JRT,

That's contrary to what I once read. Seems it was generally thought that the 109F was the most popular variant in that particular book. The Gustav had much of its extra power negated by more and heavier guns.
I think Marseille preferred the F with a single 15/20cannon and two MG17. A lighter armament for fighters of that time but even then he often used only the twin guns to despatch the enemy. Such was the accuracy of his deflection shooting that his method was to shoot into the cockpit - killing the pilot.

Folks,

Dux:

I like the 'F' in IL2 1946. I suppose it depended on the pilot. Unlike the average Fritz or Tommy sitting on his parachute in the basic factory model, the great aces had the muscle to have their planes modified and fitted out as they wished. Some popular field modifications were eventually adopted for all no doubt.

Galland also favored the F series above all the 109 variants. It was heavier but somehow also faster. I've read that Adolph had the MGs removed from the wings of his 109 Es due to their tendency to jam. He therefore used only the cowl mounted weapons. Centrally mounted they were more effective and the removal of the wing guns lightened the plane considerably. I believe that the Fs had no wing mounted MGs. Some Gustavs were mounted with gun pods under the wings.

He also had his loyal and dependable crew chief Uffz Gerhard Meyer install a telescopic gunsight but that modification only lasted for a few operations. Meyer stayed with Galland throughout the war. They were separated when Germany surrendered. I seem to remember that I read that they were reunited in the early 1980s.

In the summer of 1941 Galland was flying one of his two BF 109 F-2 fighters when he was awarded the "Swords" and as Geschwaderkommadore flying the F variant he added another 25 kills making the total 94. That total stood almost unchanged until he returned to combat flying in the last months of the war.

General Galland flew all types of German aircraft to familiarize himself with the various types in combat. He actually shot down an American B-17 while flying a FW-190A. As Generalmajor he adopted a Siebel Si204 for travel to the various units under his command. For at least two years he had added to that plane's famous Mickeymaus insignia all the various insignias from each fighter group he personally visited.

An unabashed experimenter, Galland sometimes wore into combat the trousers of a captured RAF Bomber Command issue Irvin sheepskin flying suit. This was a much coveted item in winter although I'm sure that it must have been somewhat bulky for the 109s cramped cockpit.

There are many photos of Galland in and out of his 109 showing a thin cigar clenched in his teeth. In fact, when Hitler commissioned a portrait of Galland the pilot made the protesting artist include his stogie in the portrait. Incensed, the Fuhrer demanded that it be removed from the Ace's hand because he felt that it set a poor example for German youth.

Galland's BF 109 E was, as far as I know, the only fighter he flew that was actually fitted with a cigar lighter and holder. Considering his score, if I were Goering I'd have had that particular modification put into every 109....

JRT,

LOL! I wonder what convenient cockpit adornment H. Goering would have preferred in Jasta 27. Perhaps a bratwurst sausage dispenser, a flask of Leberknodel Suppe, a handy plate of Weiner Schnitzel secured under the seat? A bottle of appropriately named Jagermeister certainly.

The long downward slide into obesity could well have started in the Great War and seriously degraded the performance of his Albatross.

Folks,

Dux:

LOL! Bratwurst....! Ja.

You would be aware that Fat Hermann was actually a true hero in WW1 and the last leader of the Richthofen boys. I'd guess he might have wanted a compartment for his favorite painting (he stole hundreds for Karinhall in WW2)and perhaps a back seat for his chef in case he was forced down somewhere other than on the grounds of a French château or 5-star restaurant.

In truth his downward spiral was due to addiction to pain-killing drugs administered after he was shot right in his... ummmm... right in his nether portions during the ill-fated Beerhall Pustch of 1929 AKA Munich Pustch or as the Germans call it The HitlerPustch. The bullet more or less emasculated the man. This and the fact that he, a bonefide ace and war hero took up his cause, seems to have endeared him to Hitler. They had their disagreements along the way from prison to capitulation but only at the very end did they break completely.

