pictures were taken on 9 May 1945.

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1748

1. Hptm. Heinz Künnecke, staffelkapitan of 1./JG 1 as of 1 May, checks his timepiece whilst walking down the taxiway at Leck. On each side, the twenty-two serviceable He 162s were lined up for surrender to the British. They had not been destroyed as ordered.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1749

2. Here, the Staffelkapitane of JG 1, as of 1 May 1945, wait to surrender. From left to right are: Hptm. Wolfgang Ludewig, 2./JG 1; Maj. Bernd Gallowitsch, 4./JG 1; Oblt. Emil Demuth, 3./JG 1; and Hptm. Künnecke, 1./JG 1. With them, to the right, was Ltn. Rudolf Schmidt, who had claimed a "Typhoon" on 4 May 1945 while flying an He 162.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1750

3. As the wait continued, Künnecke, Demuth and Ludewig conversed on the taxiway with nine He 162s lined up along the left side.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1751

4. In this photo, many of the He 162s on the right side can be seen. From left to right are: Künnecke, I. Gruppe Kommandeur Major Werner Zober, and Demuth. To the right are Ludewig and Gallowitsch.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1752

5. Joining the Gruppe are the staff officers of Stab/JG 1. From left to right: Zober, Kommodore Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld, Künnecke, Demuth, adjutant Hptm. Ekke-Eberhardt Reinbrecht, Hptm. Gerhard Strasen and Gallowitsch.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1753

6. This is a view of the line-up at the top far end of the right side. in all, twenty-two He 162s were arranged to impress the British. At least four other He 162s were found at Leck, not in the line-up, that were undergoing repairs.