Naval History by Country :
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Signatures on this item | |
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
Name | Info |
Hauptmann Georg Csurusky *Signature Value : £55 | After completing his pilot training, Georg was posted in January, 1943, to 1.KG51 on the eastern front, flying the JU-88 all-weather medium bomber. In August, 1943, he converted to fly the ME-410 Hornet. On October 3rd 1943 Hauptmann Georg Csurusky was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (The German Cross in Gold). In 1944, 1 Gruppe KG51 converted to train on the ME-262 jet fighter-bomber for the Western Front. Georg flew the 262 on the attack on the Ludendorff Bridge. At the war's end he had flown 209 combat missions on both fronts, 68 of which were in the ME-262. |
Oberfeldwebel Hermann Wieczorek *Signature Value : £55 | Hermann Wieczorek joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and served as a flight mechanic before training as a pilot. Upon qualifying, he served initially as a flying instructor before joining Oberfehlshaber Sud, under General Kesselring, flying photoreconnaissance missions in the ME-110 and JU-88 over Italy and North Africa. In June, 1944, he was transferred to 1./KG51, flying the ME-262 on the Western Front. Hermann flew the 262 in the action against the Bridge at Remagen and afterword until the end of the war. |
Oberfeldwebel Rony Lauer (deceased) *Signature Value : £55 | Rony Lauer joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 but was still in pilot training at the start of the war. In 1942 he was posted to join KG30, flying the JU-88 on operations over England and later in the Mediteranean theater. In June, 1944, he transferred to 1./KG51 for training on the ME-262 and flew in in combat a few months later. Rony flew one of the lead aircraft in the attack on the Bridge at Remagen, and flew the 262 until the end of the war. Rony Lauer was witness to the first recorded Allied destruction of a Me262, belonging to the unit known as Kommando Schenk, on 28th August 1944, claimed as destroyed by 78th FG pilots Major Joseph Myers and Second Lieutenant Manford O. Croy flying P-47 Thunderbolts. On August 28th 1944, General William Kepner's men came up against Oberfeldwebel Hieronymus 'Rony' Lauer, a straightforward, clean-cut young man who exuded quiet confidence and seemed incapable of being afraid. He had been living on the edge longer than any of the Americans who were fighting Hitler's jets. Lauer joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 and was in pilot training at the start of the war, in those early days when the Luftwaffe could afford the time for the same kind of rigorous training program that was typical of the Americans. That luxury would vanish, though, and Lauer would eventually find himself fighting alongside men with relatively little experience. With an initial assignment similar to that of his fellow pilot Hans Busch, Lauer flew the twin-prop Junkers Ju 88 in the Mediterranean theater. In 1944, he was transferred to unit 1/KG51 for training on the Me 262 and flew in combat a few months later. He appeared to have a natural feel for the jet aircraft and to be stoic about its flaws. Lauer was to achieve several firsts as a jet pilot and one was becoming the first Me 62 pilot claimed as an aerial victory by the Allies. It happened when Major Joseph Myers led the Surtax Blue Flight of P-47 Thunderbolts of the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, on a fighter sweep at eleven thousand feet near Termonde, Belgium. At 7:15 p.m., Myers saw what he thought was a B-26 Marauder going south very fast and very low. He dove at forty-five degrees registering 450 miles per hour and got right above the aircraft at five thousand feet, observing that it was painted slate blue with no markings. The plane began doing ninety-degree-wide evasive turns, apparently demonstrating in the process what many pilots would conclude later - that it could not turn inside a P-47. Myers cut him off and closed in to within eight hundred yards. That is when Myers remembered that intelligence officers had shown him recognition plats of a new aircraft called the Me 262. The pilot: Rony Lauer. Lauer's guns weren't even loaded. He was ferrying the Me262 on a transfer from Juvincourt, near Reims, France, to Chievres, Belgium. Myers and 2nd Lt. Manford O. Croy Jr. latched on and chased Lauer. As Myers held his thumb over the firing switch, Lauer slowed down and crashed in a plowed field. Myers started shooting as the Me262 touched the ground and continued pumping bursts into it at close quarters, getting hits in the cockpit and both engines. The Me262 skidded across a field, on fire. Lauer leaped out and ran. By then Croy was opening up with his eight .50-caliber guns, and the after-action report indicated that Croy hit the pilot as he ran from the jet. In fact, Lauer was never touched. Myers and Croy are each credited with one-half of an air-to-air victory, officially the first American kill of a jet. Lauer wasn't finished being shot down - it would happen again - but at the very time Allied armies were making a breakout in France, there was a lull in engagements. Rony Lauer died in 2002. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Me262 | The Messerschmitt Me-262 Swallow, a masterpiece of engineering, was the first operational mass-produced jet to see service. Prototype testing of the airframe commenced in 1941 utilizing a piston engine. General Adolf Galland, who was in charge of the German Fighter Forces at that time, pressured both Goring and Hitler to accelerate the Me-262, and stress its use as a fighter to defend Germany from Allied bombers. Hitler, however, envisioned the 262 as the aircraft which might allow him to inflict punishment on Britain. About 1400 Swallows were produced, but fortunately for the Allies, only about 300 saw combat duty. While the original plans for the 262 presumed the use of BMW jet engines, production Swallows were ultimately equipped with Jumo 004B turbojet engines. The wing design of the 262 necessitated the unique triangular hull section of the fuselage, giving the aircraft a shark-like appearance. With an 18 degree swept wing, the 262 was capable of Mach .86. The 262 was totally ineffective in a turning duel with Allied fighters, and was also vulnerable to attack during take off and landings. The landing gear was also suspect, and many 262s were destroyed or damaged due to landing gear failure. Despite its sleek jet-age appearance, the 262 was roughly manufactured, because Germany had lost access to its normal aircraft assembly plants. In spite of these drawbacks the 262 was effective. For example, on April 7, 1945 a force of sixty 262s took on a large force of Allied bombers with escort fighters. Armed with their four nose-mounted cannons, and underwing rockets the Swallows succeeded in downing or damaging 25 Allied B-17s on that single mission. While it is unlikely that the outcome of the War could have been altered by an earlier introduction or greater production totals for this aircraft, it is clear to many historians that the duration of the War might have been drastically lengthened if the Me-262 had not been too little too late. |
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