I had this 'Q' in the wrong thread I guess

William Westerkirk · 10-24-2006, 04:17 PM

German Aircraft flown by RAF!

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At any point during WW11. Did any RAF pilots fly German Aircraft on special missions. Are there any records of German aircraft landing at RAF stations during WW2.

R-2800 · 10-25-2006, 08:56 AM

a rumor is that a JU-88 R-1 i think landed at an RAF airdrome by mistake or it was arranged by the RAF with a pilot in the German Air force

DerAdlerIstGelandet · 10-25-2006, 09:14 AM

There were several aircraft that were force landed in England, especially during the BoB.

Matt308 · 10-25-2006, 12:58 PM

And someone has posted a video with a Ju-88 tested against a Hurricane by RAF. A propaganda film, but the Ju-88 was in british colours. Wish I could recall where I saw it.

the lancaster kicks ass · 10-25-2006, 01:52 PM

yes there were several incidences of German aircraft landing in the UK, some pilots actually thinking they were landing back in France! the one story that always makes me laugh is the story of a He-111 that landed on an airfeild and upon realising their mistake in having not landed in france, managed to turn around and take off again- meanwhile the RAF personnell were on the blower trying to get permission to shoot at the aircraft

as for us using German aircraft i'm in no doubt it happened, but it's all very hush hush if it did because there aren't many accounts of it happening.............

k9kiwi · 10-25-2006, 02:39 PM

109 and 190 as well.

I have seen pics of them on the web and in the BBC story series old bomber crews discuss flying against them during training missions for ariel recognition etc.

Look a bit wierd with rondels on them, and from memory they used Trainer Yellow underneath to help nervous AA crews.

Hop · 10-26-2006, 06:48 AM

There's a very good article on the RAF flight that operated captured German aircraft at Rafwaffe, The Flight Journal - Find Articles

William Westerkirk · 10-26-2006, 02:03 PM

Thanks for that 'Hop'. I knew I had read about RAF flying German Aircraft. I guess it must have went the other way also. I read about British fighting for the Germans on the eastern front. Perhaps some Alied pilots also went over to the other side.

Hop · 10-26-2006, 05:11 PM

Only one "RAF" pilot defected taking his plane with him, afaik. That was Augustin Preucil, a Czech who had been recruited by the Gestapo in 1939, travelled to Poland, then on to Britain, and ended up flying Hurricanes during the BoB (although not in a front line squadron). He collected information for the Germans, and in September 1941 he flew his Hurricane to German occupied Belgium. He went on to work for the Gestapo as a plant in a concentration camp, informing on Czech prisoners. He was executed by the Czechs in 1947.