Messerschmitt AG (German pronunciation: [msmt]) was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262. On Aug. 17, the targets were Schweinfurt (against the ball-bearing plants) and Regensburg (against the Messerschmitt fighter factory), deep inside Germany. [11] The 1st Bombardment Wing, following it, would turn northeast and bomb the ball-bearing factories of Schweinfurt (where almost the entire production of bearings was centralized) and by doing so catch German fighter aircraft on the ground re-arming and refueling. [28], Albert Speer reported an immediate 34 percent loss of production,[29][note 7] but both the production shortfall and the actual loss of bearings were made up for by extensive surpluses found throughout Germany in the aftermath of the raid. By then at least 15 bombers had been shot down or fatally damaged, 13 from the trailing formation. [8][9][10] The 4th Bombardment Wing, using B-17s equipped with "Tokyo (fuel) tanks" for longer range, would attack the Messerschmitt Bf 109 plants in Regensburg and then fly on to bases in Bne, Berteaux and Telergma (French Algeria). Milch eventually cancelled all contracts with Messerschmitt and forced BFW into bankruptcy in 1931. Initial plans for this aircraft were quite ambitious, as Messerschmitt had predicted that the production of four operational prototype aircraft with additional airframes should commence in October 1941. Ihre Infrastruktur wurde an das Netz der Stadt Regensburg angeschlossen und durch Ausbau neuer Straen, Verlngerung von Straenbahnlinien und der zugehrigen Wasser-, Strom- und Gasversorgungsleitungen verbessert. At the same time, 1./JG 400 and other available Me 163 were being relocated to new positions at Brandis. Plans Made for a Simultaneous Attack on Two Targets The number of prisoners working for Messerschmitt increased greatly after the bombing of Messerschmitt's Regensburg plant on 17 August 1943. . At 14:36 the force diverged from the morning's route at Worms, Germany, alerting the German defenders that the target was Schweinfurt. In Sddeutschland waren die Messerschmitt-Flugzeugwerke in Regensburg und Obertraubling von Angriffen nicht betroffen und konnten bis 1943 die Jahresproduktion von Me-109-Jagdflugzeugen unter Einsatz von KZ-Hftlingen auf weit ber 2.000 Stck pro Jahr steigern. 3km von den Werksanlagen entfernt, um die Bewohner vor erwarteten Bombenangriffen zu bewahren. Very enjoyable site and, as far as I know, accurate. This unit, which was formed in April of 1942, had the primary function of testing and evaluating the newly built Me 163 and helping in the development and improvement of its overall design. They were relocated to Wittmundhafen as the airfield at Deelen proved unfit for the Me 163 aircrafts operation. Am 24. It seems the red paint did not help with the luck. Im KZ Flossenbrg, das gegen Kriegsende auf dem Gebiet der heutigen Kleinstadt Neutraubling auch noch das KZ-Auenlager Obertraubling unterhielt, mussten ber 5200 und im KZ Gusen mehrere Tausend Hftlinge in Zwangsarbeit Flugzeugkomponenten zusammenbauen, wobei die Endmontage der Kampfjger weiterhin in Regensburg und Obertraubling vorgenommen wurde. [luftwaffephotos.com]While this takeoff and landing system offered the desired reduction in weight, it was not without its problems. During the war Messerschmitt became a major design supplier, their Bf 109 and Bf 110 forming the vast majority of fighter strength for the first half of the war. The title Kabinenroller means "scooter with cabin". As, at that time, EKdo 16 could not provide a fully operational Me 163, these were instead taken from 1./J.G. The C-Stoff fuel tanks were placed in the Me 163s wings. by Heimatschuss 01 May 2009, 00:25, Post In mid-August 1944, the airfield was once again attacked by Allied bombers. The delays with the construction of auxiliary support buildings on this airfield meant that crew training could not begin until October 1943. ", [Aerial view of Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg, Germany after aerial bombing], The James C. Stewart Fighter Ace Collection/The Museum of Flight, The James C. Stewart Fighter Ace Collection (2002-02-13.1098), Box 1, Folder 11, Series I - Photographic materials, circa 1930s-1969, Box: 1, Folder: 11 - Aerial photographs, circa 1942-1945. A few days later, another accident occurred when the towing aircraft lost power to one of its engines. Ende 1944 war der Einsatz von 4000 KZ-Hftlingen und 400 Zivilarbeitern fr diese Fertigung geplant. Eduard has chosen to depict the Bf 109 G-10 produced at the Messerschmitt Regensburg factory. Spitfire, Messerschmitt Bf 109, R.A.F. The pilot in this picture is Heini Dittmar was a vital test pilot for the whole Me 163 project. Because of limited range thanks to (inexplicably) not employing drop tanks,[12] escorting P-47 Thunderbolt fighters would be able to protect the bombers only as far as Eupen, Belgium, which was roughly an hour's flying time from both of the targets. Mithilfe einer entwickelten Auslagerungsstrategie konnte die Produktion von Flugzeugen zahlenmig aber weitgehend aufrechterhalten werden. When the second attack on Schweinfurt came on October 14, the loss of more than 20% of the attacking force (60 out of 291 B-17s) resulted in the suspension of deep raids for five months. August 1943 mittags mit 146 B-17-Bombern. Oktober 1936 verkndeten Vierjahresplan zur Erreichung der Kriegsfhigkeit Deutschlands durch Hochrstungsmanahmen, galt die Luftwaffe als besonders kriegswichtig. Messerschmitt Aircraft Plant in Augsburg-Haunstetten, 11 August 1944 Photo taken August 11, 1944 from a Spitfire MK XI of the 14th Squadron of the 7th PRG. The development of the rocket engines was very slow and plagued with many setbacks, especially the limited production of fuel, which eventually led to huge delays in the Me 163 production. more than a third of the production at the Regensburg factory originated in Flossenbrg and Gusen alone; only the final assembly was done in Regensburg. 