Captured Aircraft Park Farnborough 1945

DFS Meise being restored in Yorkshire.

Dave

It would be good to see them on here 🙂

Hi everybody, I’ve recently picked up five photos of the 1945 Farnbourgh captured aircraft show and two have a fly past scene of aircraft, is this a known fact? Was it the opening or closing of the show? Cheers

…and for the record, from page 53 of the superb source quoted by Dave (War Prizes, by Phil Butler, published by Midland in 1994) the external exhibition of Luftwaffe types included:

• Focke-Wulf Fw190D

I’ve read mention of the Fw 190D, is anyone aware of any pictures of the airframe that can be shared?

Hi Twin Otter

According to the same source as my previous post, it appears that the Air Historical Branch (AHB) captured aircraft spent time at Fulbeck from 1958 onwards before being transferred to Biggin Hill. This included the He111H-20, Bf109G-2/trop “Black 6” Fw190F-8/U1, Ju87D-5 and Fiat CR42 currently on display at the RAF Museum and the Me410A-1 and Fi156C-7 on display at Cosford.

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

I used to wander round the hangar at Biggin Hill that was used to store the AHB aircraft. The Bf109 was an E version. I took lots of photos but they’ve long since been lost. I might have one of the He111 outside at an air display but no idea where that is beyond it’s here somewhere. The Stuka definitely wasn’t there because I remember being aggrieved about it and I don’t recall the Storch. The Me110 now at Hendon was there though and a V2. All the guns were stored in the station armoury.

Actually, a JCB would be more to the point!
According to one of my uncles who was with 6 MU at Brize Norton immediately post-war; the majority of captured German aircraft went to Brize after their evaluation at Farnborough.
Some aircraft were passed to 47 MU Sealand, 76 MU Wroughton, and various other RAF stations; but the vast majority remained at Brize. The larger aircraft were left out in the open until the bad winter of 1946/47. Many of the aircraft were overturned in the gales, and wrecked by falling trees; and shortly after this, the wholesale scrapping began.
The aircraft were taken to the south side of the airfield where 6 MU were already scrapping various RAF types. After all the useful equipment and large metal sections of the airframes had been removed, the remains were buried in twenty feet deep pits.

A time machine would be handy.

On the subject of the German Aircraft Exhibition at Farnborough from 29th October to 9th November 1945, does anybody remember a possible two-edition magazine article on this exhibition and can point me to when and which magazines they appeared in?

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Join Date:Dec 2008Posts:442

hi,
I was reading a article in Aviation News 1985, vol 13,no 18, about the show at Farnborough in Oct./ Nov. 1945, there was 32 a/c on view. At the end of the article it states that only the Bv 155 is in storage at Silver Hill, and a FW.190 on display in S.Africa, also possibly the Fieseler Storch being restored at St.Athan remain of that great exhibition. Oh for a far seeing person who could have kept them safe for the museum in the future. Bye the bye it also says “over a w/end in Nov. the public were allowed in to see what we had been fighting, but in the case of a Fw.190D captured on 1/1/45 during operation Bodenplatte with only superficial damage, was by Nov.11th reduced to a complete wreck by over enthusiastic visitors!”

regards,
jack…

The auction reference for Fulbeck is interesting as that also has connections back to Balderton; as previously referred to IIRC in the Australian Spitfire thread (would have provided the link, but the search function seems to be down)!

wouldn’t some conclusive proof be nice? 😉

And a long time coming!

This might shed some light on the Fulbeck collection, quoted from Wiki,

“With no flying unit in residence, the station came under No. 255 Maintenance Unit handling RAF surplus stores, much of the material being disposed of in auctions held during 1948. The airfield was then on a care and maintenance status for five years as a sub-station of No. 93 Maintenance Unit, and at one point the hangars housed the Air Historical Branch’s static aircraft collection.”

Also worth reading is this as an example, it is the individual history of the RAF Museums’ He111, http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/aircraft-history/78-AF-1033%20%20Heinkel%20111.pdf , it shows just how much the surviving captured aircraft were shoved from pillar to post (Boxted, and ‘several other USAAF bases’, North Weald, Heston, Farnborough – above display, Sealand, Stanmore Park, Wroughton, Fulbeck/AHB collection, Biggin Hill, Henlow, St Athan & RAFM Hendon!) and how close they came to being scrapped aswel.

Thanks for the confirmations of yet another ‘family aviation story’ from my late father and grandfather.

