Dewoitine D.520s and Arados in JG 105, Chartres

 

A line-up of D.520s with a single Ar 96 of JG 105 in early 1944. The story of JFS 5/JG 105 from June 1941 to June 1944 is told in Avions issue No. 253 (July/August 2023). 

The numbers of machines and pilots lost during 1944 is notable, no doubt the result of short-cuts in training programmes, the employment of non-German types, Allied bombing raids on French airfields and RAF fighter sweeps. During February 1944 there was an accident or incident every day of the month  - on 6 February a strafing attack destroyed two  D.520s and on the 9th a D.520 was shot down by 166 Sqn Typhoons**. During March 1944 Chartres was bombed on the 2nd (six D.520s damaged or destroyed), raided by RAF Typhoons of 174 Sqn on the 16th and bombed again on 27 March (five D.520s destroyed). During April 1944 there were over 60 accidents and incidents with an important bombing raid on April 10. In total, some 51 aircraft were damaged or written off during the month. The last mention of a D.520 in JG 105 was 20 April 1944 - by now spare parts were likely at a premium and none of the D.520s went back to Germany with the unit, a transfer that got underway on 7 June.

Click on the image for a wide-screen view.

A closer view of the two D.520s nearest the camera 'yellow 77' and 'yellow 76'. The spires of the cathedral in Chartres can be seen in the background.

**

"..During a 'Ranger' to the Chartres area on 9 February, Plt Off D. Erasmus of 266 Sqn claimed a Bf 109 shot down. This was in fact a Dewoitine D.520, an ex-Armée de l´Air fighter taken over by the Luftwaffe and used by JG 105, which was based at Chartres. D.520 No 483 was shot down and Uffz. Woll was killed. Four days later (on 13 February 1944) Sqn Ldr G.B. Warnes of 263 Squadron, also a Typhoon unit, claimed another Bf 109 in the same area. Again this was a D.520 of JG 105 - No 664 in which Uffz. Bartl was killed. It is interesting to note that at this time the Luftwaffe operated four such Jagdgeschwader in France, which would continue to operate until August 1944 (sic), when there was a general withdrawal back to Germany. The other units were JG 101 at Pau, JG 103 at Chateauroux and JG 107 at Nancy."

 In '2nd TAF' by Shores and Thomas

Le Fana latest issue Sept 2024 - Luftwaffe pilot training in south-western France (excavating an Emil)

 

by Gilles Collaveri

"...31 January 1944, Pau, south-west France. Friedrich Kisslinger climbed into the cockpit of a Messerschmitt 109 E coded ‘red 5', an E-3 built by Erla in April 1940, from a batch of 500 constructed between August 1939 and April 1940. According to German archives, it had already been damaged twice, the first time on 29 August 1942, when it sustained 35% damages in northern France, and a second time on 25 March 1943, again at 35%, at La Rochelle Laleu airport [when a plane was damaged, the Luftwaffe recorded the degree of destruction. Thus 100% meant total loss]. Friedrich Kisslinger was 21 years old and had followed the standard curriculum by learning to fly gliders before arriving in Pau. On 31 January he got airborne. Once at altitude, he somehow lost control of his aircraft and was unable to stabilise it. When he finally bailed out he was too low. He was killed on impact with the ground, and his plane crashed nearby. How did the young Friedrich Kisslinger find himself in 1944 in south-west France? Quite simply because in 1943 and 1944, Tarbes, Pau and Toulouse were three major Luftwaffe training bases. These airfields were far from the front line and enjoyed decent weather, ideal for training young pilots. Jagdgeschwader 101 and the Jagdgruppe Ost, Süd and West were based here. Formed at the end of 1942, JG 101 was based in Pau, Tarbes and Ossun, while JGr. West and Ost were based in Cazaux, Biarritz, Toulouse, Mont de-Marsan and Landes-de-Bussac. These training units sometimes opposed Allied raids. On 5 March 1944, for example, Chuck Yeager's P-51 B was shot down by Irmfried Klötz, a young pilot from JGr. West flying the Fw 190..." 

