Hurricane shot down by Obgfr. Rüttger at Lengerich near Belgium Frontier 39/40

[Larry Hickey]

I'm trying to identify the date, location and circumstances of the shoot-down of a British Hurricane reported to have come down at Lengerich near the frontier with Belgium probably during the winter of 39/40. The German pilot was reported to be an "Obgefr. Rüttger." This relates to photos in a just-completed auction on eBay (#6242060777). I don't find any "Lengerich" or "Obgefr. Rüttger" listed in the index of "Fledgling Eagies" by Chris Shore et.al. Anyone have anything on this incident? I'm assuming the winter of 1939-40 due to the trees without leaves in the background.

Thanx,

[robert_schulte]

Larry,
there is no city Lengerich near the Belgian border, but 2 cities Lengerich, which are close together near the Netherlands.
Looking at the picture I am almost sure about the location, it is the castle "Haus Marck" near Lengerich, about 15 km southwest of the city of Osnabrueck and about 30 km northeast of Muenster. That location is about a 20-minutes drive from my home and I did several walks there in the last years. See the map cut-outs below.
Hope this helps
Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Robert,

Thanks for your very helpful comments. This at least establishes the location of the incident; now we have to figure out who "Obgfr Rüttger" is. Someone contacted me that the only fighter pilot with that last name was with 3./JG 52, and his first victories were not over Belgium or the western part of Germany. So this is still all a mystery. The original information comes from a photo album from the 39-40 time period, so this is probably from the "Phoney War" period, but perhaps some other pilot got the victory.

Any further help from anyone would be appreciated.

[robert_schulte]

Larry,
just a question, how do You know about the name Rüttger? Is it written in (block) letters somewhere in the album or is it perhaps written in Sütterlin? Then, there might be a case of mis-spelling. If it is in Sütterlin, could you post a scan of the name?
Regards
Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Robert,

I haven't actually seen the name printed; I'm relying on the info from the eBay seller. I did not win the auction, so I have no way to check this.

[rob van den nieuwendijk]

Hello Larry,

There was a Feldwebel Karl Rüttger with 3./JG 52 in 1939/1941 - same pilot? He was shot down in the East and taken POW by the Russians on 1 July 42 - he returned to Germany after the war!!!

Best wishes,
Rob

[robert_schulte]

Larry,
in case of a typo or mis-spelling: Rüttgers is much more common as the name without an S.
Regards
Robert