Inscription on reverse of photo? Place name?

[Ian Jewison]

Hi all,

I have posted this in a few groups on Facebook, the reason being someone else posted the photo as he had just bought it....however that forced me to find it mine as I have had it 20 years or more and came with a Soldbuch to a fallen Beobachter.....the aircraft of course is not his.

On the reverse, I think it says:

"Ju 52 vom ruß.(ische) jäger im Brand geschossen. Bolzi"

Trying to work out if Bolzi (Bolsi?) is the place name....as I can't identify the unit the aircraft belonged to at the moment....

Thanks,
Ian

[edwest2]

Bolzi is the place name. And that is some highly stylized handwriting.

[Ian Jewison]

Originally Posted by edwest2

Bolzi is the place name. And that is some highly stylized handwriting.

Thanks for confirmation....But...where is it on a map


Will check Larry's airfield docs.....

[edwest2]

That will be the hard part. The location may have been a tiny farm village at the time. Place names sometimes changed and sometimes place names were Germanicized. Gdańsk in Poland was Danzig for Germans.

[VtwinVince]

Danzig was always Danzig to the Germans, as it was 98% ethnically German pre-war. Gdansk is a postwar, post ethnic-cleansing creation.

[ouidjat]

Maybe because it's Abol'tsy (Abolcy), 42km Northwest of Orcha in Bielorussia. (Obolzy in one loss report but doesn't concern your plane).
Not necessarily in Larry's airfield doc.
1/ Because no one said it was an airbase
2/ because there is no airfield doc for Russia in Larry's huge work!.. Which is a good reason to not find it.


Regards,
Franck.

[Rasmussen]

Another possibility would be that the name of the place was written by ear. What about "Goltzy" in Belarus?

Regards
Rasmussen

[edwest2]

Thank you for bringing up another good possibility.

[edwest2]

Originally Posted by VtwinVince

Danzig was always Danzig to the Germans, as it was 98% ethnically German pre-war. Gdansk is a postwar, post ethnic-cleansing creation.

I suggest looking at maps in Polish. Parts of Gdansk had to be rebuilt post-war, but it has been there for a very long time.

[Rasmussen]

Danzig has a very long German - Polish history ... from the Slavs in the 11th century, the German Crusaders in 13th and 14th century, as free town republic under Polish rule in 14th - 17th century, Prussian rule in 17th - 19th century (with 6 years as free town republic under Napoleonic rule), as Free town from 1920 - 1939 with 95% Germans, 3 % Polish and 2 % Kashub... and the known history since WW2.