Seeking photos of FL Bf109E of Uffz Max Reiss (8./JG52) down intact near Deal, Kent, on 25.7.40

[edwest]

Larry,


Regarding the Isle of Wight, the last two sentences of this excerpt may be be useful:

"During the course of the battle a Hurricane flown by Pilot Officer Parrott of 145 squadron attacked a Ju 87 of 4 Staffel, Stukageschwader 77, and damaged it so severely that it just managed to reach the Island and crash land at the top of St Lawrence Shute. Of the two man crew, the pilot was badly wounded and died shortly after the aircraft came down but the gunner survived and was taken prisoner. The dive bomber became the first German aircraft to be shot down on the Isle of Wight and was featured at great length in the local press. There is an excellent picture picture of this Stuka in Adrian Searle's book The Isle of Wight at War 1939 - 1945."



Ed

[Clint Mitchell]

A possible avenue of investigation Larry? The Isle of Wight Local Newspaper Archives

[Larry Hickey]

Ed,

Thanks for your continuing efforts to help us solve these mysteries. The Ju87B, S2+LM Uffz Fritz Pittroff POW, down 8.8.40, actually is a well-known crash for which I have several photos in the DB. I also have a distance shot of this a/c in flight before it was shot down. This will almost certainly be one of our color profile a/c. IIRC, this is the only relatively intact Luft a/c down on the I.O.W. for which good photos exist.

Besides the Hansen crash, another Bf109 that came down on the IOW during the BoB for which no photos exist that I know of at the crash site was Y6+- of 6./JG27, Oblt. Julius Neumann POW 8.18.40 in W.Nr. 1455. This is a strong candidate for a color profile if I can locate photos for the artist to work from.

The A.1.G Report on his crash says:
"2. Me. 109d. Crashed near Ventner, I.O.W. on 18.8.40. Landed on fire following fighter action. Engine, cockpit and starboard wing burnt out. Markings 6+ -- (horizontal line); (6 and horizontal line yellow, outlined in black.) Werknummer 1455 above that 1111, all on fin..."

I interpret the "1111" as 4 victory tabs placed directly above the W.Nr. There is a well-known double exposure image of what could be this a/c with Neumann and another pilot, showing 3 victory tabs in black on the fin in the location described, but no W.Nr. is visible, so this is probably not Yellow 6. Neumann only had two reported victories as of the time of his capture, so he may well not have been flying his normal a/c on the day he was shot down. He is known to have flown Y3+- during the WC (FC), but this 109 was probably out of action due to a crack up. Whose a/c he could have been flying is a bit problematic, as 6./JG27 was not a high scoring unit in 1940, and only one pilot is known to have had as many as three victories recorded by 18.8.40, and this was Fw. Hans Witzel. This could be the person in the photo described above. Surviving German records record no 6 Staffel pilot with 4 victories as of that date.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Clint,

Excellent idea. I don't have the time to go through these right now, but if anyone would take the time and report the results, this would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

[edwest]

To all,


An excerpt from an interview with Julius Neumann that may be of interest to others joining the hunt:

"Talks a lot about his forced landing on the Isle of Wight.
That day he flew Nr 6 because his normal plane had 2 hits 3 days before.
An artist from the island has painted the landing of the 109. He knew exactly where Mr Neumann came down on the 18th August 1940.


"What time of the day did you come down?
13:25 exactly ( that was his answer)
The logbook 14:45 and the start was 11:45.
James, you took some copies of the flight book. (I don’t know, if the times are correct.)


"What happened to the wreck?
I saw it burning when I was taken away.
2 home guards came up to me – elderly men and asked me, if I had any souvenirs.
I didn’t come here to bring those."






Ed

[Clint Mitchell]

Originally Posted by Larry Hickey

The EoE Photo DB collection contains somewhere around a thousand images of German a/c down in Britain during 1940, and there are few photos known to exist that are not in our collection. Moreover, from German sources, we often have photos of the German planes, known to have crashed, prior to their loss on operations over Britain. These came from the personal collections of several of the best known researchers in the field, some of whom have spent fifty or more years acquiring and assembling this material. However, from time to time photos previously unknown to us have surfaced, almost always from private collections, and these are what we're mainly looking for.

Larry, will all of these photos be published in the EOE volumes?

Thanks

[Larry Hickey]

Clint,

I'm planning to publish in very rough numbers about 10-15,000 photos in the EoE book series, including most of our useful Luftwaffe collection. At present, we have over 36,000 in our photo DB, and many thousands of more awaiting processing into the DB. In some squadrons we have photos of 50% or more off the planes that flew in the unit during the 1939-40 time period.

Regards,

[Clint Mitchell]

Thanks for the info, looking forward to seeing the books.

[edwest]

Larry,


From a practical, economical and research related perspective, the number of photos you have from the period staggers me. And speaking from a profit making perspective about unpublished images for which no room may be found, nothing makes me want to buy a Luftwaffe publication quicker than the words "unpublished photos." Perhaps in order to further fund additional planned volumes, those other, properly documented photos could be published in a Luftwaffe im Focus or Wings of the Black Cross format in between these volumes. I suggest Jerry Crandall at Eagle Editions as a possible collaborator in this idea. That is, if either of you are interested of course.


Regards,
Ed