CHAPTER FOUR
After France’s capitulation at the end of June 1940, the Luftwaffe turned its attention to Britain. On some occasions, British planes damaged over the Channel had to land on the mainland. A few planes could then be captured in a relatively good state when their pilots made a belly landing.
On 15 August 1940, P/O Richard Hardy of No. 234 Sq. had his plane AZ-H (nicknamed ‘Dirty Dick’) damaged by Flak before being forced by a pilot of III./JG 53 to land at Cherbourg.
AZ-H (N3277) raised on its wheels, so that German pilots could photograph the wing machine gun emplacements.
Men of JG 53 were particularly interested in the personal insignia painted on the Spitfire.
A better view of AZ-H’s insignia.
Damage caused by the Flak shell are visible on the rear of the cockpit. Notice the first word of the nickname ‘Dirty Dick’.
AZ-H is rapidly partly covered by camouflage. It will later be evacuated to Germany for testing.
A few bombers also made force landings and entered the German Airforce. Again, it is difficult to give numbers for those captures.
At the time of the Battle of Britain, Germany acquired new French planes. To reinforce its Seenot (sea rescue) units, the Luftwaffe bought a few Breguet Bizerte flying boats to operate alongside He 59s, Do 18s and soon Do 24s.
The same day (15 August), P/O Ralph Roberts of No. 64 Sq. landed his Spitfire SH-W (K9664) near Marck, the Calais airfield, after combat with 7./JG 26. This plane was also probably studied by the Luftwaffe, but its ultimate fate remains unknown.
On 16 and 17 August 1940, PRU lost two Spitfires engaged in a recce over the Ruhr. Both pilots became POWs. One of the planes seems to have beenthe captured and was perhaps this plane, seen here in a demonstration in a German flying school in 1942.
To reinforce its Seenot units engaged on the Channel, the Luftwaffe bought some French Breguet Bizerte seaplanes.
This Bizerte may have been bought recently from the Vichy Airforce. It is seen alongside a LeO 451 already in German markings.
The German propaganda magazine ‘Signal’ published this photo of a Breguet Bizerte flying over the Channel.
On the night of the 26/27 August 1940, Hampden QR-P (P4324) ran out of fuel in an operation over Merseburg. The bomber made a perfect landing on the Vliehors sandbank of the Dutch island of Vlieland, its crew becoming POWs. QR-P was then test flown in Germany.
On 6 September 1940, engaged in a fight with JG 54, P/O Caister of No. 603 Sq. was forced to belly land near Guînes in the French Pas-de-Calais.
The fighter appears to be in good state, it was recovered by the men of the Jagdgeschwader.
Two opponents alongside: a Bf 109 of JG 54 and Spitfire XT-D (X4260).
Examination of the cockpit of XT-D.
XT-D under cover. This plane also seems to have been tested in Germany.
On the night 4/5 December 1940, Wellington LN-F (T2501) of No. 99 Sq. did not come back from a raid on Düsseldorf, becoming the sole loss of the mission. Disoriented, its crew landed on Vitry-en-Artois airfield where the plane was photographed by KG 53 soldiers based there.
When the Battle of Britain ended, the Luftwaffe launched the Blitz, the attacks by night on British cities. In response the RAF maintained its attacks over European mainland and the British planes once more fell into enemy hands. Many were tested at Rechlin, before being sent to various front line airfields to demonstrate the qualities and defects of the enemy planes.
LN-F seems to have been the first Wellington to have fallen intact into enemy hands. Repainted in German markings, it was transferred to Germany.
Wellington LN-F under the snow, probably on a German airfield.
We have no information about this Spitfire I of No. 74 Sq. which seems to have landed in very good condition on French soil.
This Hampden of No. 50 Sq. landed in Pfalz, probably returning from a bombing mission over Germany.
Some Hampdens were captured by the Germans in good condition but, until now, there was no proof that these bombers really entered the Luftwaffe.
This interesting photo published in the ‘Der Adler’ magazine probably shows a hangar at Rechlin where foreign planes were tested. In the background is a Wellington, apparently in very good condition. Abandoned aircraft were probably captured in May/June 1940, such as the French Breguet 693 or the RAF Fairey Battle of No. 150 Sq.
On 2 February 1941, No. 605 Sq. tried to intercept the pilots of I./LG 2 over the Channel. Sgt K.H. Jones was disoriented in the fight and landed his UP-M (Z2329) on the Belgian airfield of Koksijde (Coxyde). He was immediately captured.
Jones will later report that he fired a shot into the cockpit to destroy the machine. But despite this UP-M seems to be intact.
A captured Hurricane. Alas, we have no information about this plane.
On the night of 6/7 February 1941, the crew of a Wellington of No. 311 (Czech) Squadron landed on a French coastal airfield after an air attack on Boulogne-sur-Mer.
KT+X was repainted in German markings, and was perhaps the second Wellington to fall intact into German hands.
On the night of 17/18 February 1941, Whitley T4264 of Flight 419, a special unit dropping spies in occupied countries, was forced to land in a field at Waret-la-Chausseéée near Namur (Belgium). The plane was apparently partly destroyed (by the crew?) and could only be used as source of spares (although we do not know of any flying Whitleys in the Luftwaffe).
If T4264 was useless to the Germans, they could at least recover the fuel, a rare substance at that period.