German ace Franz von Werra?
Krztalizer
>Has anyone seen another reference to Oberlt von Werra, who >according to>this
1956 book carried out a totally bogus strafe of a >British airfield>and was
credited with 5 a/c destroyed on the >ground?
Fun book. Sorry I cant answer your q, but I grew up reading everything I could
find written by LW aviators, and this book was one of the few that could ever
point out verifibly false claims by a German pilot. I bet he squirmed well
during the interview with the RAF interogator that slapped down the proof in
front of this Pierre Closterman clone. (I have read and heard pilots
discussing several of Pierre's claims that were also not Bogies, but Bogus --
including his interception of a Do-335 in his Tiffy. A significant portion of
his amazing exploits took place the moment his wingman was unavailable as a
witness.) My question about von Werra's claims was, who signed the e/a action
report to back them up? The Luftwaffe never accepted one single man's word
about a victory over enemy territory. Good luck in your quest Dan.
Did you ever get in touch with Herr Busch? He was, as you guessed, in KG-51
when he bombed the Bridge at Remagen in his Me-262 (quite unsuccessfully!).
Saw him again recently signing autographs (beside my hero, Gunther Rall) at an
Aviation book signing in Long Beach. There were several American aces and a
pair of 109 survivors on the dais as well.
cheers,
Gordon
<=====(A+C=====>
Navy Seach & Rescue
ktr...@compuserve.com
>I've been reading The One That Got Away, by Kendal Burt & James Leasor.
>Has anyone seen another reference to Oberlt von Werra, who according to
>this 1956 book carried out a totally bogus strafe of a British airfield
>and was credited with 5 a/c destroyed on the ground? (Von Werra was shot
>down a week later, sent to Canada, escaped to the U.S., and finally made
>his way home by way of Peru to receive his Knight's Cross from Hitler's
>own hand.)
I know Dr. Egon Troha who knew von Werra when he was II/JG3 Gruppe
Adjudant. Oblt. Troha was III/JG3 Gruppe Adjudant and then Staffel
Kapitian of 9/JG3. I became aquainted with Dr. Troha because of our
unusual last names. I made a trip last November to visit him and he can
verify von Werra's escape attempts. He talked in great detail how von
Werra tunneled out of an English POW camp and tried to steal a Hurricane
to fly home in. Also Troha was with him in Canada as he jumped from a
train window when he made his way back to Germany.
I can not tell you about the accuracy of his ground victories though.
Troha did say that von Werra was credited with 8 Spitfires on a single
mission once. I wonder if that is mentioned in the book?
Kevin Troha
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Ruy Horta
Dan Ford <d...@christa.unh.edu> wrote:
>
>I've been reading The One That Got Away, by Kendal Burt & James Leasor.
>Has anyone seen another reference to Oberlt von Werra, who according to
>this 1956 book carried out a totally bogus strafe of a British airfield
>and was credited with 5 a/c destroyed on the ground? (Von Werra was shot
>down a week later, sent to Canada, escaped to the U.S., and finally made
>his way home by way of Peru to receive his Knight's Cross from Hitler's
>own hand.)
>
>There's a photo of von Werra's 109 showing 13 victory bars on the tail
>fin. Eight are full bars, with a roundel in the middle. The top 5 are cut
>short and end with a sort of arrowhead at the bottom, just below the
>roundel. The citation for the Knight's Cross mentions 8 planes shot down
>and 5 destroyed on the ground, so I reckon the truncated stripes are for
>the latter. Has anyone ever seen reference to German pilots receiving
>credit for planes destroyed on the ground?
>
>This was in Aug/Sep 1940, so policy may have changed thereafter. Just
>before the bogus strafe, with 8 credited victories, von Werra was among
>the top ten German fighter pilots.
>
>Any information gratefully received -
>
> - Dan (http://www.concentric.net/~danford)
>
> Brewster Buffalo / Flying Tigers / Germany at War / Japan at War
Mr Ford you can't hardly take that book too serious. Its outdated in
style, unscientific and simply too British :)
Its a fun read, but not much more beyond that (the last interrogation
is hilarious, more like Christie's Hercule Poirot)
And no, the destruction of a/c on the ground was never credited as a
kill in the Luftwaffe, they were a separate matter, unlike the USAAF
in WW2.
