WWII Plane Wreckage ID Help Needed

[mrpeanut05]

Hey guys!

Just bought a neat little group of photos on ebay and stumbled across these three shots. Can anyone ID what type of plane it is? I assume it is German but it may be British.....

Thanks for the help guys

 

[Capt. Vick]

Off the top of my head I'm going to say it is a French LeO 451 impressed into German servive (hence the splinter camo). - At least for the top and right picture.

 

[Matt308]

Hmmm... Bristol Bleinheim was my first guess, but the cowls and flaps don't look right. Doesn't look Italian. Interesting.

 

[Matt308]

Off the top of my head I'm going to say it is a French LeO 451 impressed into German servive (hence the splinter camo). - At least for the top and right picture.

Nice one!!! I think you may have it Vick.

 

[Matt308]

Note that the main gear have begun to buckle through the top of the wing panels at what appears to be exactly the same location noted in the orthogonal pics. The fuselage diameter looks right, the aft gunner's station location looks right, the flaps and flap hinges look right. And the small window just aft of the cockpit looks right. I think we might have a winner.

 

[mrpeanut05]

Wow!
You guys work quick! Thanks for your help, this was an obscure one! Were these commonly reused and repainted by the Germans?

 

[Matt308]

War expediency. With France falling in 13 days, they had lots of hardware just sitting around. Planes, tanks, trucks, weapons, etc all put in service for mostly behind front lines security and support.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Nicely done CV!

 

[GrauGeist]

Good call!

I couldn't quite place it, the wing root to fuselage was throwing me...

 

[Arsenal VG-33]

War expediency. With France falling in 13 days,

??? Hostilities ended on June 25, 45 days after the battle began on May 10.

I'm unsure if any of the LeO 451s were used in combat roles by the Germans other than secondary roles as already mentioned, but they did see limited action in the Middle East in the Levant by Vichy forces (Syria and Lebanon). In North Africa, several were impressed back into active service there and conducted bombing raids in Tunisa as well as being used as transport, both by Free French and US forces. Is it also believed Italy were given some by the Germans as part of the Armistice terms, though I'm not able to find what happened to them.

I don't suppose a location is given with the photos?

 

[Matt308]

??? Hostilities ended on June 25, 45 days after the battle began on May 10.

So Arsenal your quote is from beginning of hostilities to surrender. We all know that. Tell us YOUR opinion of how many days from beginning of hostilities to when France was strategically lost? This isn't a pissing contest on getting our facts correct within a three-sigma margin. Jeez...

 

[Arsenal VG-33]

So Arsenal your quote is from beginning of hostilities to surrender. We all know that. Tell us YOUR opinion of how many days from beginning of hostilities to when France was strategically lost? This isn't a pissing contest on getting our facts correct within a three-sigma margin. Jeez...

If one were to look at it in terms of being strategically hopeless, I would say that it wasn't until after June 17 when the armies of the Maginot Line were cut off. With the initial 2-3 days after Fall Rot began on June 5, even the most depressed generals in the French high command gained renewed hope. The most significant difference in Fall Gelb and Fall Rot, is that German casualties even doubled. I'm curious to know why in your opinion, it was only 13 days. I felt you were stating it as fact. Belgium lasted 18.

 

[mrpeanut05]

The photos were taken at an airfield in Germany in June of 45. I will throw in a few more photos from the same album which were taken on the airfield.