Ofw. Elias Kühlein "killing" a "captured" Bf 109 in late 1944?

[Dénes Bernád]

I found the following note on a forum: "Offb. [Ofw.] Elias Kuhlein [Kühlein] flew both Bf.109F and Bf.109G while serving with JG51 beginning in July of 1942. Most profiles of this aircraft state he was assigned to 4 Staffel [of JG 51], but at the time he was assigned this aircraft [the famous one, with an eye painted on the "Beule"] in June of 1944 the records I was able to find indicated he was assigned to 7 Staffel.
He flew a total of 600 combat missions and was credited with 36 confirmed kills, including a captured Bf.109 of unknown type on December 11th 1944."

What caught my attention was the last sentence, namely that he allegedly "killed" a "captured" Bf 109. Are there any details available about this claim, if true? Many thanks.

[edwest2]

It appears the Allies had captured a Bf 109 and used it in combat.

[Schlageter]

Since Kühlein's unit II./JG 51 was deployed in the Balkans in 1944-1945 it is entirely plausible that he shot down a Bf109 of the Romanian or Bulgarian Air Force, which both fought at that time on the Allied side.

HTH

[sidney]

Some details from Michael Balss' database...

11/12/44 Ltn. Kühlein, Elias; 5./JG 51; claimed a Bf 109; Ref. DS-91: 3000 m;
11/12/44 Fhr. Heinisch; 5./JG 51; claimed a Bf 109; ES-36: 3000 m;
11/12/44 Uffz. Klein; 5./JG 51; Bf 109; ES-61: 1800 m.

Likely, Romanian Bf 109s, since the Gruppe was based in Hungary.

Regards,
Sinisa

[Johannes]

Johannes Steinhoff mentions combat with Romanian Bf109's after Romania defected to the Sowiets, Kuhlein's claim was at 1143 hrs, ten days later he claimed a Russian Jak-9 at 1111 hrs 1200 metres confirming his location in the East.


Regards


Johannes

[Stig Jarlevik]

Guys

I think Dénes is very much aware of this as such, since he has researched both Bulgarian and Romanian aviation quite extensively.

What must interest him (and me) is the word captured in this context. I cannot really make any sense of it and must wonder if the initial "author" really understood what he was writing about.

From Sinisa's and Johanne's answers, there seems not to be anything "extra sinister" behind all this.

Cheers
Stig

[Dénes Bernád]

Hello Stig,
Yes, I did, and still do, study the aviation history of Central and Eastern European countries. However, *claims* of shooting down Bf 109Gs and other aircraft types of the former Axis allies are always of great interest to me. And such claims do pop up from time to time, like this one.
You sensed correctly the other topic of interest, namely the allegedly "captured" status of the said Bf 109G. This could *imply* the usage by an air force other than former Axis allies (like the Soviet, for example).
Any tids (I almost wrote tits ) and bits related to this obscure topic are welcome.