Wednesday 31 March 2010

Me 262s of III./JG 7 undergo maintenance at Brandenburg-Briest, April 1945

Atmospheric shots taken from a German TV 'doku' depict Me 262 jet fighters of III./JG 7 undergoing maintenance at Brandenburg-Briest, April 1945. The aircraft  seen in the first few frames is a Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a of 11./JG7 parked off the runway at Brandenburg-Briest.





Groundcrew glad in their ubiquitous black overalls attend to the 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose of 11./JG 7's 'White 8' prior to another sortie from Brandenburg-Briest in the spring of 1945.






Note the unusual 'tortoise shell' camouflage finish and the green tactical number '2' barely discernible under the JG 7 'running fox' emblem on the nose of the aircraft. This machine is displaying the chevron and bar of the Geschwader Operations Officer although may have been flown by the Kommodore Mjr. Weissenberger. It is not known if this aircraft belonged to the Gruppenstab of the III. Gruppe or had been assigned to the Geschwaderstab. Note the Stab command makings on the rear fuselage are those from the Gruppenstab. However there is no III. Gruppe vertical bar present. Why this aircraft should be wearing a combination of Geschwader and Gruppe markings is uncertain. Similar screen shots were also used by Robert Forsyth in his Osprey JG7 title.