abyssinian

[gaynako]

Has somebody pictures about abyssinian airplanes during the abyssinian war ? Italian pilots said they shooted down some..
Thanks.

[Modeldad]

I was able to find a little in a google search.

http://www.insigniamag.com/ethi.html

http://www.insigniamag.com/ethiop.jpg

http://ethiopundit.blogspot.com/2004...e-of-1933.html

[ginklo]

here you are 4 photos
<p>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/ginklo/cri.jpg">
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[gaynako]

Than you very much for the photos which show one of the two Fokker F.VIIa with Lorraine engines, bought in France by the Negus. Those planes were unarmed and it's why we can see red crosses on the wings. The cocards could be french ones, as the Abyssinina planes has only red, yellow and green stripes at the wings tips; you can see those markings in the photo with the little biplane (Heinkel HD36?).
The swedish Red Cross had also a Fokker F.VIIa under english registration. But in the two cases, the Red Cross did not avoid to be shooted at by the Fiat...

Thanks again

[Lennart Andersson]

I think the roundel is actually in abyssinian colours. The biplane is Heinkel HD 21 ex SE-ACY and the marking on the fuselage is abyssinian, while the marking on the rudder is Swedish (blue and yellow).

Lennart Andersson

[gaynako]

I am not so sure that roundels are abyssian, for :

1)In 1935-1936, abyssinian planes had no roundels which appears only after 1946. They had only green, yellow and red stipes, on fuselahe and wings, as shown on the Heinkel, and some Potez 25.

2) As you can see on the Heinkel, the abyssinian colors are with the swedish original ones...

3) On other pictures, we can see in 1930-31, Farman 192 with roundels on the wings; those tricolor roundels have the same proportions as the french ones (1/3,1/3,1/3). One Farman 192 had ben offered by France to the Negus and during its flight to Abyssinia, it had no civil immatriculation, only french roundels. So, it seems that those roundels have never been erased. That could be the case of the 2 Fokker VIIa bought in France. Besides, those planes, Farman and Fokker, were flown by french pilots (Vedel, Maillet, Corriger),often between Addis Ababa and Djibouti; so, as in the case of the Heinkel (flown by swedish count Von Rosen), it seems that the abyssinian civil planes kept their original nationality markings. Perhaps in war time,the foreigner pilots, coming from non belligerent countries, thought that will protect them..
At last, the Potez 25 never had roundels but only abyssinian markings.

Best

[Brian]

Hi guys

Fascinating! Were any of the red-cross marked aircraft shot down or damaged - any details at all? I would be most interested. And what about Fiat claims for these arcraft?

Cheers
Brian

[edNorth]

Hello all;
tripped over the mentioning of Ju W 33c in one of the links provided by Modeldad, that rang a bell. On photo of this plane no markings were seen but for the usual ´Junkers´ on the engine cowling side. Has anyone got the W.nr.?

Unknown examples (Ethiopia):
.... W 33 c "Junkers" King Haile Selassie of Ethiopia - Crashed in the Sudan 1936 - Salvaged by RAF - Possibly scrapped

[gaynako]

Hello,

The Negus had a Junkers W33c arrived in Abyssinia on the 5/09/1929. It seems that there was another Junkers W33c, as it is related that TWO Junkers were held up a time by the french customs in Djibouti..
In december 1929, a near parent of Ras Tafari (future Negus) was killed in a crash with a Junkers. The two german pilots, Schatzberg and von Nagel, were immediately fired after that !
In 1934, the well known swiss pilot, Mittelholzer comes to Addis Abeba to deliver a Fokker trimotor (ex Swissair CH-192) to the Negus. He remarks "an all metal Junkers machine...piloted by an experienced german pilot" who was certainly Ludwig Weber, a Junkers representative and a future chief pilot of the Negus in 1935 and 1936. Was that Junkers a survivor of the 1929 command, or another Junkers (and which type ?). That's the question and we need photographic evidences.

As to the shooting of Red Cross planes, there are several testimonies (from Dr Junod for example). The Italian said that those planes carry ammunitions and that Red Cross camps were ammunition depot...That old same story which is heard even today (because, alas, it's not always false!!). It is very difficlut to obtain informations, as on the italian side, it seems that there is a curious amnesia among the italian pilots and web sites about the Abyssinian war. We find a lot of photos about Spain campaing, Libya campaing, but before 1937, nothing ! There are of course, and fortunately, some books like the one writted by Vittorio Mussolini (in 1937) but the facts are not very precise.
The search goes on..
Best

Christian

[gaynako]

The Junkers damaged on december 1929, near Dessie, has been rebuilt. It had the Wrn: J2539 and was named "Ribe Tafari". It might be the one Mittelholzer saw in Addis Ababa, on February 1934. It was lost in 1936 in Sudan, when flying to Rusayres (?); was the pilot, L. Weber ?

Christian