Von Werra's credit stood officially at 8 when he was shot down
(nothing too special, and certainly not top-10 in Aug./Oct. 1940...for
reference check list of LW RK receivers 29/5/40-22/6/41 Osprey A/C of
the Aces - 11 Bf109D/E Aces 1939-41), no A2G counted.
As far as Von Werra's "sneak attack" on an FC airfield...in Prien's
(scientifically written) the events that occurred on the 28th of
August 1940, when Von Werra supposedly sneak attacked a flight of
Hurricanes on approach and subsequently strafed the field are indeed
questioned...and furthermore the credits during the battle of Britain
are further scrutinized and their validation described as less the
usual high grade of the Luftwaffe (but lets not forget that most if
not all AFs suffer this defect when fighting over enemy occupied
territory...for comparison RAF action over W-ETO 41-42, USAAF 1943-44
over Reich, and later USAF over Korea - and you cannot blame the
pilots for it). Prien does continue to explain that this easier then
normal crediting was not a general thing, but varied among the
Gruppen.
So the answer is yes...Von Werra's kills on that day are far from
confirmed, but that's not the same as saying that the event did not at
least in part happen...
Maybe he bounced an inbound flight, shot down an a/c or two (or not)
and did a single strafe without checking the damage...who knows.
In the end "The one that got away" cannot be used as a serious
reference as its full of little inconsistencies and written for
entertainment more then anything else despite what it proclaims in the
foreword. The German POW officers continually goose stepping, boot
thumping, "Heil Hitler!" or "Sieg Heil" shouting, "German Salute"
giving, is a little over the top.
Ah, and RAF intel is the one who really taught the German's how to
interrogate...as they themselves were rather amaturish...hmmm anything
wrong with this picture? Guess the Gestapo and SS were a bit childish
with their methods...and the Luftwaffe of course didn't learn a thing
or two from their naive colleagues.
Ruy Horta
Luftwaffe and JG53 webpage
http://www.xs4all.nl/~rhorta
"How good bad reasons and bad music sound
when we march against an enemy."
(Due to the ever increasing activity of SPAMMERS,
I've been forced to include an anti-SPAM, sorry.
If you want to e-mail me, just remove NOSPAM.)
Dave Wadman
Ruy Horta wrote:
>
> Dan Ford <d...@christa.unh.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> >I've been reading The One That Got Away, by Kendal Burt & James Leasor.
> >Has anyone seen another reference to Oberlt von Werra, who according to
> >this 1956 book carried out a totally bogus strafe of a British airfield
> >and was credited with 5 a/c destroyed on the ground?
Re Von Werra & his 'claims' for Aug 28th 1940, the following might prove
to be of some interest:
The ten Hurricanes lost/damaged in combat on Aug 28th 1940 were as
follows:
56 Sqn R4117 F/landed near Herne Bay at 1310hrs after combat with 109
V7382 F/landed at Eastchurch at 1330 hrs after being damaged by
Do17
R4198 Shot down over Thames Estuary at 1700hrs in error by a
Spitfire
N2523 Shot down in combat with a 109 over Kent at 1710hrs
79 Sqn P3938 F/landed at Tenterden with damaged cooling system at
0910hrs
P2718 Shot down over Hythe at 0906hrs
85 Sqn P3467 Damaged in combat with 109 over Kent at 1620hrs
151 Sqn L2005 Shot down at Godmerston at 1630hrs
P3320 F/landed at Eastchurch 1635hrs
615 Sqn R4116 F/landed at Throwley at 0915hrs after being hit by fire
from a Do17.
von Werra was shot down on 5th Sept 1940 and force landed near Marden,
Kent.
Seasons Greetings etc
Dave W.
SEEHAG
Stats for Franz von Werra at the end of WWII. Capt., Served in JG3 & JG 53,
21 victories, awarded the Knights Cross.
Hope this helps>