Ar 234, F1 + AS Friedrich Bruchlos, KG 76

[Heuser]

Gentlemen,

as Brian Baines mentioned, there are several reports about the crash and recovery of Fw. Bruchlos' Arado. There's an interesting report in a local Newspaper (dating from 10.01.1976) about the circumstances of the loss and the recovery of this a/c. Three eyewitnesses of the crash mentioned, that this aircraft (already smoking = damaged by AAA, as mentioned in German sources), was finally shot down by "...three or four US fighters...", and crashed immediately thereafter. There was a big crater in a valley called "Fockenbachtal", and parts of a/c and pilot were found. Mentioned crater was planished soon, until Werner Girbig was able to locate the crashplace and identify the pilot, who was still listed as MIA, in 1975.

U.S. ground-troops arrived the area of Niederbreitbach only a few days later after ther crash in March 1945, so the crashplace was recognizable.

Hope this helps, best Regards

Heuser