Captured C-47's and B-25's?

[Dan Jones]

Having read through quite a bit of stuff on the subject over the years, did the Germans ever capture and fly any C-47's or B-25's? They're about the only commonly used allied aircraft in the ETO that I've never seen in (wartime) Luftwaffe service.

[JohnB]

I've seen captured civil DC-3s (Sabena, KLM, ect.), but no C-47s.
Considering they rarely flew over uncontested occupied territory, it might have been difficult for the Germans to get an intact example.

[menards]

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hypersc ... 31459.html

[Dan Jones]

I think that B-25 is more a fantasy link but never say never...

I may have seen a picture of a Luftwaffe DC-2 (perhaps in "Strangers in a Strange Land") but the other thing I don't think I've ever seen are photos of captured Russian aircraft that were returned to service for evaluation.

[menards]

http://s1.e-monsite.com/2008/11/10/09/6 ... -2-jpg.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ufel-1.jpg

[junkman9096]

http://s1.e-monsite.com/2008/11/10/09/61070776dc-2-2-jpg.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ufel-1.jpg

Is that first one a DC-2? Deutsche Lufthansa used them and a couple were taken from LOT (Poland) after Sept 1939.

[JohnB]

Yes, it's a DC-2.I
As I mentioned in post #2, Luftwaffe use of captured airliners is well known, but I 'be never seen a C-47 in Luftwaffe markings.

[Archer]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Luftwaffe_Douglas_C-47B_Skytrain_%28DC-3%29_Manteufel-1.jpg/800px-Luftwaffe_Douglas_C-47B_Skytrain_%28DC-3%29_Manteufel-1.jpg

That is a post-war one of course. From 1957 on , 20 C-47s and one C-53 were used by the German Air Force.

[Richard W.]

I understand that the Eighth and Ninth never operated B-25s, so I think the chances of one being captured in the ETO were slim.

Russians used them. Perhaps one of those?

[Dan Jones]

I understand that the Eighth and Ninth never operated B-25s, so I think the chances of one being captured in the ETO were slim.

Russians used them. Perhaps one of those?

That's true, but the RAF used them rather extensively, as well as the USAAF using them in North Africa, Italy, and the MTO in general.

[JohnB]

That is a post-war one of course. From 1957 on , 20 C-47s and one C-53 were used by the German Air Force.

I knew when I wrote about seeing no C-47s in the Luftwaffa, somebody would try to prove me wrong and mention their obvious (and we'll documented) post-war use.
"Nah," I thought, "This isn't the Key forum where you can't write anything without a half page of qualifications, it's perfectly clear I'm referring to wartime captures. ..the very clear topic and title of the thread".

I was wrong.

[Archer]

Apologies, I knew you were talking about wartime use, but I thought I'd avoid confusion by captioning that image.

I've been racking my brain about this, but most of my books are in storage, which prevents me from going on a trawl through them looking for captured C-47s. Hopefully someone else will be able to dig up an obscure image, I guess it will be impossible to prove that they never had one.

[Archer]

I had a quick browse through Hans-Werner Lerche's 'Testpilot auf Beuteflugzeuge' and there was no C-47 or DC-3 listed in the appendix that lists the types he has flown.