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Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the German Luftwaffe and the Air Forces of its Allies. |
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#21
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Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder
Hi guys
This is what I have found concerning the circumstances of his death on 18 July 1944: according to Boehme's account based on the III./ZG 26 unit diary he took off in Me 262 S6 "VI + AK" (W.Nr. 130 011) against enemy bomber formations during which he made contact with 15 enemy fighters and was subsequently shot down in the vicinity of Lechfeld near Kaufering in Oberbayern. He baled out but his parachute failed to deploy properly and he fell to his death. However, several members of EKdo 262 including Horst Geyer, Helmut Lennartz, Hans-Günther Müller and Viktor Preusker claim that he did not engage the enemy and that his death was due to a technical malfunction of his aircraft. It appears that the exact causes of his death will remain somewhat of a mystery. Horrido! Leo |
#22
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Re: Hptm. Werner Thierfelder - Gruppenkommandeur II./ZG 26 ?
Leo - do You know, are there any USAAF fighter claims over Me262 on that day?
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Went to war. |
#23
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Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder
Hello Evgeny
The only source that I was able to find concerning USAAF claims against Me 262 jet fighters lists the first American claim as having occurred on 28 August 1944. The cause for the loss of Thierfelder appears to be rather uncertain with the III./ZG 26 unit diary stating that it was due to aerial combat with 15 enemy fighters while several members of EKdo 262 state it to have been due to a technical malfunction, including Leutnant Viktor Preusker who I have read claimed that he could remember that the cause of the crash was the detachment of the stator rings on both engines. On the other hand Dan O'Connell states that the loss could have been due to damage caused by return fire from the bombers that Thierfelder was to have engaged... Much speculation but little in the way of hard evidence. I sort of lean to the possibility of a technical malfunction in light that there is no evidence from American sources of a Me 262 having been shot down that day. What do you think? http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media...100315-020.pdf Horrido! Leo |
#24
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Re: Hptm. Werner Thierfelder - Gruppenkommandeur II./ZG 26 ?
Hello Leo
Is there the same doc concerning losses of Ar234 to Spits ?? Remi |
#25
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Ar 234 Losses
Hello Remi
My apologies for not having seen your post until now. I really do not have much information that I can add regarding Ar 234 losses to Spitfire fighters. The only claims that I am aware of are: 2 March 1945: F/Lt Dennis Reid of 41 Sqn, RAF 12 April 1945: F/Lt Tony Gaze and F/Lt Derek Rake of 41 Sqn, RAF share in the destruction of an Ar 234 2 May 1945: P/O Desmond Watkins, F/Sgt André Kicq, F/O Albert Van Eeckhoudt and F/Lt Patrick Bangerter of 350 Sqn, RAF all share in the destruction of an Ar 234 Note that all claims appear to have been recorded with Griffon engined Spitfire fighters. I hope that this helps. Horrido! Leo |
#26
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Re: Hptm. Werner Thierfelder - Gruppenkommandeur II./ZG 26 ?
Thierfelder was also involved in another 262 crash, though he appears to have escaped unhurt - Me 262 (V5), 0005, THIERFELDER, Hptm. Werner, , , , Erprob.Kdo. 262, , PC+UE, PC+UE, , 01-Feb-44, Crashed., , Lfl.Reich, BA-MA Signatur RL 2 III/778, Flzg.-Unfälle und Verluste bei Schulen und usw., p.13; BA-MA Signatur RL 2 III/784, p.41; BA-MA Signatur RL 2 III/780, Flzg.-Unfälle und Verluste bei Schulen und usw., p.5, , Winkel, 100%, H, , ,
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