Goering was the highest ranking Nazi captured by the Allies after the war. He stood trial and it is said that he acquitted himself rather adroitly during the Nuremberg War Trials. It was said that at the last one could see the greatness in the man that had been completely corrupted by absolute power and the evil influence of the meglamaniacial Hitler. He died by his own hand after being condemned as a war criminal at Nuremberg, thus cheating the hangman.

There is great controversy over how Goering got that cyanide capsule into his cell. Some say that it was by the help of a young American officer Goering had somehow befriended. Probably no one will ever know. His body was cremated and in the middle of the night his ashes were ignominiously spread over some of the rubble of the defeated Germany his misguided leadership had helped to create. This was done so that his grave would never become a shrine.

New scientific evidence seems to show that the partial skull reported to be that of Hitler stored in the Kremlin is not that of the dictator. This has caused a resurgence of the old theory that Hitler did not commit suicide and to cause some to speculate that Hitler escaped to South America via some method such as by submarine. It is, along with the lingering question of who in France was Goering's dress designer, one more of the continuing enigmas of WW2.

Gents,

JRT,

I heard that Goering gave the chief prosecutor a hard time and conducted his defence in a most capable manner. Hardly any leading Nazis survived long enough to counter or challenge the many theories and revisionist epics which have been written since that time. Perhaps they were bumped off early to preclude the chance of that ever happening? Speer wrote his memoirs and lasted until 1981. Hess was virtually incoherent most of the time, or was not as barmy as he made out, until he too died in 1987. Hess had completely fooled the psychologists at Nuremberg.

Folks,

Dux:

I've read both volumes of Speer's memoirs and they are quite interesting given that they probably leave out some incriminating evidence. They were best sellers going into many printings and they certainly made loads of money for Speer. Was this fair? I dunno.

Speer was the only leading NAZI I am aware of who unequivocally and apparently contritely accepted blame for his actions. That may have saved his life. Hitler always wanted to be an accomplished fine artist and more than that an architect. Speer was by all accounts a very good architect. He was commissioned by Hitler to design heroic buildings for the 'New Germany" which he did to the dictator's great satisfaction. A few of these edifices escaped the bombing and they still stand today.

Hitler liked the man and they spent long hours discussing architecture and Hitler's vision for the new capital of the world that would be called Germania. Speer was more or less accepted into Hitler's inner circle so that his view of the goings on was quite candid. Later on of course, and as you would know, he became armaments Minister and through his superior organizational skills and due in a very large part to his many ingenious innovations Germany was able to continue prosecuting the war after D-Day when the Allies were pushing back their armies on two fronts and they were able to bomb the hell out of German cities and factories with overwhelming strength.

Speer was eventually released from Spandau Prison in plenty of time for him to live a comfortable life for many years. We should contrast that to those poor doomed wretches pressed into slave labor by him to work and to die for the NAZI cause during the war. Hitler supposedly killed himself with cyanide and a pistol shot into his brain. All the other leaders of the regime died by hanging save for Goering, Hess, Speer and the chicken hearted chicken farmer Himmler who took cyanide as soon as he was captured, some say he was wearing a dress at the time. Perhaps it is true, however, the photos I've seen of the dead man do not confirm it.

OK, no one truly knows what happened to Martin Bormann. A skeleton was found in the Berlin subway that reportedly is his. I do not know if that has been confirmed by DNA test. Hess is still an enigma to me. I have read much about the man and still I do not know his mind. Perhaps he was demented; but weren't they all? It might be a matter of degree I suppose. I cannot exactly work out what happened to him and why he flew to England. On the surface one might suspect that Hitler, whom Hess adored with a passion usually reserved for one's best liebling, sent Hess to England to try to get some sort of peace agreement that would allow him to have a free hand in Europe.

