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to the outcome of the war was therefore pretty much
negligible, but it does serve to illustrate the incredible
possibilities in the Third Reich at the end of the war.
The Me 262 was most vulnerable on take-off
and landing. Aircraft of JV 44 were no different,
and during low speeds, the Me 262 was more difcult
to control, and care had to be exercised on the throt-
tle. Otherwise, there was the danger of an engine
stall or re. During the nal months of the war, it was
standard practice for the jets to be covered by piston
engined ghters during the critical phases of ight.
With JV 44, a protection ight was organized using
Fw 190 Ds under the leadership of Lt. Heino Sachsenberg
(104 victories). His pilots had to contend with other
distractions – friendly anti-aircraft re. The crews
of ak batteries around Munich, some operated by
women, made no real distinction between enemy and
friendly aircraft. The Me 262 fared better since their
silhouette and sound of engine was quite unique and
more recognized. This is likely the reason why JV 44
Doras were painted red with white stripes underne-
ath.
JV 44 declared, on April 23, that they had on hand
not only the Fw 190 D-9, but also the D-11. In all,
there were ve Doras, four of which were reported as
serviceable. In the 1990s, photographs were disco-
vered showing Fw 190 D-11, Red ‘4’, which remained
in Munich at the end of the war. Initially, it was thought
that the aircraft in question was the Fw 190 D-11 proto-
type, V58, but now it looks as though it was an ex-VFS
des G.d.J. machine with fuselage identier ‘< 58’
which was characteristic for the school. From further
photographic evidence, three further Fw 190 D-9s
have been identied as belonging to JV 44 (Red ‘1’,
Red ‘3’, and Red ‘13’). One also remained in Munich,
and two were found in Ainring. The fth and nal
machine went missing. Many people, myself inclu-
ded, suspected it is also an Fw 190 D-9.
I dare say that probably the biggest surprise of last
year was the discovery of a photograph of the fth
and missing Dora. It was published in his book by
Jerry Crandall, and is specically Fw 190 D-11,
Red ‘2’. It was found at the end of the war at Bad
Aibling. But, this mystery is far from over. So far,
detail photos of the port side are non-existent,
so I have no way of knowing if and how any perso-
nal markings looked like on this bird. Hopefully, pho-
tographs from Bavaria over time will reveal more
Doras. For example, there was reportedly another
Dora at Ainring at the end of the war, and this could
also have been an aircraft from JG 300, and could
also have been a D-11
For their invaluable co-operation in the preparation
of this article, I would like to thank Kurt Braatz, Martin
Ferkl, Tomáš Poruba and Matti Salonen
Sources and references:
- Crandall J.: The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Dora, Volume Two,
Fw 190 D-11 D-13, Eagle Editions Ltd., Hamilton, 2009
- Deboeck M., Larger E., Poruba T.: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D
Camouage & Markings Part I a Part II, JaPo, Hradec Kralove,
2005 a 2007
- Forsyth R.: Jagdverband 44 Squadron of Experten,
Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2008
- Lorant J.-Y., Goyat R.: Jagdgeschwader 300 „Wilde Sau“
Volume Two September 1944 – May 1945, Eagle Editions Ltd.,
Hamilton, 2007
- Obermaier E.: Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Band I,
Jagdieger, Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz, 1989
- Rall G.: Mein Flugbuch, Erinnerungen 1938 – 2004,
NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag, Moosburg, 2004
- Rodeike P.: Focke Wulf Jagdfugzeug Fw 190 A, Fw 190 Dora,
Ta 152 H, Eutin, 1998
- UNITED STATES STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEY, AIR-
CRAFT DIVISION, AIRFRAMES, PLANT REPORT NO 5,
FOCKE-WULF FLUGZEUGBAU GmbH, (FOCKE-WULF
AIRCRAFT INC), (COMPLEX), BREMEN, GERMANY,
26. Sept. 1945
History
Photographs of aircraft of Verbandsfuhrerschule des Generals der Jag-
dieger CO was kindly supplied by JaPo.