I grew up with wartime evacuee tails from RAF Balderton of “the aeroplane that made a funny noise and didn’t have any propellers”, which was later was confirmed as the Whittle jet dispersed there. Followed by post war tales of “Germans” being based at RAF Fulbeck and this even resulted in a drive around the airfield in the mid-1970s to show me where they’d been!

So two tales confirmed, now just my grandfather’s tale of hundreds of British aircraft being dumped in a former gravel pit north of Collingham to fully confirm; this tale has been briefly mentioned on here before and some investigation work was stopped in the 1970s due to pheasant breeding – wouldn’t some conclusive proof be nice? 😉

…and for the record, from page 53 of the superb source quoted by Dave (War Prizes, by Phil Butler, published by Midland in 1994) the external exhibition of Luftwaffe types included:
….

Just to add to that excellent list, Forever Farnborough by Peter Cooper records the hangar display aircraft as,

Bf109G-14 413601 Black 7
Fw190A 171747
Ju88G-6 623193 ‘Air Min 31’
Fa330
He162 ‘Air Min 64’
He162 ‘Air Min 66’

Also clearly seen are,
Me163 Komet
Me155/BV155 V2

Only survivor in picture from display

DFS glider LF+VO

IIRC a conversation with somebody who now helps the preservation community, he helped to scrap them.

I would love to hear more about that Flat 12.

A lot of the current displayed Luftwaffe aircraft did travel around the various RAF MUs, some being displayed at St Athan & Colerne before joining the main RAFM collections.

It makes sense that some airframes went to the proving & trials grounds of Orfordness, must have been a good way for the allies to second guess how Soviet airframe technology might develop in the Cold-war era.

“War Prizes” lists three former Luftwaffe aiframes which were selected for evaluation at Orfordness. An unidentified Ar234B, an unidentified Me262 (both transferred from by road from Schleswig) and also an unidentified He162A. There is apparently some confusion as to whether the He162 actually arrived, it appears that a He162A (not allocated an AirMin number) was intended to be transferred but never did and no records were found to confirm transfer. Both the Ar234B and Me262 were used in weapons firing trials, but their ultimate fate is unknown…

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

There were also a number of German airframes at RAE Orfordness in the early 1950s. I used to go there occasionally with my father who worked there; and have a vivid picture in my mind of the ‘dump’. Where they went I don’t know…………perhaps to Farnborough?

Hi Twin Otter

I’ve heard tell that some of the captured airframes spent some time at RAF Fulbeck, Lincs – can anyone confirm that story?

According to the same source as my previous post, it appears that the Air Historical Branch (AHB) captured aircraft spent time at Fulbeck from 1958 onwards before being transferred to Biggin Hill. This included the He111H-20, Bf109G-2/trop “Black 6” Fw190F-8/U1, Ju87D-5 and Fiat CR42 currently on display at the RAF Museum and the Me410A-1 and Fi156C-7 on display at Cosford.

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

The pictures aways seem to be the same ones, I have never seen any of the actual scrapping.

IIRC a conversation with somebody who now helps the preservation community, he helped to scrap them.

Yes I recall that a number were at Fulbeck when it was still used by Cranwell as a RLG but I can’t remember where I read it or it might have come from the local spotters. I think that they then went to Colerne. I certainly remember seeing the JU88 travelling east on a “mary” on the old A4 when I was at RAF Yatesbury in the early 60’s.

John

I’ve heard tell that some of the captured airframes spent some time at RAF Fulbeck, Lincs – can anyone confirm that story?

Cheers james 🙂

Arent there a load of ME262’s under the main runway at brize?

I did ask on here some years ago about the possibility of German and British bits buried at Brize. after I came across a non aviation story online mentioning the scrappings. Somebody on here replied that a dig had taken place and only tiny bits were found. The runway or 262’s weren’t mentioned specifically IIRC. From aerial pics of the time I’ve seen, a lot of the aircraft were off the current airfield site, in the fields beyond the village to the east.

…and for the record, from page 53 of the superb source quoted by Dave (War Prizes, by Phil Butler, published by Midland in 1994) the external exhibition of Luftwaffe types included:

Of those, only the top half Fw190A of the Mistel combination can be found hanging from the roof on the Imperial War Museum at Lambeth whilst the piloted Fi103/V-1 is currently under restoration in Germany for the Lashenden Air Warefare Museum…

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator