What happened to the Axis planes after WW2?

[GrauGeist]

I agree Terry, it's a real shame some of the rarer types didn't somehow survive, like a He280 or some of the Allied limited runs or prototypes. Then again, it wouldn't have been all that practical to have saved a Me264 or a B-19 after the war, so recycling claimed 'em

 

[beaupower32]

I think I will be sad for the rest of the night due to that photo of all the planes that are all trashed. What I wouldnt do to get my hands on one, even if it wasnt flight worthy.

 

[zoul310]

The french Air Force used german planes for quite a while during and after WW2.

In 1945 a french squadron of captured JU 88 was used to help reduce the pocket of "Fortress Royan" on the Atlantic coast.
German camo with white stripes on wings and french roundels.

Just after WW2 transport airplane were DC3 and JU52. The SNCASO had a production line for the JU and it was called "Toucan". It was used extensively in Indochina for transport, paradrops and... bombing.

As well the Fieseler Storch was used in Indochina.

All my documentation is in France and I now live in the US, I just rely on memory. It could be another company than SNCASO. Immediate post WW2 was a mess in France.

I know they tried to use FW190 in operation and it failed rapidly because of lack of spares.
And in Indochina they used some left japanese planes also !

Fascinating forum by the way !


G.

 

[nachtjager]

The RAF set up Air Disarmament units whose sole role was to follow the front line units,and to take away totally the Luftwaffe's capability to fight, as an airfield was captured they would go in and assess what aircraft and equipment was found. They had a number of specific targets to look for , jet fighters, rocket fighters etc and any thing that showed interesting scientific developments.

Any aircraft that were not required at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough were scrapped on site, a lot were blown up, others were cut up by ground personnel, others were bulldosed etc, the remains being sent for scrap or buried on site.

Most of the aircraft that were sent to the RAE were left out in open storage at various locations, RAF Sealand in Cheshire being one and during the very bad Winter of 1947 they suffered very badly due to the weather and most were scrapped, others were used in training exercises by station Fire crews.

I did hear that an aircraft factory in Chicago was used as as a storage facility for a lot of captured material, but when the Korean war broke out, the factory was re-commissioned and all the captured equipment was scrapped.

Russia is believed to have a very large number of Luftwaffe aircraft lying undiscovered in remote locations and lakes, and a large number of aircraft are believed to lie in European lakes, only time,money and resources will tell.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I did hear that an aircraft factory in Chicago was used as as a storage facility for a lot of captured material, but when the Korean war broke out, the factory was re-commissioned and all the captured equipment was scrapped.

What factory was that?

 

[PJay]

The Spanish got a bunch of He-111's and Bf 109's. Re-engined with Merlins.
This is my first post here, I guess this has been mentioned before but I haven't read the rest of the Board yet (LOL)

 

[imalko]

Spanish didn't got them, they build them themselves by licenced production and they used Merlin engines because the original DB and Jumo engines were in short supply.

And by the way welcome to the forum PJay.

 

[Haztoys]

Now Japanese planes and wrecks stayed on some islands in the Pacific for some time after the war...Ssome whole ..Untell some years later they came back with scrap ships and halled it all back home ..

 

[Beefy103]

Hi, my first post,

I have always been wondered about what happened to Axis aircraft after the war, so googled it and found this excellent forum.

I have just been watching a 1953 British film called They Who Dare and it showed a group of soldeirs blowing up an airfield full of Savoia Marchetti SM.79's. What was interesting was the credits said thanks to the Lebonese Air Force, so I guess some of the planes could have ended up in the Middle East.

Don't worry, when they blew up it was clear they were models.

 

[wuzak]

Weren't many destroyed by the Luftwaffe?

As the Allied armies closed in, aircraft that were not able to fly (due to lack of fuel or other reasons) were detroyed so they would not fall into Allied hands.

Certainly the case with some Do335s.

 

[Kryten]

Never mind the Axis planes, it's a pure travesty that no Westland Whirlwind and only one Typhoon have survived!

 

[johnbr]

And how on that.

 

[GregP]

Interesting that an Fw 190D-13 was indentified since only two were ever confirmed as delivered, though 17 were supposed to have been built.

 

[nuuumannn]

Sadly, even though a number of Axis aeroplanes survivied the war to be put in museums, some of these were destroyed by the organisations entrusted to save them. The Australian War Memorial had the only surviving complete Ki-21 'Sally' bomber, but it was scrapped in the 1950s because there was no space for it in the museum. A Bf 109E-4 was scrapped in 1948 (I think) in New Zealand because there was no longer any interest in it after being offered to the Canterbury Museum. There are a whole lot more stories like this in the UK and USA.

I have a book somewhere called Broken Wings of the Samurai full of sobering images of Japanese aircraft being junked after the war. There were so many at some places they just bulldozed them into a heap and set the lot alight, then buried the remains.

 

[proton45]

I've heard jokes told about old Japanese fighter planes, being made into aluminum pots and pans....

 

[yulzari]

I've heard jokes told about old Japanese fighter planes, being made into aluminum pots and pans....

View attachment 194182

By no means a joke. BMW only survived after WW1 by turning out pots and pans instead of engines.

 

[Readie]

It really is a shame that so many types, not just axis, were scrapped after the war. But, I suppose after more than five years of war, the last thing on people's minds was the preservation of aircraft for history.
Sadly, it's still happening now. About four or five years ago, I was amazed, and slightly puzzled, to see a Tornado F3 in the museum at Duxford. This aircraft was/is a type still in service with the R.A.F., so my immediate reaction was 'What's it doing here?!' But at least it shows that some people have the foresight to preserve current, or soon to be out of service, aircraft types for future generations. It might mean very little, today, to see a modern jet in a museum, but in 50 or 60 years time, it'll be the equivalent, to the generation then, of us seeing, for example, a Spitfire or Mustang.
Let's hope this practice continues, although it really is a shame that at least one of all types weren't preserved at the end of the war - it'd be nice to have a Stirling, a Dornier 17, Whirlwind etc.

I completely agree with you.
It is a shame but, in war weary Europe preservation was not high on the agenda. Getting back to normal and in German cities, somewhere to live was a pressing need.
We continue to bin aircraft and naval vessels to this day. The vets of the Falklands are all but gone.
One day we'll be sorry.
John

 

[Hotntot]

At least a Nimrod MR2 (XV244) - has been secured for a planned aeospace visitor centre in Moray for display alongside exhibits like a Seaking Heli, Tornado, Jaguar, Buccaneer, Harrier, and Hunter, together with other stuff like an IMAX theatre. The cockpit and forward fuselage section of another MR2 has been bought by the Morayvia charity group as well. All sounds like hopeful stuff and an interesting Museum experience with the extra section. And hopefully, their plan will be to allow vistors into the fuselage section to see an example of the inside in some sort of walk through.

MORAYVIA | Registered Charity SC042895. A tourism project to help diversify Moray's economy

 

[nuuumannn]

We continue to bin aircraft and naval vessels to this day.

One of the saddest losses of a ship was the German battlecruiser Goeben, the last survivor of the Kaiser's navy above water, which was given to the Turks in WW1 as the Yavuz Sultan Selim and survived until the late sixties. Turkey was offered by the West German government to preserve the ship, but tragically the Turks scrapped it in 1971-72.

 

[Elmas]

Same old story........