Captured Aircrafts: UK

[gekho]

The Royal Air Force tested various captured variants during and after the war.

- Ju-87 B-2, Unit: ex 209 Squdriglia, 97 Gruppo Bombardamento a Tuffo, Serial: ex 209-18 (W.Nr.5763). Unknown location, Libya, September 1941. The aircraft was captured by British troops in September in the Libyan desert. Strangely enough, the Italian Stukas never received a desert camouflage scheme as their German counterparts did, and flew in their original 'continental' colours in North Africa.

- Ju-87 D, Unit: 112 Sqn, Serial: unknown. Captured by 112th Sqn RAF, 1942.

- Ju-87 D-3, Unit: 601 Sqn, RAF, Serial: UF. 601 Squadron RAF used a D captured at the aerodrome LG13 (Sidi Haneshi) - North Africa in November 1942. The Stuka received the Squadron code 'UF' and was flown during the period November 1942 - February 1943.

- Ju-87 D-3, Unit: 213 Sqn, RAF, Serial: AK? (ex S7+LL). 213 Squadron RAF personnel captured this Ju.87D at the aerodrome LG101 (Sidi Haneshi) - North Africa in November 1942. The Stuka has RAF markings and code 'AK?', and test flown on 12 November 1942.

- Ju-87 G-2, Werk Nr. 494083. A later, ground-attack variant, this is displayed at the RAF Museum in London; it was captured by British troops in Germany in 1945. It is thought to have been built in 1943–1944 as a D-5 before being rebuilt as a G-2 variant, possibly by fitting G-2 outer wings to a D-5 airframe. After the war, it was one of 12 captured German aircraft selected by the British for museum preservation. In 1967, permission was given to use the aircraft in the film Battle of Britain and it was repainted and modified to resemble a 1940 variant of the Ju 87. The engine was found to be in excellent condition and there was little difficulty in starting it, but returning the aircraft to airworthiness was considered too costly for the filmmakers, and ultimately, models were used in the film to represent Stukas. In 1998, the film modifications were removed, and the aircraft returned to the original G-2 configuration.

- Ju-87 R-2/Trop. Werk Nr. 5954. This aircraft is displayed in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It was abandoned in North Africa and found by British forces in 1941. The Ju 87 was donated by the British government and sent to the USA during the war. It was fully restored in 1974 by the EAA of Wisconsin.

 

[gekho]

Several Bf 109s models and marks came into the RAF's hands in various ways throughout the war, including captures by Allied ground troops, forced or mistaken landings by German pilots, and defections. They were then passed to the Air Fighting Development Unit where they were extensively tested before passing them on to the RAF's No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight, nicknamed "the Rafwaffe" (see main article for details of the six Bf 109's they operated). Other Bf 109s captured and operated by the Allies included the following:

- Bf.109G-6, Unit: unknown, Serial: VX101. This aircraft was captured by British after force landing at Thorney Island on 19th May 1944.
- Bf.109G-6, Unit: ex JG 1, Serial: TP814 (W.Nr.412951),Pilot - F/Lt. H.L.Thorne. November 1944.
- Bf.109G-10, Unit: RAF (ex 4./NJG 14), Serial: 44+- (W.Nr.130342)
- Bf.109G-14, Unit: 1426 Flight, RAF, Serial: P (VD364). January 1945. This aircraft was captured in the end of 1944 at Gilze-Rijen.
- Bf.109G-14AS, Unit: 318 Sqn (Polish), Serial: LW (ex-croatians 'black 4'). Treviso airfield, Italy March 1946. This aircraft was captured by the the British. Operate by Poland Sqn in Italy after the War. Black '4' is apparently a G-14AS rather than a G10, but the Croatians used the term 'G-10' for all their refined cowl 109s.
- Bf.109F-4, Unit: No. 1426 Flight, RAF, Serial: 11, NN644 (W.Nr.7232). Collyweston, UK, Spring 1944. Ex 10.(Jabo)/JG 26 aircraft. It was captured on May 20th, 1942 after emergency landing at Beachy Head.
- Bf.109E-3, Unit: 1426 Flight, RAG, Serial: DG200 (W.Nr.4101, Black 12). Duxford, Great Britain, Summer 1942. This aircraft was captured on November 27th, 1940 after crash at Monston. It was equipped with Rolls Royce engine and flew from Hatfild. Test-pilot was Harvey Heyworth. Note: cockpit was dismounted for better comfort of tall pilot.

