Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2; W.Nr. 0125299, Blue 2, flown by Lt. Leopold Wenger of 10.(Jabo)/JG 2, Caen-Carpiquet, France, mid-August 1942 from: themodellingnews/2013/11/review-kagero-minitopcolors-38-fw-190s.html Two questions about Wengers raid on Salisbury on 11th August 1942 - Would anyone know if Wenger was flying Blue 2 that day? Who was the wingman? His letters say: (carolynyeager.net/leopold-wengers-letters-france-july-december-1942) ...2 August 1942: ...On 31 July, I was unlucky again. I flew from our home port (Caen) to St Andre, which is 125 km away, and forgot to lower the landing gears for both wheels when I was landing. So I landed on one wheel, that is, on the right wheel only, and the left wing. I was very angry with myself for making such a stupid mistake. So my plane is laid up for a couple of days for this piece of stupidity... 12. August 1942: Yesterday I flew off with two planes to attack the city of Salisbury and destroyed the gas works, while my wingman destroyed the railway station. We got chased by a lot of Spitfires; they followed us to Portland, but everything was all right. I got the Iron Cross Ist Class for this mission, which I flew with an NCO, who flew the second plane. My wingman got the Iron Cross 2nd Class. The mission against Salisbury was carried out in strong wind, and a heavy swell at sea, too. We flew past the western tip of the Isle of Wight flying low, and then back again, surprisingly, in a big ring around the north of the city. So there were no air raid alarms going off in Salisbury and the streets were full of people and cars. There was a lot of traffic...I already recognized the city by its magnificent cathedral, where most of the English kings are buried; it’s an English national shrine. I also saw a big gas works, and immediately shot up the gas containers with my cannons, it was very easy to follow the tracers from my machine guns and could see exactly where they were going. It began to burn, then the bombs exploded behind us. My wingman attacked the railway station. He shot up the locomotive of an incoming train and aimed a direct hit on the train with the bomb. The whole city was completely surprised, there was no air raid alarm. The numerous barrage balloons were lying around the city on the ground. It all happened so fast. Flying low, I flew over a few flak positions and avoided them; it was all a little bit too quick for the chaps on the other side... 20 September 1942: ...We flew a mission in the West Channel yesterday. I flew with an NCO, who appears in the photograph enclosed with this letter. We flew together once before, at Salisbury, where he got the Iron Cross 2nd Class... [His damage reports were rather optimistic! Though, spent ammo fell close to my mother, further along the railway line, in nearby Wilton.]
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 01:52:59 +0000
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