Seeking photos/info on a/c of Lt.-Hptm Hermann-Friedrich Joppien of I./JG51 during 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

On Nov. 22, 1939, Joppien's "White 5" of 1./JG51 crashed and overturned. The next day, in another a/c, his a/c suffered 30% damage and FL after an air battle with French fighters. His Nov. 22nd incident is well documented with photography, but his crash the next day, to my knowledge, is not. Does anyone have any photography of that incident?

For EoE Project profiling purposes, I'm trying to determine whether Joppien continued to fly a "White 5" replacement a/c after his 22 Nov. 1939 crash. This seems likely, but far from certain. So I'm looking for 1./JG51 photography which shows what could be his a/c during the WC/FC, whether it was "White 5" or not. Joppien scored a single victory during the Phoney War, on 23.11.39, and then three more during the WC, for a total of four through 6 June, 1940. Does anyone have either info or photos that would allow us to profile that a/c? Photos of other a/c FL during the WC from that Staffel ("White 1" and "White 9") give us a pretty good idea of what his a/c during this period would have looked like, if we can just confirm this a/c number.

We've finally determined pretty well what his a/c looked like as of the time of his RK award for 21 victories on 15.9.40. However, the quality of the photo of his overall a/c leaves a lot to be desired, and somewhere out there should be good photos of this a/c, which was now "White 1," as he was the Sta Kap. I'd certainly appreciate better photos of that a/c.

And finally, Joppien took over as Gr Kdr of I./JG51 on 18.10.40, at a time when I./JG51 was beginning to re-equip with the first Bf109F-1s. He may have taken over the a/c of the outgoing Gr Kdr, Hptm Hans-Heinrich Brustellin, for which we have a photo of the front 2/3 of his F-1 a/c. Can anyone supply any scoreboard photos or photos of Joppien's Bf109E or 109F through the end of 1940, or very early in 1941, while he was on the Gruppenstab of I./JG51? I'm aware of the photos in Prien's books.

Who can help with any of this on a pilot whose a/c and careeer have not received much attention due the absence of good photography to work from. He was awarded credit for a total of 30 victory claims by the end of 1940, making him one of the top-scoring German aces of the Battle of Britain. He later won the Oak Leaves to his RK before his later death in combat.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator