New Member.

[FowellBox]

Hello all, I've just joined although I am no longer a plastic modeller. I did start a long time ago when Airfix first brought out the Spitfire in a poly bag with a folded card at the top, I bought my first one from Woolworths for 2 shillings ( 10p in new money).
My reason for joining is that I would like to build a model of the JU88 flown by Wittgenstein in mid 1942 but I have been unable to find a colour scheme for this period.
My interest in Wittgnstein is that he shot down my wifes uncle and crew. The Lancaster they were flying reportedly crashed into the North Sea approx 20 miles East of Den Hague.
Brian

 

[Crimea_River]

Welcome aboard. There are three colour profiles pinned below that I found on Pinterest though I don't know which one would apply to your time frame. Can you post a date of your uncle's shoot down?

 

[Dash119]

Welcome to the forum from California.

 

[fubar57]

Welcome. Wow, Sayn-Wittgnstein had an impressive night-time victory count...83 before he was KIA

 

[FowellBox]

Many thanks for the welcome, it is much appreciated.
In answer to Crimea River, my wife's uncle was with 207 Squadron RAF, flying from RAF Bottesford in Nottinghamshire and was lost on the night of 23/24 July 1942 on a mission to Duisburg, Germany.
Through The Dutch Airwar Group and RAF records I was able to establish that Wittgenstein had claim a four engined bomber and that only 2 Lancasters were lost that night, one crashed close to the Dutch/German border and the other was the one that my wife's uncle was in.
One of the crew, the front gunner was later washed ashore near Ijmuiden and is buried in Amsterdam Cemetery. The others were (and are) posted as 'Misssing'.

 

[fubar57]

There's even a book about the guy...

 

[fubar57]

I don't know the differences in Ju88's but this says C9+AE was in Russia

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for the dates. Your uncle's loss would have been early in Wittgensteins NF career so I don't expect a large victory tally on the tail. Now it's a matter of identifying his mount on that night and zeroing in on a scheme.

 

[fubar57]

A list of his victories says he was flying with 9. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 on the night in question...Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein/Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein - 英文万维百科/维基百科中文版
From this book...Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z.

 

[Gnomey]

Welcome.

 

[Airframes]

Welcome to the mad house - I'm sure you'll find the answers to your needs.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Welcome

 

[Wayne Little]

Welcome from down under....

 

[Capt. Vick]

Welcome aboard amigo!

 

[FowellBox]

An interesting side to the crew is their nationalities; 3 were from the UK, 2 were Canadian, 1 was from Australia and 1 was from New Zealand. I put details onto the "Aircrew Remembered" website along with a picture of my relative and several relatives of other crewmembers have also put on pictures.
Brian

 

[Crimea_River]

So, a little more in this and all of this is a bit speculative. Geo's observation that Wittgenstein was flying with 9/NJG2 on that night seems correct and on that basis, the aircraft code would have been R4+_T where the underscored letter would have featured the yellow squadron colour. On that basis, I found the below picture from Fly Boys which is purported to be "Heinrich Prinz Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and his crew from 9/NJG2pose with their Ju 88 C-6 R4+ET, marked with 21 victories on the fin, during the autumn of 1942. "

Whether or not this was the same plane that he flew in July is unknown to me and I've not been able to find any pictures or profiles of his mount in this timeframe. (All of the profiles I posted above in Post #2 are of his later machines). George may be able to confirm this but your uncle's aircraft might have been Wittgenstein's 13 or 14th victim as, according to the Wiki link George posted above, he scored victories 15 thru 17 on the last night of July/42.

So, assuming that the picture above is the same aircraft, my suggestion for a scheme would be standard 70/71 splinter scheme on the upper surfaces (you can see the demarcations of the colours in the above pic on the fin and horizontal stab), appropriate number of victory tallies on the tail, black undersides, black letters with the 'E" outlined in yellow and the standard NJG 2 emblem on the nose.

Again, all this is a bit of a reach but the best I can do. Hopefully someone else has better info.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Welcome aboard!

 

[fubar57]

Great sleuthing Andy. Going through my Ju88 books now to see if another shot of his aircraft is there as well

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Andy.
I'm not sure, but I think that Jan may have the book on Wittgenstin, as shown earlier in this thread. Maybe there is some info and pics in that ?

 

[Crimea_River]

Maybe if we call him he'll take a look. Lucky13