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Cool shots. 8)


Wheels

 

[gekho]

No. 117 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed as a bomber squadron on 31 January 1918 and was based at Wyton where it was equipped with the DH9. The squadron became part of the Royal Air Force and was stationed in Ireland for a time before it was merged with other squadrons on 31 January 1920. No. 117 reformed as a communications squadron on 30 April 1941 at Khartoum, Sudan and also operated a captured Italian Caproni Ca.133 aircraft that had been impressed into service with the Khartoum Communications Flight in 1940.

 

[gekho]

After the end of the war, the Me 262 and other advanced German technologies were quickly swept up by the Americans (as part of the USAAF's Operation Lusty), British, and Soviets. Many Me 262s were found in readily-repairable condition and were confiscated. Both the Soviets and Americans desired the technology to serve as a basis for their own jet fighters. After the war, the Royal Aircraft Establishment, at that time one of the leading institutions in high-speed research, re-tested the Me 262 to help with British attempts at exceeding Mach 1. The RAE achieved speeds of up to Mach 0.84 and confirmed the results from the Messerschmitt dive tests. Similar tests were run by the Soviets. No attempts were made to exceed the Mach limit established by Messerschmitt.

- Me.262A-1a, Unit: ex 9./JG 7, Serial: 7+| (W.Nr.112372). This aircraft was captured by British on May 6th, 1945 at Fasberg. It was test-flown by Wing Commander Warren Schrader in Lubec on May 29th, 1945.

 

[gekho]

A Danish-owned Fw 200 aircraft named Dania was seized by the British on English soil after Denmark was invaded by German forces in 1940. It was subsequently operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and was then pressed into service with the Royal Air Force. It was damaged beyond repair in 1941.

- FW.200C-4/U1, Serial: AM94 (ex GC+AE, W.Nr.0137). Personnel aircraft of Heinrich Himmler and later Grand Admiral Doenitz. Found intact at Achmer in 1945 and flown to Farnborough on 3 July 1945.
- FW.200C-4/U2 'Albatross III, Serial: AM97 (ex GC+SJ, W.Nr.0181). This is the personal airplane of Grossadmiral Karl Donitz, captured in 1945 and pressed into RAF service with register Air Min 97, 1945-1946.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff!

 

[fubar57]

Another great thread gekho. I've been trying to find this book but as I haven't yet got the danglers to shop online, my search is pretty limited.

Geo

 

[Gnomey]

Nice stuff!

 

[pbfoot]

Another great thread gekho. I've been trying to find this book but as I haven't yet got the danglers to shop online, my search is pretty limited.
View attachment 197940


Geo

was on ebay lately

 

[gekho]

The Royal Air Force impressed four Bf 108s on the outbreak of World War II and put into service, who designated them Messerschmitt Aldon. It was the fastest light communications aircraft the RAF had then, but they were often mistaken for Bf 109s. Post-war, 15 more captured Bf 108s flew in RAF colours.

 

[gekho]

During the late spring of 1942, the Junkers-Dessau project office was instructed by the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) to investigate the possibility of redesigning the structure of the Junkers Ju 252 transport to make maximum use of non-strategic materials, replacing the Junkers Jumo 211F engines of the Ju 252 with Bramo 323R radial engines. The result followed closely the aerodynamic design of the Ju 252 but was an entirely new aircraft. The wing of the Ju 352 was similar in outline to that of the Ju 252 but, mounted further aft on the fuselage, was entirely of wooden construction. The Ju 352 also had a similar Trapoklappe (rear loading ramp) to that of the Ju 252. The ramp allowed the loading of vehicles or freight into the cargo hold while holding the fuselage level.

In general, the Ju 352 was considered a major improvement over the original Junkers Ju 52 but noticeably inferior to the Junkers Ju 252. Deliveries of the Ju 352 had only just begun to get into their stride when, during the summer of 1944, the worsening war situation resulted in the decision to abandon the further production of transport aircraft, and in September the last two Ju 352A's rolled off the assembly line, 10 pre-production Ju 352's and 33 production Ju 352's having been manufactured. Several developments of the basic design were proposed before production was halted, these including the Ju 352B with more powerful engines and increased defensive armament.

