Last week was finished a small memorial to a German fighter pilot, who died in Bulgaria in 1944. Tomorrow will be "the grand opening".
Captain Gerhard Wengel was the commander of I/JG 5. Only a couple of days after his unit was relocated from Norway to the Vrazhdebna airfield near the Bulgarian capital Sofia, on 10 January 1944 he had to lead his men in a combat with heavy USAAF bomber and fighter formations, which attacked Sofia.
In this combat, defending the Bulgarian capital, captain Wengel was KIA in a fight with P38 fighters.
During the commie years even the dead Bulgarian fighters were not to be mentioned, so how about the German... But after the end of that period, his name appeared again and now at last was made this small memorial, small gratitude and rememberance from the citizens to the man, who gave his life defending theirs. The stone is in a nice city garden, a part of the city that can be considered central.
Captain Gerhard Wengel was the commander of I/JG 5. Only a couple of days after his unit was relocated from Norway to the Vrazhdebna airfield near the Bulgarian capital Sofia, on 10 January 1944 he had to lead his men in a combat with heavy USAAF bomber and fighter formations, which attacked Sofia.
In this combat, defending the Bulgarian capital, captain Wengel was KIA in a fight with P38 fighters.
During the commie years even the dead Bulgarian fighters were not to be mentioned, so how about the German... But after the end of that period, his name appeared again and now at last was made this small memorial, small gratitude and rememberance from the citizens to the man, who gave his life defending theirs. The stone is in a nice city garden, a part of the city that can be considered central.
But one important thing was finished today!!! One finished, one to go in the coming months, one for the future...
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