Spitfires in the Luftwaffe?

[Royzee617]

While perusing Wikipedia's entry on the Spitfire I read that someone reckons Spitfires captured in France were taken into service by the LW. More amazing is the contention that they were used offensively over the UK.

Sounds unlikely to me but...

Read here:
A recollection of an experience from World War II in Grendon, Northamptonshire by Phil Blacklee
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grendon

 

[Gnomey]

Well I suspect it is inaccurate as no RAF Spitfire Squadrons were sent to France for the Battle of France (1940) as they where kept for the defence of Britain.

 

[cheddar cheese]

There was a captured Spitfire with a DB-605...not sure of the date or what happened to it though.

 

[Wildcat]

Now that looks wrong!

 

[evangilder]

It is possible that it was used by Zirkus Rosarius.

 

[Royzee617]

Did cross my mind about the Spits to France order... good old WC! In the movie too so I wondered if it were true...

 

[Royzee617]

BTW has anyone posted pix of Allied planes in Axis service here?

 

[Henk]

Some were used for special ops and for training and testing.

Henk

 

[Royzee617]

Like KG100....?

 

[Henk]

I would not know wish unit it operated in. I do not look at that and I think I must start to do that. I will try to find out for you and some of my books, I think I read it in one of them just can not remember in witch one.

Henk

 

[evangilder]

Actually, KG200 was probably the one you are thinking of. I think I posted my article about captured eagles a while back here. It was about American aircraft captured and flown by the Luftwaffe. I could have done another full article on the British airplanes captured. One of the books that is fairly accurate ( I may be a bit generous) is "Strangers in a Strange Land, Vol. I" by Han Heiri Stapfer. There are some great pictures of the captured craft in there, although some of the stories of how they were lost by the allies and captured do not jibe with the veteran accounts and official unit histories.

Some of the bigger aircraft were used in clandestine missions and bomber scouting. Many of the fighters were tested extensively by the Luftwaffe before being turned over to Zirkus Rosarius, hich was a group that used them to train Luftwaffe pilots how to fight them. They also flew them in mock engagements to better train the pilots. Believe it or not, that was the basis for "Top Gun" and "Red Flag".

 

[Twitch]

During the Schweinfurt missions P-47s with no markings were seen in the air noted in an article I wrote long ago-

"And most strange of all, four aircraft were positively identified as P-47s near the B-17s. They were painted a very dark brown and had no Allied white stripe markings or insignia. They were fired on since the last P-47 escorts left long ago. They were captured aircraft!"

 

[Royzee617]

Interesting stuff - would make a great movie! Not likely tho. I wonder what would happen to pilots of such planes if they were captured. Would they be treated like soldiers in enemy uniforms and be shot?

 

[loomaluftwaffe]

allied planes in Axis hands? thats Finland! the Suomen Illmavoimat was composed mainly of Buffaloes, Fokker DXXIs and some M.S 406/410s, and used captured Russian aircraft too

 

[R988]

Finland had early Hurricanes and Blenheims as well

 

[Gnomey]

And some Gladiators.

 

[loomaluftwaffe]

oh yeah forgot about that
and they had this wierd other French thing

 

[hartmann]

Finland captured some P 40 if I remember well too.

 

[Royzee617]

Only the Finns could have got such good results in such poor conditions with so many different obsolescent aircraft.... even the Brewster Buffaloe. Incredible story.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I've read (in a book, no less ) that at one point during 1944 there were 20 operational 109s and 4 operational 190s in the UK, most of which had either force landed, got lost and landed in the UK or been captured in the Mediterranean.

The French captured 3 Bf-109E3s and handed them over to the British in 1940.

The Germans captured at least 2 Spitfire Is during 1940, one of which landed in France after running dry of fuel over Dunkirk due to a flak hit. There is a very famous serise of photos claiming to be of a Spitfire attacking a Do-17 'somewhere over England'. The only problem is that its a captured Spitfire and the original roundels have been repainted in completely the wrong place.

I know that the Italians recovered at least one airworthy Spitfire Vc after it force landed in Sicily during a straffing run and they pieced it back together and made it airworthy with bits of other Spitfires.