Exhibition of Enemy Aircraft, Hyde Park, London September 1945

WNr. 191454 'Yellow 11' Me 163 B

Prior to the RAE Exhibition of Enemy Aircraft at Farnborough in October and November 1945, the RAF organised an exhibition of enemy aircraft in London's Hyde Park from 16-22 September 1945. The aircraft came from no.6 MU RAF Brize Norton and comprised a Me 163, He 162, Me (Bf) 108 Taifun, Bf 110 G, Fw 190, Ju 88 G and an Fi 156. It is most likely that these went back there afterwards, although the He 162 went to Canada.  Most of the aircraft at Brize Norton were scrapped or put on the bonfire in 1946 or '47. According to Clive Barker, there were more than 70 enemy aircraft at Brize Norton at the end of 1947 mostly parked outside. Among others there were approximately 20 Me163s and 20 Ju 52s. The bad winter of 1946/47 took it's toll on most of the larger aircraft which were either blown over or struck by flying debris. By the end of 1948 all had been dismantled and buried in pits on site along with their regular job of disposing of surplus Spitfires, Spitefuls and Liberators.

The photograph below was used in the 13 September 1945 issue of  'Flight' magazine to illustrate the upcoming event

Fieseler Fi 103 R-4 Reichenberg piloted V-1 flying bomb - photo call at the Lashenden Air Warfare museum, Headcorn, Kent

It has been an exciting few days for Luftwaffe enthusiasts based in Kent, England. The Dornier Do 17 Z salvage and arrival onshore in Ramsgate harbour has of course received enormous media coverage. Perhaps just as exciting and unfortunately less well publicised was a rare photo call for the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum's superb Fieseler Fi 103 R-4 Reichenberg based at Headcorn, north of Ashford.. 

You may be aware that this unique aircraft was restored by the Auktionshaus für historische Technikon in Germany  and came back to the UK earlier this year. It is not actually due to go on display until a new display hall is built and as such is still in storage. Subject to planning permission and a good summer, it was hoped to have the extension built by August 2013 but the museum still needs to raise £40,000 to complete the hall. The project suffered a setback a while ago with the theft of the steel uprights that were to be used in the construction of the building. However, the aircraft will make an appearance at the Combined Ops Weekend at Headcorn Aerodrome on 17/18 August if the building is not ready by then.According to curator Trevor Matthews this will be the first opportunity to view the restored cockpit, which is more or less complete save for the harness..

In the meantime donations are of course welcomed. You can donate online at the museum's website www.lashendenairwarfaremuseum.co.uk or by sending a cheque to Lashenden Air Warfare Museum, Headcorn Aerodrome, Shenley Road, Headcorn, Kent TN27 9HX made payable to LAWM. All donations will be acknowledged on a sponsor's wall within the new building. Pictures reproduced here with the kind permission of LAWM curator Trevor Matthews, seen below in the high-viz jacket doing some of the donkey work. 

" .. the Fi 103 R was a piloted FZG -76 V 1 flying bomb test flown by Hanna Reitsch. Modifications include the addition of a four foot (1.2m) belly skid and basic eight-instrument cockpit containing a backless wooden seat and crude headrest. A stick controls the elevators and ailerons, the throttle was made of wood and a button controlled fuel flow. Frightening to fly, surely...."

Michael Bowyer on the RAE German aircraft and Equipment Exhibition, Farnborough, England October 1945

The 'Reichenberg/Leonidas' Staffel was a planned suicide unit set up under the auspices of Otto Skorzeny and attached to KG 200. The Me 328 was initially selected as the aircraft to equip this Staffel but when these aircraft could not be delivered work started on producing a piloted version of the FZG 76/V-1. The conversion work was undertaken by the DFS at Ainring and entailed the provision of a cockpit with instruments and conventional controls. Testing soon showed that the aircraft had to be released from a carrier Heinkel He 111 rather than from the V 1 steam catapult - KG 53 had been air-launching unmanned V-1s against the UK from over the North Sea in similar fashion. In total Fieseler converted some 175 Reichenberg Fi 103s although it would appear that none were used operationally..

