Crash-landed Junkers Ju 88 TOP! - Daily Ebay Luftwaffe photo find

 Crash-landed Junkers Ju 88 down in Holland - courtesy of Marco at Koelsch333 Ebay sales - click on the photo to see the full view

II./JG 3 ace Arnold Bringmann, Lt. Karl-Heinz Bendert II./ JG 27 Bf 109 Friedrich - Daily Ebay Luftwaffe photo find

Me 109 E "gelbe 10" of 6./JG 52

Me 109 E der 6./JG 52 mit Wappen in Speyer March 1940

Above; Me 109 E "schwarze 11" of 5./JG 3 in St.Omer-Arques during the winter of 1940/41. Pilot in the photo is Gefr. Arnold Bringmann (on the right in lower image) who survived the war with "at least" 30 victories including 2 Abschüße while flying a Me 262 with III./JG 7.

"Yellow 10" of 6./ JG 3

Below; Bringmann's Me 109 Friedrich "rote 2" (5./JG 30 probably in Darmstadt-Griesheim April/May 1941

Above; seated on the engine cowling ahead of the windscreen in cap, is RK holder Lt. Karl-Heinz Bendert, an ace with II./JG 27 seen during a period of instructing with 2./Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Süd (JGr Süd) in the south of France. Below left, RK obscured.

Further views below. Although not of particularly good quality, a couple of snapshots taken at Salon, an airfield that I lived close to in a previous life, so always of interest. According to the seller these are Me 109 F/G serving with 2./JGr Süd seen on the airfield at Salon de Provence (south of France) during May 1943. Left, seated in the deckchair is Jagdlehrer (Fighter instructor) Lt. Karl-Heinz Bendert, an RK holder (here obscured), awarded on 30 December 1942 - Bendert tallied 55 Luftsiege in the West, including 10 Viermots - untypically for the average Luftwaffe over-claimer Bendert was dogged by controversy over the validity of certain of his claims..

All these images currently on offer at Michael Meyer's Ebay sales

 FW 190 A WNr 324 probably assigned to Stab I./JG 26 pilot Uffz. Heinz Klems im August 1942, Rottenflieger to the Gkr. Hptm. Johannes Seiffert RK

Me 323 SG+RD WNr.1230 of I./KGrzbV 323, spring 1943

Junkers Ju 88 Fernaufklärungsgruppe (long range recce) over the Med

Below; neat selection of machines serving with Aufklärungsgruppe 123 somewhere in the Med - probably Sicily - according to the seller funzel300. Click on the photos to see a larger view

Above; the Staffelesel  - donkey on the strength of 2.(F).Aufkl.Gr.123

According to the entry on the Aufklärungsgruppe 123 wikiluftwaffedata page 2.(F)/123's 2000th combat sortie was flown on 23 Aug 1942 - Fw. August Fastenrodt and Ofw Alfred Nitsch flew on 2./123's 2000th combat sortie. The inscription on the reverse of this image reads " 2000th combat sortie, crew (Besatzung) Oblt. Bournat "  

Bf 110 Ofw. Helmut Haugk 7./ZG 26 Sicily 1941 - Daily Luftwaffe Ebay photo find

Given the six Abschußbalken visible on the tailfin this may well be the III./ZG 26 Bf 110 D/E  assigned to the future Ritterkreuzträger Ofw. Helmut Haugk during 1941 on Sicily. Haugk flew at the start of the war with 7./ZG 26 and was posted to 9. Staffel on 14 April 1942.  Haugk achieved his sixth victory on 28 September 1940 and his seventh and eighth came on 24 November 1941.

Perhaps his most successful sortie was flown on 29 August 1942 against USAAF bombers - he claimed two B-24 Liberators shot down and forced the bomber Pulks to emergency jettison their loads. He was awarded the RK during December 1942.

