The death of Marseille.

GT · 06-01-2005, 05:40 AM

Cancelled.

lesofprimus · 06-01-2005, 06:55 AM

On the morning of Wednesday 30 September he took off with Oblts Schlang and Poettgen to carry out a sweep in the Cairo area. Marseille was flying a new 'G' model Bf 109 and, on returning from the uneventful patrol at about a height of 4,500 feet, a glycol line broke and set the oil cooler on fire. As his cockpit filled with smoke, he opened the small windscreen ventilator to clear it. This had little effect, and his companions pleaded with him over their radios to bale out. However, the trio of Bf 109s were still three minutes flying time away from the safety of the German lines, and Marseille had no desire to become a PoW. The cockpit continued to fill with acrid smoke, preventing him seeing or breathing properly; his wing man tried to guide him, but it became obvious that the 109 was doomed.

As soon as the trio crossed the line, Marseille flicked his aircraft on to its back, jettisoned the canopy and tried to drop clear, but he had not realized that the aircraft was in a nose-down attitude and centrifugal force held him firmly in place. He eventually struggled free, but as he fell was knocked unconscious by a massive blow to the left side of his chest from the fin that carried the 158 kill markings. He never recovered to deploy his parachute and fell to his death four miles south of Sidi Abdul Rahman.

At his funeral on 2 October in the cemetery at Derna, Neumann said, 'A restless heart is now resting, but we fly on. May the fighting spirit of Marseille inspire all men of JG 27 '.

His final score included 101 Curtiss Tomahawks and Kittyhawks, 30 Hurricanes, 16 Spitfires and 4 bombers ... Adolf Galland was moved to call him 'the unrivalled virtuoso among fighter pilots of the Second World War'.

GT · 06-01-2005, 08:06 AM

Update.

lesofprimus · 06-01-2005, 03:13 PM

Hmmm.... Confirmed is a pretty tough word nowadays..... Lets say this......

The had to be confirmed for him to be awarded the victory...... Contrary to what some retards think, the Luftwaffe was rather strict in their confirmation procedure......

Erich · 06-01-2005, 05:12 PM

all of his kills are recorded in the authortative book Stab. und I./JG 27 by Dr. Jochen Prien and Gerhard Stemmer.

GT · 06-02-2005, 06:29 AM

Update.

Blitzkrieg Bop · 06-05-2005, 04:35 AM

Cool GT, i've got that poster in my room (and NO, im not a convinced nazi. I've got it next to my BoB "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" poster..)

cheddar cheese · 06-05-2005, 08:18 AM

I have a Waffen SS poster in my room

the lancaster kicks ass · 06-05-2005, 08:19 AM

i have a fair bit of aviation art..............

lesofprimus · 06-05-2005, 08:24 AM

Quote:

I have a Waffen SS poster in my room

I think my father would have punched me in the head if i had a Nazi Poster in my room.... Then he woulda stuffed it up my ass...

Times, they are a changin....

cheddar cheese · 06-05-2005, 08:27 AM

Then again I also have the poster saying "How about a nice big cup of shut the **** up", which my parents dont seem to mind...

lesofprimus · 06-05-2005, 08:30 AM

LOL..

plan_D · 06-05-2005, 07:38 PM

I think the time has come when certain people are starting to realise it was a war and all wars must be researched from both sides. Being mostly into tactical thinking of World War 2 certainly carry a lot of interested in the Waffen-SS as they were just remarkable!

Aggressive and thoughtful, you wouldn't want to be facing a W-SS unit on the battlefield. War isn't as black and white as a lot like to make out. The W-SS were no worse than anyone else. The U.S troops in the Ardennes though were told to kill anyone in a black uniform...what they didn't realise was, W-SS didn't wear black in the field, only panzer crews did.