Luftwaffe Pilot Defected in Stolen Messerschmitt 109

On 15 May 1944 a strange German fighter appeared over a tiny village on the coast of Norfolk, in Eastern England. Its undercarriage was down and it appeared to be preparing to land! This is the story of the Austrian Luftwaffe pilot who stole a rare variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and flew over 400 miles without any maps to defect to the British!

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Sources:
- 'Escape from the Nazis that ended in coastal crash' by Steve Snelling, Eastern Daily Press, 14 September 2014

Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Bundesarchiv; LEJ.approach; Tamás Unyatyinszki; Eastern Daily Press

[joanofarc]

This is a new one on me. I’m a retired USAF fighter pilot, the son of an 8th Air Force pilot, and have thought I knew a thing or two about the Luftwaffe. I had no idea the Luftwaffe had a two seat trainer version of the BF-109. I have NEVER been disappointed by your mini-documentaries, but this one is especially good‼️ As always backed up with impressive photo evidence. Well Done Dr Felton‼️

[roscoewhite]

Since this is about a crash-landed Bf-109 in England... I was scrolling through a Twitter page devoted to colourised photographs of military scenes, and found one showing a Bf-109 that had crash-landed in Britain in 1940, with the pilot surviving to be taken prisoner... and I gasped with surprise when I read the pilot's name. Back in my childhood, I'd met him, because my sister had been on an exchange program with a German family, and he'd come to visit.

[PeaceU-eces]

Interesting to hear more and more stories related to acts of kindness and civil decency during the madness of WWII.
Thanks to Dr Felton for bringing this one to a new light.

[HughLyon-Sack]

Mark, your narration is better than 95% of all the other content providers on YouTube.

[jensenhealey]

Love these little vignettes of the war that give a more person feel for different participants' perspectives.

[joakimkarlsson]

A video about Paul Hiul, the danish mechanic who stole a Heinkel He-111 and flew it to Sweden, would be cool.

[jonclassical]

So interesting...great book on this subject.... (Arrival of Eagles: Luftwaffe Landings in Britain 1939-1945, by Andy Saunders, is published by Grub Street, priced £20.) In one review I found it states "As for his eventual fate, little more is known about the brave Austrian. “Several years ago, I tried to track him down but got absolutely nowhere, ” says Saunders. “He’s probably dead now, but I’d have loved to have met him and found out what really motivated him to risk everything in such an incredible flight." Thanks Dr. Felton for brightening my Wednesday!

[userbosco]

The irony is history never gets old.... Thank you again Mr. Felton for another fascinating story from our past.

[Kevin-mxvi]

I admire the chap for sticking to his principles. He didn't want to fight Hitler's war and took a massive risk so's not to.

[shed]

Capt. Eric Brown CBE DFC AFC RN said of the Bf109G-12:
'One of my rashest adventures was to fly the Bf109G-12 tandem two-seater from the rear cockpit with no one in the forward cockpit. I was interested to ascertain what sort of view the instructor had for landing. The answer was none! I had to make three very frightening attempts before regaining terra firma. The periscope sight in the rear cockpit was of no use whatsoever in the vital final stage of flare, touch-down and landing run. One can only assumed that Luftwaffe instructors finding themselves in a Bf109G-12 acquired a fatalistic acceptance of an inevitable reliance on their pupils for the finale of each training flight. I would certainly not recommend the ultimate solution that I adopted of a split-S turning dive at the runway, and then a burst of power to avoid cratering the tarmac, and making tail-up contact on the mainwheels. After the tail dropped it was anybody's guess as to the direction in which the aircraft was heading. I had certainly not the vaguest idea.' (From 'Wings of the Luftwaffe'...a thoroughly interesting book.)
To be a test pilot of a newly-manufactured aircraft is one thing, to fly an enemy combat aircraft is another - to fly as many as Capt. Brown did was certainly on another level!

[tomyeplcharger]

My grandfather flew on this type (G12) in the JG105 based in Helmstedt Markersdorf in early 1945.

[superjonboy]

Unlike the Pilot in this video, Mark NEVER fails to land a successful video!

[tonyholden]

I was born and raised in Lowestoft, into all things airplane since I was a small boy. Never heard of this incident. I have learned so much about local WW11 history from you Mark, thank you!

[bongobrandy]

This is the first time I've seen or heard of the two seater Me109.. Danke!

[boinkporkpork]

I read this as defecated rather than defected. Although with that landing who knows. Another great video, thank you Dr. Felton

[nicolas]

I didn't know this story. Seeing the title, I initially thought that the video was going to tell the story of René Darbois, a Frenchman from annexed Alsace-Lorraine who was drafted into the Luftwaffe and who found a way to become a fighter pilot despite his suspicious origins. In July 1944, he defected to Italy with a Bf-109G which can be seen today at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

[JackRoss]

This isn’t related to the video but I want to thank you for these videos. I found your channel when I was sick with COVID and I binged everything you put up. Cheers!

[threechevy]

I remember hearing about Bob Hoover escaping from a German pow camp by walking up to a parked airplane and flying it back across Allied lines. Saw him at an air show once, he was an amazing pilot!

[stangace]

Didn't even know they made 2-seat 109's, I thought the closest thing to that was an ME 108

[samnewman]

Absolutely loved this episode. Norfolk had a crazy amount of air bases during the war, my grandparents met at one of them, my grandfather being a navigator in a wellington and my grandmother being in the WAAF. I never met my grandfather but he was shot down over Germany, survived spending the rest of the war at Stalag Luft 3. I’d love an episode regarding all of the airbases once in Nofork, most of which are abandoned or overgrown.