So-called 'Idiotenbock' Emil trainer with 'fixed' landing gear and wing-tip 'stabilisers'  -   from reading the piece it is not clear if they were flown like this - that seems unlikely. These 'skids' were more likely designed as an aid to 'rough-field' taxiing. 

 After a long investigation and thanks to local eye witness accounts, Gilles Collaveri's association "Aérocherche" located the field where Friedrich Kisslinger's Me 109 crashed. Parts of the aircraft were uncovered, albeit damaged where the field had been ploughed. Nonetheless, one oil temperature gauge plate had miraculously remained intact because it was folded in half, protecting the inscriptions. It confirmed that the 'aviation archaeologists' of  'Aerocherche' were looking at the remains of an Emil. Numerous parts gradually came to light: equipment components, a fragment of an instrument panel counter, ammunition cases of different calibre: cannon and machine guns. Some of them still showed traces of green camouflage paint. In the spirit of respect and remembrance the pilot's family was located near Munich, more specifically the pilot's nephew, who shared the same first and last name as his uncle. He expressed a strong desire to visit the site of his uncle's crash. More than 70 years after the accident, Friedrich Kisslinger arrived from Germany with his son to visit the crash site of his uncle's Me 109 ‘red 5’. 

See Friedrich Kisslinger's visit towards the end of Gilles 20-minute film on Vimeo here

Parts of this article were previously posted on line at the Aérocherche FB page here

Melitta v. Stauffenberg " The Countess who crossed Hitler " by Richard Whittle

 

A heads-up for aerospace author Richard Whittle's latest article just published in the 'Summer 2024' edition of the National Air and Space Museum magazine " Air & Space Quarterly ". A former research fellow at the NASM, Richard has turned his research skills to the career and mysterious demise of Germany's 'other' female test pilot, Melitta von Stauffenberg. He sheds new light on the various theories surrounding her death at the end of the war. On 8 April 1945, while at the controls of a Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann trainer en route to Schoenberg - perhaps to rescue her husband imprisoned by the regime after his brother's failed assassination attempt on the Führer - and navigating along a rail track running near the Danube in the vicinity of Strasskirchen, Bavaria, she was shot down, by whom it is - or rather was - unclear. According to German author Gerhard Bracke, Me 109s may have been involved. And according to eye witnesses she managed to successfully crash-land the aircraft, but apparently later died from her 'non life-threatening' injuries in hospital in Straubing, possibly at the hands of the Gestapo. In a recent message to this blog, Richard writes, " the Bücker 181 Melitta was flying was placed at her disposal by a Major at the Flugzeugführerschule A 114 in Marienbad, where she had ended up on April 6. But Marienbad is in the Czech Republic today, and she took off on April 8 from somewhere in the vicinity of Straubing, maybe Flugplatz Straubing, it seems. The plane she was flying bore the registration GY + BL. I am continuing my research, specifically regarding information on the airfield Melitta departed from on April 8, 1945.."

Go to the NASM quarterly magazine 'Air and Space' 

 Also on this blog;

The Third Reich's 'other' female test pilot

Beute French and FFS training types in Luftwaffe service

NAA 57 and 64 with JG 107 in France in Luftwaffe service

erbeutete französische Flugzeuge im Dienste der Luftwaffe vom JG. 107 in Frankreich " Nancy-Essay" (Ochey)

Below; Morane MS 230 "RC+QO" of A 52 Danzig-Langfuhr seen in early 1944 and displaying the emblem of A/B 5 Seerappen, re-named Sch/FAR 33 Quakenbrück. Probably used as a glider tug Schleppflugzeug at Strebeldorf.

Bü 131 "KV+NS" and two 2 Bü 181 of A 52 Danzig-Langfuhr seen in early summer 1944

Si 204 D of C 14 Prag-Gbell, late summer 1943

Germany’s ‘other’ WWII female test pilot - Melitta Schiller, Gräfin (Countess) von Stauffenberg

I picked up the latest Classic monograph this weekend - Eddie Nielinger Creek’s superlative history of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. I was particularly interested in the brief pilot bios dotted throughout the book and especially the profile devoted to Germany’s ‘other’ WWII female test pilot - Melitta Schiller, later the Gräfin (Countess) von Stauffenberg.

