Here’s some ‘what iffery’ from me, something I rarely indulge in!
The first ‘what if?’ was simply me deciding to build the little 1/72 scale Tamiya Bf 109 E-3. I rarely build this scale, it’s really a bit of a stop gap before I start something for the ‘Russian’ group build. It turns out that this little Bf 109 is a very nice little model indeed, and as straightforward a build as can be.
The second ’what if?’ is the subject. This Bf 109 has ended up in an English field following an engine failure, in late August 1940, a couple of weeks after ‘Adlertag’ and as the Battle of Britain was beginning to gain pace. Lots of Bf 109s ended up in English fields but this one was flown by a certain Major Adolf Galland, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 26.
What if Adolf Galland ended up in British hands in August 1940, spending the rest of the four and a half years of the war kicking his heels in a Canadian prisoner of war camp? He would still be remembered as a successful pilot, he was already credited with more than twenty victories on this date, but for the rest? Galland would not become General der Jagdflieger, thus making him a member of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Luftwaffe). Neither would he be promoted Generalmajor, becoming the youngest German officer in any service to attain a general rank. He would never fall out with Goering or lend his considerable weight in support of the Me 262 as a fighter and bomber destroyer. His post war career and self-promotion would have been impossible. He may have ended up little more than a footnote in Battle of Britain histories; because of this:
The officer who made the Crashed Enemy Aircraft Report would have taken a photograph something like this, and filled in a form with usually vague details about the aircraft. 'Green' camouflage, 'Sky Blue' undersides and sides, a red Griffon emblem (it's not, it's a winged dog) as well as various technical details, engine, armament, etc.
Luckily someone had a camera with some increasingly rare colour film!
It's just a bit of fun. Galland didn't come down in an English field and eventually survived the war with 100 victories, most (94) in 1940/41.
Say what you like about Galland, and not all will be good, but he was a superb pilot and unlike some of his contemporaries his claiming was always well within reason, sometimes even conservative.
The first ‘what if?’ was simply me deciding to build the little 1/72 scale Tamiya Bf 109 E-3. I rarely build this scale, it’s really a bit of a stop gap before I start something for the ‘Russian’ group build. It turns out that this little Bf 109 is a very nice little model indeed, and as straightforward a build as can be.
The second ’what if?’ is the subject. This Bf 109 has ended up in an English field following an engine failure, in late August 1940, a couple of weeks after ‘Adlertag’ and as the Battle of Britain was beginning to gain pace. Lots of Bf 109s ended up in English fields but this one was flown by a certain Major Adolf Galland, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 26.
What if Adolf Galland ended up in British hands in August 1940, spending the rest of the four and a half years of the war kicking his heels in a Canadian prisoner of war camp? He would still be remembered as a successful pilot, he was already credited with more than twenty victories on this date, but for the rest? Galland would not become General der Jagdflieger, thus making him a member of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Luftwaffe). Neither would he be promoted Generalmajor, becoming the youngest German officer in any service to attain a general rank. He would never fall out with Goering or lend his considerable weight in support of the Me 262 as a fighter and bomber destroyer. His post war career and self-promotion would have been impossible. He may have ended up little more than a footnote in Battle of Britain histories; because of this:
The officer who made the Crashed Enemy Aircraft Report would have taken a photograph something like this, and filled in a form with usually vague details about the aircraft. 'Green' camouflage, 'Sky Blue' undersides and sides, a red Griffon emblem (it's not, it's a winged dog) as well as various technical details, engine, armament, etc.
Luckily someone had a camera with some increasingly rare colour film!
It's just a bit of fun. Galland didn't come down in an English field and eventually survived the war with 100 victories, most (94) in 1940/41.
Say what you like about Galland, and not all will be good, but he was a superb pilot and unlike some of his contemporaries his claiming was always well within reason, sometimes even conservative.
Comment