American aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during the war.

[admill79]

Does anyone have any information on American aircraft used by the Luftwaffe? I would like to know which units,where they were located,and what different purposes were the different aircraft used for. Thanks Allen

[Radar]

Hallo Allen,

Go to the next block under your entry. The topic is called “Beuteflugzeuge”. The first entry by “Trommelfeuer” gives you the instruction to a good web site about that subject.

Radar

[Trommelfeuer]

Many of the captured USAAF aircraft were used to show their strenghts and weak points to the german fighter pilots by actually flying them / against them with the"Zirkus Rosarius", the Versuchsverband Ob.d.L = Luftwaffe High Command Experimental Detachment.

As Radar has mentioned, in the Beuteflugzeuge - thread you'll find two photos of P-51Bs and a F5E of Versuchsverband Ob.d.L, found in the Luftwaffe Experten Message Board, check the Captured Aircraft with the Luftwaffe-section for lots of photos (and addiotional information) of captured British, US (P-47D, B-17, B-24...) French, Italian, Soviet, Dutch, Polish, Czech and other nation's aircraft.

Edit:
...and some of the captured U.S. aircraft were used in combat...
Foreign Built Aircraft captured and used by the Luftwaffe on the Luftwaffe Resource Center offers good information, for example the Beute-B-17s in Kampfgeschwader 200...have a look!

[Claus]

A B 24 recovered near Ploiesti.

[Patrice]

Hello.
Two pictures of US aircrafts used by the Luftwaffe, a B17 and a B24 of the KG 200.
Photos from 'Commandos Secrets la vérité sur KG200' Albin Michel éditions.
Patrice

[ChrisMAg2]

Allen,
try to get a copy of "Henri Stapfer, Strangers in a strange land". That is one of the most indeep sources on this topic, IMO.
Regards
Christian M. Aguilar

[Nak250]

Did any of this aircraft participe in a bombing mission against static objetives?

Thanks in advance.

[Acolyte]

The Wikipedia entry on B-17 flying fortress contains this:

During World War II, some forty B-17s were repaired by the Luftwaffe after being captured, and put back in the air. These were codenamed "Dornier Do 200," given German markings to disguise their origin and were used for clandestine spying and reconnaissance missions by the Luftwaffe. Other B-17s were kept in Allied markings and were used to to infiltrate B-17 formations and report their position.

It's interesting trying to imagine how that happened. I personally don't see how that would ever work. The crews manning the USAAF bombers obviously could identify the bombers of the same unit. A German B-17 in US markings could not possibly fly within the enemy formation for long without becoming suspicious IMO. What if other bombers demand on radio that the German bomber identify itself? What would the infiltrators do?

[Mangrove]

There is story in a book called "Wild blue" by Stephen E. Ambrose where german B-24 tried to infiltrate to formation somewhere above Italy in 1944. The pilot spoke perfect english and the markings on the plane were US. (Un)fortunately the escort fighters & other bombers noticed him and threatened to shoot him down if him come closer.

Few minutes later the bomber left the formation.

Martti

[Tim Smith]

The Wikipedia entry on B-17 flying fortress contains this:

During World War II, some forty B-17s were repaired by the Luftwaffe after being captured, and put back in the air. These were codenamed "Dornier Do 200," given German markings to disguise their origin and were used for clandestine spying and reconnaissance missions by the Luftwaffe. Other B-17s were kept in Allied markings and were used to to infiltrate B-17 formations and report their position.

It's interesting trying to imagine how that happened. I personally don't see how that would ever work. The crews manning the USAAF bombers obviously could identify the bombers of the same unit. A German B-17 in US markings could not possibly fly within the enemy formation for long without becoming suspicious IMO. What if other bombers demand on radio that the German bomber identify itself? What would the infiltrators do?

This is a myth. The Luftwaffe never used captured aircraft to infiltrate an enemy formation. KG 200 used B-17's and B-24's not to fool the enemy because they were American aircraft, but simply because they were better aircraft for long-range missions than most German equivalents. The B-17 and B-24 were far more reliable and robust aircraft than the Heinkel He 177 or Focke-Wulf Fw 200. KG 200 also used B-17s and B-24s to help German fighter units develop anti-bomber tactics.

The Luftwaffe never flew a captured enemy aircraft in enemy markings on an operational mission. All captured aircraft flown operationally had German markings. Sometimes the aircraft kept their original Allied camoflage paint, sometimes they were repainted with German camoflage paint.

[No1Mustang]

I read in a book not long ago that some captured b17's would join us formations then drop out of formation as if it was going down due to an attack, i cant remember the book off hand but will find out

[PPoS]

No1Mustang
I posted something similar to this:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... hlight=b17

[No1Mustang]

Id not seen your post before I just looked at the link, so atleast more than 1 of us know that this sort of thing happened

[Enigma]

P-38 in Luftwaffe colors.

[Stormbird]

Hi for a number of pics go here

http://www.luftarchiv.de/

click on the english in the top right or click this one 'Beuteflugzeuge' and pick your country (ie USA)