Schiller was born in 1903 in the then-German province of Posen, now in Poland, the daughter of a Jewish civil engineer. She studied maths, physics and engineering, eventually specialising in aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. She worked as an engineer for DVL in Berlin and started flying lessons. She then worked for Askania developing navigation and steering systems for seaplanes such as the Ha 139 and the Do 18. In 1937 she married the historian Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – an event that would have dramatic consequences later in the war. Alexander was the brother of Claus von Stauffenberg....


However throughout the pre-war and early war years Melitta’s career was essentially a programme of intensive test flying -  spending up to ten hours per day in the air, flying literally thousands of sorties, principally in dive bombers, where she contributed to the development of the Stuka’s automatic pilot and pull-out. For her work on these programmes Melitta Stauffenberg was one of the rare recipients of Goering's own award, the Goldene Flugzeugführerabzeichen mit Brillanten - the pilot's badge in Gold with diamonds.

And then in July 1944 Claus von Stauffenberg triggered operation “Valkyrie” the failed Hitler bomb plot, thereby setting in motion a train of events that would apparently lead directly to Melitta Schiller’s death.

As news of the failed putsch came through she and her husband resigned themselves to ‘Sippenhaft’(imprisonment) as family members of an ‘enemy of the Reich’ - and worse. Both were arrested along with others in the Stauffenberg family. However in late August 1944 Melitta Schiller's release was secured by Hajo Herrmann so that she could pursure her work, described as ‘kriegswichtig’ – important for the war effort.  This suggests there was no real suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy with her brother-in-law to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  However according to Gerhard Bracke in his book “Das Leben einer Fliegerin” ( 'The life of an aviatrix') Melitta Stauffenberg had been approached to participate in the assassination plot. She was to fly von Stauffenberg directly back to Berlin after the bomb had gone off but had been unable to get directly involved (rather than refusing outright) as she was not able to gain access to a suitable aircraft..( Bracke p. 178) Following her release from 'Sippenhaft' she was able to visit her husband and sister-in-law in prison while continuing her flight testing for the regime...

Writing in Aeroplane magazine in June 1999 Barbara Schlussler stated that ‘confusion surrounds Melitta’s death’. The ‘accepted’ version of events is that she was shot down by American fighters. During early April 1945, with the collapse of the Third Reich imminent, Melitta set out to locate her husband who was still languishing in jail. On 8 April 1945, while at the controls of a Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann trainer en route to Schoenberg - perhaps to rescue her husband-  and navigating along a rail track running near the Danube in the vicinity of Strasskirchen, Bavaria, she was bounced by a P-51. According to eye witnesses she managed to successfully crash-land the aircraft, but apparently later died from her injuries in hospital in Straubing. 

In the last chapter of his biography Gerhard Bracke looks at the ‘conspiracy’ theories surrounding Melitta Stauffenberg’s final hours. He presents evidence to suggest that the aircraft that shot down Melitta Stauffenberg were Me 109s (there were matching no US fighter claims) and looks at Gestapo involvement in her death. Bracke quotes at length another eyewitness who helped Melitta Stauffenberg out of the wreckage of her aircraft-  “ her injuries amounted to no more than a broken leg and were in no way life threatening”. Melitta Schiller must rank as one of the leading female test pilots in aviation history but her record as a test pilot is over-shadowed by the manner of her death. She will probably be best 'remembered' - if she is at all - as the sister-in-law of Claus von Stauffenberg, instigator of “Valkyrie”, the failed Hitler bomb plot.

 Model by Ed Russell

“...SF+WR is but one candidate for the Bu181 Melitta Stauffenberg was flying that day but it's one of the few documented to be attached to Fliegschule A/B 23. This is the old but neat Huma kit. The only additions were some sheet plastic card to the underside of the centre section which is rather flat on the kit but convex on the Bu181, a little detail in the cockpit. I also added the front engine cylinder, replaced the exhausts with cored-out solder and replace the tiny semi-circular windows with clear PVA. Paint is standard Model Master 70/71/65. I used some of the kit decals and some done on an Alps. The camera is cruel and emphasises the minimal silvering...”