Currently on offer here

new tool Zvezda Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-4 in 1:72nd - sprue shots (large) first look

courtesy of Alexey at northstar models.com here is a first look at the new tool Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-4 due from Zvezda in 1:72nd scale. Like last year's very good Bf 109 Friedrich  - which I reviewed in the box here and subsequently finished here  - this is another release in Zvesda's clip-together range. Yes, previous kits in this series do really snap together in double-quick time but are still jam-packed with detail and finely molded parts. Here, I particularly like the correct pattern early inner gear doors and the gear bay detail with the cannon barrels and waffle pattern wells. Obviously there will be a bit of a seam to hide where the fuselage 'sits' on top of the wing but at least this more or less runs along the structural 'join' that appears on the real machine. And any potential issues around dihedral and wing root fit are cleverly avoided. Also rather neat is the way the locating lug for the canopy appears to be molded into the rear of the sloping 'metallic' part of the frame thus enabling it to be hidden from view, unlike last year's Friedrich where it obviously had to be part of the clear frame..you can click on these images for a larger view. Thanks Alexey!

My completed build is also posted on this blog
http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/focke-wulf-fw-190-4-from-zvezda-in.html

Henschel Hs 123 Geschwader Immelmann, Nachtjäger Me 110 NJG 4 - Daily Ebay Luftwaffe photo find

Lovely clear shots of a Henschel Hs 123 undergoing weapons harmonisation on the Fliegerhorst at Fürstenfeldbruck, photos from the album of a Waffenmeister (armourer) serving with Geschwader Immelmann. Note the Vorkriegstarnung, pre-war camouflage scheme. Click on the photo to see the full image. Currently on offer via Ebay seller jarka 1977



Bf 110 of either NJG 4 or 5, taken over the Argonnerwald, 1943. Note the  "Englandblitz" Abzeichen and the Kennung 3C+GS. On offer here . 

new Luftwaffe books reviewed - February 2013 'V.(Z) /KG 40 Wolves over the Atlantic'

The original history of V.(Z) /KG 40, 'Bloody Biscay', is just about due for a reprint from Crecy. However if you already have the old text then you might like to consider this much more colourful edition just published by Lela Presse in their Batailles Aeriennes quarterly series. Entitled 'Wolves over the Atlantic', this French-language 100-page A-4 format soft back monograph features new photographic material, super Thierry Dekker artwork and a fifteen-page 'presentation' of the Junkers Ju 88 C-6 with photos and handbook drawings from the archive of Jean-Louis Roba - all for just 12 euros..

V.(Z)/KG 40 was the Zerstörergruppe or heavy fighter wing of KG 40 and was initially established with a complement of three Staffeln to which a fourth was later added.  The unit’s long range fighters were chiefly deployed on U-boot  and shipping escort protection sorties over and across the Bay of Biscay, where vessels of all types could potentially come under attack from RAF Coastal Command and US Air Force aircraft.

A formation flight of Ju 88 C-6 machines of  14./KG 40 seen in the late spring/early summer of 1943 over southern France. The aircraft in the shot are "F8+OY" and "F8+LY". A number of the Staffel’s aircraft typically wore this light camo finish. 

Above; Oblt. Kurt Necesany and his crew flew  14./KG 40’s 500th Feindflug or combat sortie on 21 May 1943 and were duly feted on their return home to Lorient by their Staffel comrades in front of their Ju 88 C-6 "F8+RY". They were presented with flowers and a sign reading: "Congratulations on the 500th combat flight"..


Of the unit's other leading pilots, Lt. Knud Gmelin of 13./KG 40 brought down an RAF B-24 Liberator on 3 September 1943. On 18 September 1943 the Rotte of Oblt. Dieter Meister and Lt. Knud Gmelin of 13./KG 40 encountered a Horsa cargo glider under tow by a Halifax. Both pilots lined up firing passes on the four-engine machine which promptly cast off the glider. The Halifax came under heavy fire from Lt. Gmelin, but managed to escape. Oblt. Meister finished off the  Horsa glider.

The nose armament of  the Ju 88 C Zerstörer (eg "F8+MX" of 13./KG 40 in early 1943 in Bordeaux-Merignac) typically comprised three MG 17 7,9 mm in the upper nose and a single MG 15 7,9 mm mounted in the lower nose.