Jens Bechler 'Aufschlagbrand' - Ta 152, Alteno

Wartime crash researcher Jens Bechler has published three volumes in his 'Aufschlagbrand' series. The term 'Aufschlagbrand' (lit. 'impact fire') generally refers to two distinct aspects. On the one hand, it describes the moment when, typically as a result of enemy fire, an aircraft hits the ground and bursts into flames. Otherwise, it refers to the cause of death for pilots and crews involved in such accidents. The term was used extensively by the Luftwaffe in corresponding reports and loss lists. Author Bechler, based in Dresden, was the founder of the organisation 'Vermisstenforschung' devoted to wartime crash-site investigations. In his book(s) and work at crash sites, Bechler strives to elucidate the fates of those aviators 'killed in action' in the last few months of the war as the Soviets closed in on Dresden.

Bechler's 'Aufschlagbrand Band I'- first published in 2009 and reprinted last year - published a 'new' and particularly rare image of the well-known JG 301 Ta 152 line-up photographed at Alteno (near Dresden) in February 1945.  

 The airfield at Alteno - developed by the Russians post-war with the construction of a concrete runway - lies some 70 miles north of Dresden and south-west of the Focke Wulf production plant at Cottbus.  Unfortunately there are no credits and no information about the image in the book. Or anywhere else for that matter. The publisher Flugbücher Verlag in Pirna, on the Elbe river near Dresden, does not appear to be a going concern. I have attempted to contact the author himself but with no result. As for the image - well, the book has little or no Ta 152 content either!  Thanks to Gunter Lauser for pointing out that Bechler has produced three volumes of 'Aufschlagbrand' - that all look quite similar.