Warbird Information Exchange

Greetings All -

I decided to scan some old prints I have had since I was 12. I got these from a friend whose grandfather supposedly got these while in Europe at the end of the war. I'm mildly amazed I still have them in my possession after all these years...

Enjoy! Mark




This one is my favorite - the can says verdunnen (thinner) and he's sitting on an ammo box. Would love to know whose aircraft this was...

What type aircraft is that in the 3rd and 4th pics from the top?

Hi Paul -

The belly landing is a Junkers Ju-86 - take a look at:

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/ju86.html

HTH! Mark

Excellent stuff, Mark. The first pic is a Bf 109G-14 of II./JG 52 at Neubiberg, Germany in 1945, possibly "white 21 + -" (the white II. Gruppe bar is just barely visible). The second pic is an interesting puzzle... theoretically, it belongs to the Staffelkapitän of 2. Staffel. The question is, what unit? The very wide yellow theatre band should be a clue, and the box the guy is sitting on contains 20mm ammo... which means this is likely not an F-2, since they were initially fitted with the MG 151/15 15mm cannon. They also received stiffening strips on the aft fuselage, which are not visible here, so this would be an F-4. I'll do a little digging to see if I can narrow down likely pilots for you.

Thanks for posting these!

Lynn

Hi:

Interesting as I just purchased copies of the two 109 photos. They are identified as being part of the Jim Crow collection.

The first image is of a Bf 109 G-10 photographed at Neubiberg in 1945.

The second 109 is "Red 1" a Bf 109 F of Oblt. Schumann of II./JG 52 in Russia, circa 1941.

I can't vouch for the authenticity of the above information and only post here what is written on the backs of the photos.

Mark Proulx

Yes, the upper photo certainly looks like "White 21". From other photos in my collection of this aircraft it is W.Nr. 464549, a Bf 109 G-14 of Erla manufacture.

It appears that Mr Crows comments on the back of the photo depicted above are in error, if in fact this photo does show "White 21".

Mark Proulx

Are there any JU-86s left? I can't recall seeing any.

Adflyer, there's one on display in Sweden.

Mark, here's the gen on the Bf 109F-4, from George Morrison (a well-respected Luftwaffe historian), who posted this response on Hyperscale:


In the link, the respondent wishes to know who flew the 109F-4 with the 40+ Abschussbalken on the rudder. This was the machine of Siegfried Simsch. The unit was the 5./JG 52 (the II/JG 52 did not use a II Gruppe horizontal bar aft of the fuselage cross early in the war, but did adopt them later). Simsch was later KIA while flying with the JG 11.

BTW, the source that lists this as Schumann is in error, and JG 52 was no longer using red numbers after 1940.

HTH, GRM

Thanks GRM for the info - amazing to look at such photos years later and think about who they represent...

Enjoy the Day! Mark