Siko's Luftwaffe and RAF Flugbuch/logbook collection

[Siko]

I hope you won't mind indulging me as I show you my small collection of Luftwaffe and RAF Flugbuch/Logbooks, mainly from WW2. I was initially interested in collecting logbooks from my own time as an RAF pilot and always enjoyed filling in my own and leafing through the logbooks I signed, to read about interesting sorties and careers.

Plus, growing up, my Austrian grandmother had several photos of a very proud looking man on her bookshelf...my Great-Uncle, who was a Bordfunker and sadly killed flying Ju88s with KG54 in 1943. So, it was a combination of my career as a military pilot and my personal history that started me out collecting and I am thoroughly enjoying it this far.

My main interest is in researching their careers and bringing these long dead warriors stories back to life, to honour the men like my Great-Uncle who left almost nothing behind.

First two photos are of my RAF logbook collection and then my Luftwaffe Flugbuch collection, I will show a couple of individual pictures aswell of each individual collection in a separate reply....if anyone is interested then pm me and I can send any particular scans you might like. Sorry for the quality of the photos, I'm a pilot and amateur historian...not a photographer

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[Siko]

First of all, my Great-uncle and Bordfunker in 4/KG54, killed in a flying accident 4 Aug 1943 near Ganserndorf during the final part of his operational training. We got his records back recently and were saddened to see his Nazi Party membership card, but I imagine a lot of them were. Just another misguided victim of war......

First photo is of him in his tropical uniform with a model I had commissioned of his Ju88...

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His war records and death card...

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Photo in flying gear....

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Nazi party membership and I believe his statement of freedom from 'Jewishness'.

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Lastly, some flying records.....

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[Siko]

Quick one of my English Grandfather, a mechanic in the RAF stationed at Gibraltar the same time my Great Uncle was in Sicily....intriguing to think they could have fought each other. We have a lovely diary of my grandfather's time in the war, photo album and also have his records....

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[Siko]

This is actually what started me collecting, I was given these for safekeeping by another pilot who was about to throw them away. I couldn't believe it when I started looking through them, this is an amazing piece of history.

Fg Off RG Stringer DFC, flew Blenheims with 254 Squadron Coastal Command on shipping strikes into and around Norway, a flying instructor, at 2 COTU then Beaufighter pilot with 248 Squadron, with several confirmed kills. Sadly he was shot down 11 Apr 1943 after shooting down a Ju88 in the Bay of Biscay, him and his navigator (PO Hunter) survived the ditching but were never rescued, 2 of the Ju88 crew were saved. Stringer was washed ashore and is buried at Bilbao military cemetery, PO Hunter is commemorated at Runnymede.

In Chris Goss's wonderful book 'Bloody Biscay', there are photographs pf his actual shootdowns of a Ju88 on 10 Mar 1943 and a Fw200 on 12 Mar 1943.

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The last page of his logbook and a photo....

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Operations over Malta....

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[Siko]

Here's an interesting one, few pictures of CB Warr's logbooks. He flew Typhoons with 183 Squadron as part of 2 TAF during the battle of Normandy on many strikes, then to India where he was a maintenance test pilot and finally re-enlisted after the war and became a Jet instructor.

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2 TAF missions over Normandy....

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[Siko]

Few random ones, first of all my own and most precious by far, including my medals:

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Derek Knight, Instructor pilot in Canada, flew Cornell and Harvard mainly, one Hurricane flight!

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Derek Baldock, post war Vampire and Meteor National Service pilot:

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[Siko]

Ok, saved the best until last......the Luftwaffe Flugbuch! My Luftwaffe collection:

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The first Flugbuch I bought, Lt Carl-Heinz Friedrich of KG1/51. Flew Ju88 Feindflug in the Mediterranean theatre in 1943, shot down and rescued by a Do24. Then converted to He177 and took part in the only mass attack by the He177 on Velikye Luki on 19 Jul 1944. Then converted onto FW190 and subsequently the Me262....flying one strike mission in the last days of the war on 31 Mar 1945. First pic is of He177, Fw190 and Me262 conversion:

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Ju88 shootdown and rescue by Do24:

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[Siko]

This is one of my favourite ones as I think its fairly unusual to get the matching Leistungsbuch and Flugbuch together. Gunther Kauschke flew Ju88/188 with 4.(F) AufklGr14, ErgGr (F) Rahmel and ErgGr(F) Nacht. He flew many interesting and hazardous recce/strike Feindflug on the eastern front and over Germany during the last year of the war.

