Marseille's Bf109 wreck outside Crete ??

[Jagdkommando]

Hi,

There are a well known wreck of an Bf109 outside Hersonissos on the island of Crete. I have many photos of the wreck, and this plane is said to be one of Marseille's Bf109's, but on what bases this is correct or not I do not know.

Would be extremely interesting if someone could verify anything about this plane. The plate with the Wrk.Nr.on is unfortenately missing on the wreck.

Jagdkomm.

[John Beaman]

Well, anything to do with Marseille is of interest, of course. I would love to see photos. Is this an E or an F?

Of course, as far as we can tell, the E's he used in the Med. and all 4 of the Fs he used in combat, and his G were all lost in North Africa. This is verified by loss records.

Since he never flew in the Kreta operations in 1941 and it is doubtful he would have taken any path back to Afrika after leave except through Sicily and Tunis, it is doubtful if the aircraft is related to Marseille in any way.

[Nefiakoff]

I always thought that Marseille flew no less than 5 Friedrichs?...
Can anybody verify this?

W. Nr. 12593 (Febr. 42)
W. Nr. 8693 (Febr. 42)
W. Nr. 10059 (May & June 42)
W. Nr. 10137 (June 42)
W. Nr. 8673 (Aug. & Sept. 42)

Regards,

Nef

[John Beaman]

We have no documentation that he ever flew a 12593. The other 4 aircraft you list are the only documented Fs we have. In fact there was no 125xx range for the F. There is a 126xx range, which is are F-2 machines and the other F-2 and F-4 machines are in below the 11xxx threshold. So, I am curious where you got that number?

A possible missing number that Marseille flew may be an aircraft he ferried back from leave in December or hospitalization, but we do not even know he ferried a machine on his way back to Africa.

You can find what we believe to be the most complete documentation on Marseille's aircraft in this book:

http://www.airpowereditions.com/our-...Marseille.html

[Nefiakoff]

John, Thank You for exhaustive informations.

The source is "J. Scutts - Bf 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean", p. 90, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 2.
This information is duplicated at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Joachim_Marseille

however date of Marseille's 50th victory is obviously mistaken.

Thanks also for recommendation of Your book, I'll buy it at the first occasion.

Best regards,

Nef

PS.
My dream is to have an access to his flight book...

[John Beaman]

Well, I hate to say this, but Jerry Scutt's book is not reliable. He evidentally did little primary document research.

A flugbuch? Yes, wouldn't that be wonderful?