Captured Boston A/c used for Recce flights over the UK ?

[Alex Smart]

Hi,

I see on the LEMB website that there is mention in a book that the Luftwaffe used a captured Boston a/c to fly recce flights over English airports.

Has anyone greater details of this/these flight(s) and which Luftwaffe unit it was that used the boston ???

The luftwaffe must have has some access to French bostons and at least some from the Russian Front. I think I read on a Rumanian site that even they had one under test following its capture ( in Rumanian markings ?).

Thanks

Alex

[shooshoobaby]

Alex - go to http://b26marauder.com
There is a picture in the gallery of the B - 26 in Luftwaffe markings used for these recon flights.
Mike

[George Hopp]

Alex - go to http://b26marauder.com
There is a picture in the gallery of the B - 26 in Luftwaffe markings used for these recon flights.

I looked at the site you mentioned, but did not see any narrative on the fact that it WAS used for recce over the UK. Am I missing something? I ask because the initial posting specified the A-20 and not the B-26.

[Dénes Bernád]

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

I think I read on a Rumanian site that even they had one under test following its capture ( in Rumanian markings ?)

Yes, you're correct. There was at least one ex-Soviet 'Boston' painted in Rumanian markings.
I have no further info on its activity, though.

[George Hopp]

The only comments I have heard about thoughts of using a captured Allied a/c for recce over the UK was the following: "Another recent addition to the a/c strength of this Staffel (3(F)/121) is said to be a captured photographic Thunderbolt which P/W had heard made a wheels-down landing in the Cherbourg area. On April 25th this a/c had completed a series of trial flights and was believed to be about to operate on photographic reconnaissance over this country. The normal work of the a/c of this Staffel had recently become so dangerous that it was hoped by this subterfuge to succeed in obtaining photographs of inland objectives. The Allied camouflage of the Thunderbolt had been maintained in its original state but German crosses had been added to keep the pilot, Oberfeldwebel Hans SCHAEFER, "within the law" in case he was taken prisoner.

"It was hoped to make use of the IFF and to approach the Bristol area via the Scilly Isles at a height of 4,000 metres, at which height it was thought that the type and camouflage but not the German crosses could be distinguished from the ground. (A.D.G.B. were immediately warned of this possibility)." This was from an ADI(K) report of 20 May 44.

I never saw further comments about this project, but then I wasn't really looking for them. I know it doesn't help you with your Boston story, but it does show that the Germans were thinking along those lines.

[Delmenhorst]

Hi George
I am afraid that it does not show how the Germans were thinking but more how the allied were thinking. I would not trust information from a AID(K) report too much. Several German pilots cooked up stories just to please their interrigators (or to mislead them). To go through a British interrogation center was not a kindergarden game (expression from a German night fighter crew member). According to several Germans it could be quite 'physical'. They would come up with something just to get some peace. Just think about the story about the New York bomber.
The german airman have probably had a question about a P-47 in German hands from his interrogator and played along as he could see the interest in his opponent.
I have spoken to several German recce pilots and they have never heard of any use of allied aircraft in their units. There is also no mention of this in the squadron strengths (RL 2).

[George Hopp]

I am afraid that it does not show how the Germans were thinking but more how the allied were thinking. I would not trust information from a AID(K) report too much. Several German pilots cooked up stories just to please their interrigators (or to mislead them).

And others sang like birdies! Not only German aircrew but Allied aircrew as well. If you follow through ADI(K) reports for any specific topic, you will find that they have cross-checked info from previous capture information about particular units, and "personalities" within those units. So, I imagine that somewhere in their filing system was something on Oberfeldwebel Hans SCHAEFER, and what he did, and if it seemed logical for him to be flying around in a P-47. I would say that between 1942 and about July 1944 when the Allied interrogators were becoming overwhelmed with prisoners, the level of interrogator competence was very high, and they didn't simply accept at face value whatever they were being told.

[Hauptmann]

Hello,

I personally don't think that the LW ever used any A20 for recce flights over the UK... it would have been too easy to intercept...
I give much more credibility to the use of Thunderbolts, Spitfires (I've read somewhere about the use of captured Spits used to fly such kind of missions over England) and P38s... they would have been much harder to shoot down...
Regarding captured A20s... I've seen photos of at least three different russian A20s in gret conditions on LW airfields in Russia... I don't know if they were took again to the air...
On eBay I've also seen a coupple of A20s that belly landed on the the shores of Northern France... or Holland... their airframes looked great...
The LW recovered at least 3-4 RAF A20's in North Africa... a coupple at Marsa-Matruk... at least one was restored to airworthy conditions... I've also seen photos of a US A20 taken in Tunesia... and its airframe looked in very good conditions...
Every one of the above mentioned A20s could have been restored to airworthy conditions... the LW had big deposits of allied planes parts salvaged from shot down planes...
I guess that the A20 you are looking for could have many different origins...

[George Hopp]

Since the ADI(K) report indicates that they would be using Allied IFF, I imagine that the idea was to do the recce work by stealth rather than by speed. And, remember that by this time in the war, there were thousands of Allied a/c going, coming, and what-have-you throughout the day and night. So, if the a/c could flash a valid IFF signal, why waste time intercepting him? So, why not an A20?