My photo collection - part 003 - Bf 110G-2 of II./JG 5 at Herdla airfield

I recently acquired the image below for my collection and wanted to share it with the community. It show the only Messerschmitt Bf 110 listed at Herdla when the war ended - or rather when a final count of the remnants of the once mighty Luftwaffe was made on August 10th 1945.

Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2, Werknr. 120167, coded 3U+EW - note the E visible under the starboard wing - this code of course revealing the former operator - the IV. Gruppe of ZG 26. Of interest is the additional fuel tanks - a hint of the task these aircraft was used for late in the war - convoy protection along the coast. 

Geographical location is given away by the well known maintenance hangar in the background, which was painted red, with painted on fake doors and windows in the usual fashion with white framing, in an attempt to camouflage it as a typical Norwegian farm barn.

My source for the aircraft code and Werknummer is the above mentioned list of aircraft in Norway on August 10th 1945. Note the war and weather beaten appearance of the airframe itself.

The spinners have been removed, probably by the chap sitting across the nose of the aircraft and his colleagues, as a preparation to meet the conditions as set at the surrender of the German armed forces in Norway, where the propellers and rudders were to be dismantled rendering the aircraft unserviceable. The rudders and propeller blades has not yet been removed - suggesting that this photographs was taken some time in May 1945 shortly after the end of hostilities.

All in all a rather peaceful image of a war machine which has run the course of its operational life.

My photo collection - part 002

As a means of getting help in identifying som intriguing photographs from my collection - and just be able to share some of them - I will from time to time post photographs from my collection under this title.

I will update the captions as I get feedback from the community.

Beautiful view of a Bf 109E of  Stab Jagdführer z.b.V in the far north. This aircraft show a particular feature only seen on the aircraft on the front in the far north for a very short period of time, namely a yellow tailband.

The mysterious Bf 109 of II.(T)/186 'Rote Erde'

This photograph has intrigued and interested me and other researchers for some time.

Bf 109 with 'Rote Erde' slogan

We know that the photograph was taken at Værnes airfield north of Trondheim in 1940, during the period that the II.(T)/186 was stationed in Norway.

The stylisized Eagle shown over the crossed out national emblems of as I interpret them from left to right Poland, Czeckoslovakia, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands and France hints to the fact that it was taken after the Western campaign - the Great Britain insignia being the only one left uncrossed.

The individual code of this aircraft has never been established, but I know that there are several photographs taken at the airfield at about the same time, both overview photographs and more detailed ones.

It would be interesting if the community would be able to identify the individual code and maybe also the pilot from other photographs or written sources. 

He 111 of KG 26 at Stavanger

The follwoing two images is also for sale on ebay.de - offered by macflly41 - and said to show a He 111 of I./KG 26 at Stavanger.

Frontal view of He 111 said to have been taken at Stavanger

I included them in the list of interesting finds mainly because of the beautiful image of the unit emblem shown in the second image.

Beautiful photo showing the unit emblem

Dornier flying boats in Stavanger - Daily ebay scouting results

Dornier Do 18 flying boats at anchor in the Stavanger harbour in 1940. These images are obviously part of a photo album split up for sale on ebay.de

Dornier Do 18 flying boats anchored in the Stavanger harbour

Additional photographs from the same seller (100-years-of-history) show army personnel in different parts of Norway, including Stavanger and Fredrikstad.

Four infantry soldiers posing at the docks in Stavanger, with Dornier Do 18 flying boats anchored in the background