Belly landing of a Me 109 in Greece

[Rasmussen]

"So geht es im Krieg."

[ouidjat]

Sorry, correction, I wrote exactly: " So, he was shot before being officially shot down ?"

[byron-]

Ηi,

it is undeniably Lamia

see the mountains. Left of the soldiers helmet is the old castle

[Boris Ciglic]

Originally Posted by ouidjat

PS: Left Byron wrote above: "The town in the horizon is Lamia". Maybe should be interesting to check this ?..



Interesting Boris,
Last time we saw this machine you wrote, with same conviction, it was WNr.4106... OK now it's easier, we have a date: As I wrote yesterday, elsewhere "wow, it has been shot before being shot"

Cheers, Franck.

Hi Franck,

Are you sure? Was it on FB 'From A to T'? I must have made a mistake! W.Nr.4106 was damaged in air combat over Greece on 15 April and force-landed at Bitolj, while W.Nr.3439 has been damaged on 7 April. That's what I wrote in my Bf 109 book.

I strongly doubt that this is Lamia for two reasons:

1. Lamia is far to the south, in central Greece. I don't know much about how fast the Germans advanced in Greece in April 1941, but I don't think they reached so far south before 15 April. A Wehrmacht soldier on a belly-landed Emil in Lamia on 7 April is impossible.

2. The landscape is much more consistent with that around Trn. I took a look at Lamia photos on the net and the mountains are much higher.

Cheers,
Boris

[Boris Ciglic]

Franck, it's me again!

I found the post at FB from September and I wrote 3439, while you suggested it could be 4106 at Bitolj or 5599 at Lamia.

Boris

[byron-]

Hi friend Boris,

You are maybe right with BITOLJ, it was really to early to see a German soldier in Lamia. I`m trying now to find a suitable pic from the town of Bitolj in order to verify the issue
15.04.41 Bf 109 E7 (W.Nr. 4106) 15% Notlandung Luftkampf Bitolj, L.G. 2


thanks for the help
Byron

[Boris Ciglic]

Originally Posted by byron-

Hi friend Boris,

You are maybe right with BITOLJ, it was really to early to see a German soldier in Lamia. I`m trying now to find a suitable pic from the town of Bitolj in order to verify the issue
15.04.41 Bf 109 E7 (W.Nr. 4106) 15% Notlandung Luftkampf Bitolj, L.G. 2


thanks for the help
Byron

Byron, you nailed it!

I don't know how I failed to see the photo you posted. The angle, the landscape, this is indeed Lamia. In this case, it must be the plane Franck mentioned: W.Nr.5599 damaged 30% in air combat over Lamia on 21 April.

Boris

[byron-]

Thank you Boris and Franck for helping to find the solution. This is team work.

Byron

[ouidjat]

Thanks guys,
Thanks Boris to have pointed the whole and correct discussion concerning this machine. It seems I didn't retain Lamia accident because of the 30% damages written in loss report comparing with previous, both with 15%, and what is depicted on this (these, they are 6 or 7) photo.
Thanks Byron, the photo you posted is crystal clear.
...
again the same lesson: never trust photo's back (except here "Griechenland" was/is correct). Neither places, dates etc.. Need always to be check with very evidence if available.
And never accept Bruch rates for sure; 1/ They didn't give the real machine's state (at least not always, so far) since 2/ they do include - this assumption is well described and explained elsewhere - the capacity of the repairs to be done at local level; on field, next repair shop and/or higher level ... Means if one decide TO NOT DO the repairs .. Just put down higher rate on report .. Which is quite understandable when unit is on the move.

Cheers, guys, and regards.
Franck.

PS: Doesn't change my sentence above: "It was shot before being officially shot down"

[Falcon]

Good work and thank you!