 

[gekho]

Three BV 222s were captured and subsequently operated by Allied forces: C-011, C-012, and C-013. C-012, captured at Sørreisa in Norway after the war along with V2, was flown by Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown from Norway to the RAF station at Calshot in 1946, with RAF serial number "VP501". After testing at Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe it was assigned to No. 201 Squadron RAF, who operated it up to 1947, when it was scrapped.

C-011 and C-013, captured by US forces at the end of World War II. On August 15 and again on August 20, 1945 LT Cmdr Richard Schreder of the US Navy performed test flights along with the German crew of one of the BV 222 aircraft that had been acquired by the US. In two flights resulting in a total flight time of 38 minutes they experienced 4 engine fires. While many spare engines were available they were of substandard quality due to the lack of quality alloys near the end of the war, and caught fire easily. Since the aircraft was unairworthy with these engines, the aircraft was supposedly taken out to open water and sunk by a Navy Destroyer.

Other reports indicate the US captured aircraft were flown or shipped to the US. Convair acquired one for evaluation at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the intensive studies leading to the hull design of their Model 117 which in turn led to the R3Y Tradewind. Their subsequent fate is unknown. The V2 aircraft briefly wore US markings in 1946. Strangely the V2 aircraft had identification markings given to her from the original V5 aircraft for Operation Schatzgräber. V2 was later scuttled by the British who filled her with BV 222 spare parts from the base at Ilsvika to weigh her down. V2 was towed to a position between Fagervika and Monk's island where it is thought she now rests perfectly preserved on the seabed, owing to low oxygen levels in the water. There are plans to raise and restore this aircraft.

 

[gekho]

The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition that the He 162 design won. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

On 3 May1945, all of JG 1's surviving He 162s were restructured into two groups, I. Einsatz ("Combat") and II. Sammel ("Collection"). All JG 1's aircraft were grounded on 5 May, when General Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German armed forces in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany and Denmark. On 6 May, when the British reached their airfields, JG 1 turned their He 162s over to the Allies, and examples were shipped to the U.S., Britain, France, and the USSR for further evaluation. Erprobungskommando 162 fighters, which had been passed on to JV 44, an elite jet unit under Adolf Galland a few weeks earlier, were all destroyed by their crews to keep them from falling into Allied hands. By the time of the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, 120 He 162s had been delivered; a further 200 had been completed and were awaiting collection or flight-testing; and about 600 more were in various stages of production.

 

[gekho]

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including an advanced VHF-band intercept radar. It was also the first operational military aircraft in the world to be equipped with ejection seats, and the first operational German World War II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear. Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect upon the strategic bomber offensive of the Royal Air Force; but only 294 of all models were built by the end of the war and these saw only limited service.

 

[gekho]

The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-on to the famed Ju 88 with better performance and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence of improved versions of the Ju 88, as well as the deteriorating war condition and the resulting focus on fighter production. The Royal Air Force operated at least two captured machines post war, an A-2 and A-3 (Wrk Nr 190335 of 9./KG 26). The A-3 surrendered to British forces after landing at Fraserburgh on 2 May 1945.

 

[nuuumannn]

Terrific pictures, although most of the colour images with aircraft wearing the 'FE' numbers were taken in the United States post war at Freeman Field, although you are right in that some of them were captured by the British. The 'FE' stood for Foreign Evaluation. Most of the ones photographed in the States were shipped to the USA aboard the British carrier HMS Reaper and in some cases were sent via the UK. The Ta 152H wearing FE-112 is currently in store with the National Air and Space Museum and that orange Bf 108 is owned by Planes of Fame at Chino, CA. That Bf 109 is the one on display at NASM in Washington DC.

 

[gekho]

Some eighty German aircraft were gathered at Farnborough after the war ended. During October/November 1945, the public was given access: a 'German Aircraft Exhibition' was held from Monday 29 October to Friday 9 November 1945, with the main flying display taking place on Sunday 4 November.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Another awesome thread!