84", was flown on the anniversary of the first daylight raid by the Eighth Air Force.[5]. On August 17, 1943, the USAAF suffered staggering losses in the two-pronged attack against the Messerschmitt fighter factory at Regensburg and the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany. The renaming of BFW resulted in the company's RLM designation prefix changing from "Bf" to "Me" for all newer designs that were accepted by the RLM after the acquisition date. Messerschmitt, and its executive Willy Messerschmitt also occupied the famed Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in the 1920s; the Messerschmitt aircraft factory office and the Gestapo occupied the property during the war. They also produced the DFS-designed Me 163 Komet, the first rocket-powered design to enter service. Durch den Kriegseintritt der USA im Dezember 1941 nderte sich in den Folgejahren die strategische Lage aber drastisch. There's a fairly good physical description of the Regensburg factory and its surroundings in Martin Middlebrook's book. The groups were organized into three larger formations termed "provisional combat wings", three groups in a Vee formation wing box leading the procession, followed in trail by two wing boxes of two groups each in echelon formation with one group leading and the second trailing at lower altitude. Once there, they would be flight-tested by a number of pilots under the command of Karl Voy from EKdo16. On that day, another accident led to the death of a pilot and the loss of yet another aircraft. Nach Kriegsende blieben in Regensburg und auch in St. Georgen/Gusen nur Ruinen des leistungsfhigen und produktiven Flugzeugwerkes Messerschmitt GmbH zurck. To successfully complete its portion of the attack, the Eighth Air Force decided to attack a target in central Germany as well as Regensburg to divide and confuse German air defenses. Thank you. P.R.U. If the safety procedures were not followed, there was a great risk of explosion, which happened on occasion. Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) (Bavarian Aircraft Works) was reformed in 1926, in Augsburg, Bavaria, when Udet Flugzeugbau GmbH was changed into a joint-stock company. Still, handling the Me 163 fuel without this kind of protection was highly dangerous for the ground maintenance crews. Of those damaged, many were stranded in North Africa and never repaired. Fr die Wasserversorgung des neuen Werks musste sogar ein neues Quellgebiet erschlossen werden. To continue the training of pilots, the whole operation was temporarily moved to Brieg on the Oder. The fuel could never be produced in sufficient quantities. There, they allegedly managed to destroy a Soviet tank using a MK 108 cannon removed from an Me 163, which was placed on makeshift undercarriage wheels, also taken from a Me 163. The production of Me 163 was initially allocated to the Messerschmitt Regensburg factory. To resolve this issue the unit personnel began drilling wells to collect water. The Me 163 wings were swept to the rear at a 23.3 angle. Despite the problems with the Me 163 production, a small number of available aircraft were allocated to the Erprobungkommando (EKdo) 16 unit from April 1942 onward. Later in the war, in competition with the Junkers Ju 390 and the unbuilt, February 1943-initiated Heinkel He 277, Messerschmitt also worked on a heavy Amerika Bomber design, the Me 264, which flew in prototype form with three prototype airframes built, the first of which flew in December 1942 but was too late to see combat. Although the A.P. I found this site which may have some info if you contact them - sorry my German ain't that good. The first Me 163B-0 series aircraft began to arrive from May 1944. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964. Interestingly, the town of Schweinfurt contained 80 percent of Germany's ball bearing industry. [5] In dieser Periode pendelten die leitenden Herren des Messerschmitt-Konzerns, wie z. This was done by the unit mechanics, who wanted with this small gesture to bring good luck to their pilots. Freeman states that the gunners' claims were later reduced to 148, and that actual German loss was "only 27 fighters". [17], The Schweinfurt task forces followed the same route as the Regensburg force. The Regensburg task force was led by the 4th Bombardment Wing commander, Colonel Curtis E. LeMay. The Me 163 were then used in several failed attempts to intercept the Allied reconnaissance aircraft that made frequent flights over the base. This mission would make LeMay's name as a combat leader. The actual responsibility of building these was given to Messerschmitt production plants at Regensburg with assembly at Obertraubling. Given the previous success, of destroying 5 enemy bombers with a limited number of available Me 163, attempts were made to increase the number of squadrons with 20 aircraft. Based on these, the Japanese managed to build a slightly modified copy of the Me 163. An Me 163B is engaging Allied B-17 bombers. 100 ) bezogen, in dem heute die kaufmnnische Berufsschule untergebracht ist.[1]. This attack left the airfield at Bad Zwischenahn unusable for some time. 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