Note;  sadly Trevor passed away during the Covid pandemic. On a recent visit his widow was manning the museum. I would imagine the project to build a exhibition hall for the Reichenberg is probably stalled.

Freeman field air show footage September 1945

A selection of still images from a superb video compilation of two films shot during the September 1945 airshow at Freeman Field. The aircraft seen both in the air and on the ground are nothing short of spectacular. Many of the remaining captured aircraft have yet to arrive. The original Freeman Army Airfield Museum video has been posted on Facebook here

The footage opens with a sequence of the Junkers Ju 290 landing and taxiing in. The story of this machine's transfer to the US and subsequent 'display' career is covered on this blog at the following link

http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-celebrated-junkers-ju-290-alles.html

Film footage of a captured enemy aircraft display held in Moscow is posted on this blog at the following link

http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2011/05/wartime-colour-film-of-catured-german.html

Wartime colour film of captured German equipment exhibition Moscow -stills and video

Video and still selection from wartime colour film of catured German equipment exhibition Moscow. Towards the end of the 11-minute clip there are views of a Tiger, Elefant and Sturer Emil for AFV fans. A single click on the video to view here.

Interesting colours - the He 111, Do 217 (?) & Ju 88 are all finished in what looks to like a Russian representation of German fighter greys, although if these machines haven't been repainted they must be faded greens- the Ju 88 scheme above in particular looks rather fanciful..

Heinkel He 219 V-4, Ju 88 P-1 and Ju 290 A-2 at Rechlin exhibition September 1943 (1)

On 3 September 1943 an important Leistungsschau or exhibition was held at the Luftwaffe Erprobungs or test centre, E Stelle Rechlin (Mecklenburg). A crowd of  of high-ranking members of the Generalstab and the Rüstungsstab - Milch, Galland and Speer all attended - hosted by Oberst Petersen, Kommandeur of the E Stelle, enjoyed a demonstration of the latest German types and weaponry. Both Beuteflugzeuge captured types (including a Short Stirling and DH Mosquito in the picture above) and the latest Luftwaffe aeronautical achievements were on show in a "display of the strength of the Luftwaffe" according to press reports. 

At this stage of the war the Luftwaffe hierarchy must have been confident in the apparent superiority of their aircraft and weapons systems - according to at least one source, it was while attending this exhibtion that Speer was handed a telegram by Milch effectively cancelling full scale production of the Me 262 on Hitler's orders - the new jet was surplus to requirements for winning the war!  Other pictures taken at the same event show GfM Milch and armaments minister Speer in discussion in front of the Ju 88 V-45, a prototype which had a jet engine slung under its port wing for testing. The top secret He 219 nightfighter and other types then in development such as the Ju 88 P with its enormous 7.5 cm anti-tank cannon were also on view and the flying display included such types as the huge four-engine Ju 290. A small circle of selected reporters and journalists were present at the exhibition including Hans Hubmann, whose archive is now part of the collection of the BPK (Bildarchiv Preussicher Kulturbesitz) covered in an earlier post on this blog. Jet and Prop magazine published a report on the exhibition in an issue dated 01/ 2001. In a second post we'll look at some of the Beute aircraft on show which included, in addition to the Mosquito and Stirling, a B-17 and Il-2.




According to Peter Petrick this is 'DH+PT' the He 219 V-4 WNr.  19004. The aerial array of the FuG 202 Lichtenstein airborne radar is noteworthy. Click on the images for a slightly bigger view.

Ju 88 P with its enormous 7.5 cm anti-tank cannon housed in a ventral gondola.  

Pictures below show the Ju 290 preparing to get airborne at the show and performing a fly past.  This was Ju 290 A-2 'SB+QG'  WNr. 0157 

 .