It looks like he transcribed all his Leistungsbuch detail into his Flugbuch, but it makes for an interesting read and he records various incidents such as 2xMustangs attacking him.

I found a picture of Gunther Kauschke here with some details of his career:

http://autoveteranen.de/flugzeug/namen1.html

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Entries for May 1945 with corresponding Leistungsbuch entries:

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[Siko]

This is my latest acquisition, Flugbuch and photo set for an airgunner Uffz Richard Hackethal of 4/LG1. Flew many Feindflug during the Luftwaffe blitz on England 1940-41, then attack missions out of Catania on Malta/North Africa and Greece, before being killed attacking Malta on the 12th March 1942. Some more details on his shootdown and a photo of his Beobachter are here:

http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-air...-VALLETTA.html

The following shows a photo set, the ground collision is believed to have occurred 7 Mar 1941 at Catania, when a Ju88 A5 of 5/LG1 was rammed.

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The notorious November 1940 attack on Coventry:

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His last entry in his Flugbuch:

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[Siko]

Here's a nice set of a KG2 airgunner, Heinz Wiegand, which came with a matching and inscribed Iron Cross 1st class, Bomber Clasp in silver and Air Gunner badge. He flew Feindflug from the first day of Barbarossa on Do17, before being injured in an accident. After his recovery he flew many missions against Crete and finally England in the Do217.

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Opening day of Barbarossa....

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Last missions in Do217 against England....

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[Siko]

Quick couple for a nice set with Iron Cross 2nd class from an air gunner, Karl Kowatsch, who came from the same small hometown as my Great-Uncle. With the same forename and career....maybe they knew each other?

Karl was shotdown and I believe survived the war, I found some photos of an elderly chap with the same name from very recent, so he lived to a ripe old age. Unfortunately I have not been able to research anything about this yet, but he flew many Feindflug on the Eastern Front in V4 coded Ju88 (KG1) during his short career from 4/2/42 to 20/3/42...

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[Siko]

Almost there...last but one! This is a really awesome Flugbuch and exercise book belonging to Walter Romer of 9/SG3. He flew Ju87 from the opening days of the Kursk offensive and in the Crimea till when he was shotdown in Ju87 D5 141099 on 25/2/44, I believe he survived but he did not fly again. He flew with Knights Cross winner Eduard Jahnert, who signed his logbook as shown with an example of his signature from his two-part history of SG3.

Romer had a fascinating career and flew 213 Feindflug, he records his missions in detail and had many crash landings, lost air gunners killed, was shot up by fighters and also notes shipping attacks.

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Knights Cross winner Jahnert signature in Flugbuch and in his own book:

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Last entries in his Flugbuch with example work in his exercise book.

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[Siko]

This is the one that I am always being asked about...Hauptmann Erich Bunge (DKG and Ehrenpokal winner) and Staffel Kapitan of 5/SG4, Kdr 1/SG151, Kdr III/SG3 and St Kap 7/SG3.

5 Flugbuch (messy and filled in out of sequence) comprising missions against Poland and France in Do17p and Hs126, long period as an instructor (he suffered a serious aircraft accident) then Fw190 attack pilot in Italy and Curland. He survived the war and is mentioned in Andrew Arthy's "Fw190 in Sicily".

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Attack missions in Italy/Sicily:

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Last missions in Curland:

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I'm afraid they're not great quality pictures, but his Flugbuch really are a bit of a mess. I have made contact with a professional author and researcher who have access to his military diary and hope to be able to find out some more details about his fascinating career.

Many thanks for reading, cheers and Prost!

[Jeff V]

Great collection! Thanks for sharing!

[Siko]

Thanks for your comments Jeff, much appreciated...nice to know at least one person likes them.....after 100 odd views and spending half a day of my life photographing and typing them up lol.

Forgot to say but always thought it was ironic that Stringer's logbooks, an RAF pilot killed shooting down a Ju88 are now owned by an (ex) RAF pilot whose great uncle was killed flying Ju88s. Funny old world eh?