Just as in the TV series "Mission Impossible" with the recently deceased Peter Graves, Hitler disavowed all prior knowledge of Hess's actions and suggested that the man was suffering from delusions. Really? And he and the all other NAZIS were not??? Indeed, if Hess were not non compos mentis he certainly did a great job of acting the part for many long years. Whatever was the case he was one of Hitler's disciples from the very beginning who survived both the war and the righteous vengeance of the world.

There was a double standard in affect after the war. A just wrath can be set aside it seems when it serves the purpose. What happened to important NAZIS after the hostilities ceased seems to have been somewhat unbalanced. Some NAZIS were imprisoned, some were hanged and some were carted back to other countries to work for one side or the other during the icy cold war that followed the hot one. The political persuasions and wartime actions of top scientists and those involved in the intelligence service were overlooked no matter how heinous they may have been. Politics and self-interest make strange bed-fellows indeed.

Gents,

Fascinating information on the leading Nazis, I have been reading your accounts with great interest.

From a series protraying the leading Nazis, I gather that Goering apparantly thought that he would be treated as a head of state and an equal party, if the losing party, after the war had ended. He was in for a big surprise!

Speer, it was argued really was successful in disassociating or "unsticking" himself from the crimes of the regime and to claim that he was just another architect, just a builder. He was however heavily involved in the logistics concerning the housing of german families in houses and apartments that were left vacant as the trains drove eastwards.

If I remember correctly it was also implied that as an architect he could not possibly be ignorant of the bulidings and facilities erected to kill off millions on industrial scale.

And, the rocket scientists, knowing that their workforce consisted almost entirely of slave labourers, went to the East and to the West.

Regarding Hess, I find it believable and credible that he would be on a secret and clandestine mission for Adolf, perhaps to try and negotiare a separate peace with the Western Allies? Adolf was quite an Anglophile, I believe.

No doubt you're familiar with the theories that claim Hess was in search for members of the British Aristocracy, specifically the Royal family.

But I expect we will never know the facts regarding Hess' flight to England.

Folks,

MG:

Hess was trying to reach a Duke of the realm I believe. He came to earth near the estate of that peer. I cannot remember his name at the moment. Yes, there are many who believe that none other than Edward the Eighth himself was a NAZI sympathizer and that this was the real reason for his abdication. No one outside the family will ever know. As for me, I think the jury is still out on that one.



Have you gentlemen ever flown a night mission in the 109? Here am I finding my way about in the dark. You cannot see me because I am hiding in the dark that is also behind the camera. Take my word for it, I’m there. Anyway, whatever fool thought up the idea of flying in the dark must have been out of his mind. It is really DARK out there at night. All I could see were those little dialey things flickering about in front of me. Frankly I found them damned distracting so after 30 minutes or so I turned them all off....

Shortly after doing that things went terribly wrong. My night mission ended suddenly when I ran right into a staff car in the airfield parking lot. What the hell do they expect? It was frigging dark!!

In hopes of learning at least something about flying the 109 before my next mission which I was assured by the owner of the damaged Mercedes would be a particularly nasty one, I found the following website. It is all about flying the 109. I enjoyed reading it because there was absolutely nothing in it about night flying.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_199912/ai_n8870616/

Folks,

Doff yer coonskin caps boys, Fess parker, TV's Davey Crockett, has just passed away.

I discovered my old fake coonskin cap just the other day hidden away in a box of books and I offered it to my grandson. Unlike me at his age, he screwed up his face and looked askance at the fuzzy old thing. I believe he would rather be caught wearing a diaper and pink ballerina shoes than my old coonskin. Pity. Back when I was a kid, just after the earth had cooled, they were all the rage.

Adiós Fess.

JRT,

Goodbye Fess...85 is some achievement for a frontiersman. He made the part of Davy Crockett his own.

The 'Ballad of Davy Crockett' still rings clear from the fifties. Hell...we even had alternative lyrics for our many pub crawls in Duxford days....