Captured Hawker Typhoon

Hi
I am curious, was there two airfields where the typhoons were found or did the airfield have two names ?
I don’t remember the name Versailles-Buc, is this the airfield where the bombed b-17’s were also found in sept ’44 ?
From memory I thought the airfield was called chateaufort.:confused:
It could be interesting if there was more than one airfield with allied parts.
cheers
Jerry

A Little Further Information

It was probably a cunning plot from our “intelligence service” to tie up dozens of engineers trying to get the sabre running then kill off a German test pilot when the tail fell off.

I am currently reading Geheimflüge – Der Versuchverband des Oberkommandos der Luftwaffe 1939-45 by Smith, Creek and Petrick (originally published in English, but mine is the German version published by Motor Verlag in 2006), which includes a section on captured allied aircraft tested by Zirkus Rosarius.

First point is that the above comment may not be too far away from the truth:
“Erich Sommer remembers the frustration of one of the pilots who persistently tried to start the “damned thing (EJ956)” in front of the Zeppelin hanger in Orly in order to fly to Oranienburg. “A pile of used cartridges lay” he reported “all around – they didn’t have the necessary power and the correct ones were not available.””

I can also fairly confidently assert that the aircraft in the original picture at the top of this thread is not EJ956. Every single image I have seen of EJ956 has a small teardrop bulge above the pilot’s head which contains his rearview mirror. This is absent from the Ebay aircraft.

Some early Typhoons had this bulge, some didn’t, and the lack of a change in the mark number does nothing to help us poor anoraks. I suppose it is possible that EJ956 suffered an accident at some point and it was replaced with either a panel from another wrecked Typhoon, or a locally made panel, but since it doesn’t occur in any other photos I think this unlikely.

More captured Typhoons

There is a photograph in which the fuselage of JP845 (lost Abbeville 21/12/43) is among the wreckage of a bombed out hanger at Versailles-Buc. Could that be one of the Typhoons?

Could be, but this aircraft and the other Typhoons (at least 3) look more like they are being used for spares retrieval. Two of the others are provisionally identified as US-K JP915 (lost 3 January 1944) and FM-Y JP510 (lost 16 March 1944).

There is a photograph in which the fuselage of JP845 (lost Abbeville 21/12/43) is among the wreckage of a bombed out hanger at Versailles-Buc. Could that be one of the Typhoons?

Hi
To correct myself ( I quoted wrong location ) and to quote the typhoon expert/guru
cheers
Jerry

full thread

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=9704

extract pg3 of thread

Chris Thomas 9th August 2007, 17:04

Feldwebel Gold was killed flying Typhoon JP548 which had force-landed south-east of Marigny, west of St-Lo on the Cherbourg peninsula, on 14 February 1944; the pilot, Flg Off B.F.Proddow evaded capture.

Does this make me a ‘nutter’? I hope not. My dad is bigger than yours.
CT

Hi
Yep I can see the point of the photo with underwing stripes, but the crash was only one week later.
Both photos have Paris 1944 written on the back, so most likely it is the same aircraft, for me personally I think it is JP548.
The repair centre was chateaufort, nr Paris.
cheers
Jerry

Hi
Going by the back of the photos, which state Paris 1944, it is most likely
JP548, 174 SQ, captured after crash landing at Marigny ( south of Paris ) on February 14 1944, so it fits in really well with the sequence of the two photos.
I personally very much doubt it is EJ956, from what I have read on the web over the years, it was at rechlin in sep 43, so why fly it almost 6 months later to Paris in RAF markings ? way to risky in feb ’44

See where you are coming from Jerry, but you seem to have missed the point that one of the Typhoons in the photos has Typhoon identity stripes. These were ordered to be removed by 7 Feb 44. JP548 crashed a week later.

The Lw had an Allied aircraft repair centre at an airfield SW of Paris (near Versailles but the name escapes me). These aircraft may even be among those that were never actually flown. There is no guarantee on the accuracy of the ‘Paris 1944’ date, nor that the photos depict the same aircraft …

Hi
Going by the back of the photos, which state Paris 1944, it is most likely
JP548, 174 SQ, captured after crash landing at Marigny ( south of Paris ) on February 14 1944, so it fits in really well with the sequence of the two photos.
I personally very much doubt it is EJ956, from what I have read on the web over the years, it was at rechlin in sep 43, so why fly it almost 6 months later to Paris in RAF markings ? way to risky in feb ’44
I am suprised it did not go for more money,I would hate to think how much a whirlwind in captured markings photo would go for, the last crash photo went for a sizeable sum I recall.
If my guess at the buyer is right, it is in good hands,along with some other photos of the captured typhoons.
cheers
Jerry

Both photos went for just over Euro357- £315 each.

Dave

Lw Typhoon idents(s)?

The shot which shows a Typhoon with ident stripes under the wings almost certainly features EJ956 SA-I ex 486 Sqn which was shot down by flak on 24 March 43. The other shot could be the same aircraft with the stripes (and codes) painted out.

Alternatively the latter could be JP548 of 174 Sqn which was shot down on 14 Feb 44 – one week after the RAF painted out the ident stripes on all its Typhoons. Both are known to have been flown (and eventually crashed by the Luftwaffe.

It was probably a cunning plot from our “intelligence service” to tie up dozens of engineers trying to get the sabre running then kill off a German test pilot when the tail fell off.

PMSL:D Probably not that far removed from the truth

Just wondering when did the “car door” type cockpit entrance disappear, when did they replace them with the bubble hood ? Might give an indication when the aircraft was captured ?

I know that German test pilot Hans-Werner Lerche flew on in june 1944.

Dave

Typhoon

It was probably a cunning plot from our “intelligence service” to tie up dozens of engineers trying to get the sabre running then kill off a German test pilot when the tail fell off.

This is the link
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370501473642&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570%26_nkw%3D370501473642%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

Richard