It couldn’t be in the hands of a better company. Good to see.

I have read first-hand accounts by two aircrew who narrowly excaped execution by Nazi troops in one case and a lynch mob led by an SS officer in the other case. A 137 sqn Whirlwind pilot was allegedly executed on capture by troops he had been strafing. However, all the incidents I have read (apart from the killing of the Great Escapers) were ad-hoc attacks by angry troops or civilians rather than as a result of high command orders. Like so many aspects of Nazi decisions, there always seems to have been some confusion as Nazi top-brass were torn between a need to seem ruthless and an increasing desire to save their own worthless lives. For instance, Himmler eventually tried to sue for peace with Churchill.

There is a large thread with photos about this collection on WIX. He seems to be a very reclusive character who does not welcome visitors but commendably intends to leave his collection to aviation museums.

I tend to agree that the Nazis intended to invade but were stopped by RAF and also RN. However, I am always wary now of looking back at decisions that the Nazis made and drawing conclusions. They were led by a megalomaniac who was skilled at mobilising followers but had dreadful military judgement so it’s hard to understand why some decisions were made.

Its pleasing that there’s still a few of these flying in so many parts of the world. It strikes me that the relatively long service life of these aircraft and the number still airworthy is a tribute to the original designers. Same goes for some other early jets such as Meteor, Canberra and Hunter.

I can’t help thinking that we owe the people of USA and the Commonwealth countries an historic debt so I don’t begrudge them a few historic airframes. I am also aware that it is only thanks to the USA and Canada that we still have examples of certain historic aircraft in existence, most especially a Typhoon.