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Operation Airthief – the plan to hijack an Fw 190A
Armin Faber’s Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3 of III/JG 2 at RAF Pembrey, June 1942.
In June 1942, Oberstleutnant Armin Faber was Gruppen-Adjutant to the commander of the III fighter Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) based in Morlaix in Brittany. On 23 June, he was given special permission to fly a combat mission with 7th Staffel. The unit operated Focke-Wulf 190 fighters.
The FW-190 had only recently arrived with front line units at this time and its superior performance had caused the Allies so many problems that they were considering mounting a commando raid on a French airfield to capture one for evaluation.
7th Staffel was scrambled to intercept a force of six Bostons on their way back from a bombing mission; the Bostons were escorted by three Czechoslovak-manned RAF squadrons, 310 Squadron, 312 Squadron and 313 Squadron commanded by Alois Vašátko. A fight developed over the English Channel with the escorting Spitfires, during which Faber was attacked by Sergeant František Trejtnar (Czech) of 310 Squadron. In his efforts to shake off the Spitfire, Faber flew north over Exeter in Devon. After much high-speed manoeuvring, Faber, with only one cannon working, pulled an Immelmann turn into the sun and shot down his pursuer in a head-on attack.
Trejnar bailed out safely, although he had a shrapnel wound in his arm and sustained a broken leg on landing; his Spitfire crashed near the village of Black Dog, Devon. Meanwhile, the disorientated Faber now mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and flew north instead of south. Thinking South Wales was France, he turned towards the nearest airfield – RAF Pembrey. Observers on the ground could not believe their eyes as Faber waggled his wings in a victory celebration, lowered the Focke-Wulf’s undercarriage and landed.
The Pembrey Duty Pilot, one Sergeant Jeffreys, grabbed a Very pistol and ran from the control tower and jumped onto the wing of Faber’s aircraft as it taxied in. Faber was apprehended and later taken to RAF Fairwood Common by Group Captain David Atcherley (twin brother of Richard Atcherley) for interrogation.
By the spring of 1942 the Fw 190 had become an uncomfortably sharp thorn in the side of RAF Fighter Command. Obviously, if an airworthy example of the Fw 190 could be captured and its secrets probed, that would be of inestimable value. Capt. Philip Pinckney, a British commando officer, hatched a daring plan to gain that end.
In an operation of this type, two men might succeed where more might fail. Pinckney suggested that his good friend Jeffrey Quill, chief test pilot at the Supermarine Company, should accompany him on the enterprise.
The essentials of the plan were as follows. On Night 1 a Royal Navy motor gunboat, equipped with direction-finding radio, was to carry the pair to a point within about two miles of a selected beach on the French coast, where they would disembark into a folding canoe. The pair would paddle ashore, hide their boat in sand dunes and lie up during the following day. On Night 2 the pair would move inland to within observation range of the selected Fw 190 airfield, and hide up before dawn. During the daylight hours the pair would keep the airfield under observation and plan their attack. On Night 3 the pair would penetrate the airfield defences by stealth, and conceal themselves as near as possible to one or more Fw 190s at their dispersal points. The pair would then wait until the next day, when the ground crew arrived to run the engine of one of the fighters.
The pair would then break cover, shoot or drive away the ground crewmen, and Jeffrey Quill would jump into the cockpit and taxi the machine to the runway. As he did so, Pinckney would be outside the plane warding off any attempt to interfere with the operation. Once Quill was safely airborne, Pinckney would withdraw to a previously prepared hide. On Night 4 he would return to the hidden canoe. Just before dawn he would launch the craft and paddle out to sea, making radio transmissions so that the motor gunboat could home on the craft and pick him up.
Yet in a remarkable coincidence, on the very day Pinckney submitted his proposal, the need for this risky operation disappeared. On the afternoon of 23 June an Fw 190 pilot had become disorientated in a dogfight with Spitfires over southern England. He mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and made a wheels-down landing at Pembrey airfield, south Wales [above]. Thus, the RAF gained the coveted example of an Fw 190, without having to resort to the risky ‘Airthief operation.
https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/11/18/operation-airthief-the-plan-to-hijack-an-fw-190a/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Faber
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc frank LTC (Join to see) @ ltc john LTC John Mohor @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown @ capt marty Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgct doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ ssgt larry SSgt (Join to see) @ sra christopher SrA Christopher Wright MSG Andrew White @ sfc joe SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL @ sgt david SGT (Join to see) @ sgt david SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 robert SP5 Robert Ruck SCPO Morris Ramsey @ po3 tom PO3 Tom Howard Alan K.
Armin Faber’s Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3 of III/JG 2 at RAF Pembrey, June 1942.
In June 1942, Oberstleutnant Armin Faber was Gruppen-Adjutant to the commander of the III fighter Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) based in Morlaix in Brittany. On 23 June, he was given special permission to fly a combat mission with 7th Staffel. The unit operated Focke-Wulf 190 fighters.
The FW-190 had only recently arrived with front line units at this time and its superior performance had caused the Allies so many problems that they were considering mounting a commando raid on a French airfield to capture one for evaluation.
7th Staffel was scrambled to intercept a force of six Bostons on their way back from a bombing mission; the Bostons were escorted by three Czechoslovak-manned RAF squadrons, 310 Squadron, 312 Squadron and 313 Squadron commanded by Alois Vašátko. A fight developed over the English Channel with the escorting Spitfires, during which Faber was attacked by Sergeant František Trejtnar (Czech) of 310 Squadron. In his efforts to shake off the Spitfire, Faber flew north over Exeter in Devon. After much high-speed manoeuvring, Faber, with only one cannon working, pulled an Immelmann turn into the sun and shot down his pursuer in a head-on attack.
Trejnar bailed out safely, although he had a shrapnel wound in his arm and sustained a broken leg on landing; his Spitfire crashed near the village of Black Dog, Devon. Meanwhile, the disorientated Faber now mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and flew north instead of south. Thinking South Wales was France, he turned towards the nearest airfield – RAF Pembrey. Observers on the ground could not believe their eyes as Faber waggled his wings in a victory celebration, lowered the Focke-Wulf’s undercarriage and landed.
The Pembrey Duty Pilot, one Sergeant Jeffreys, grabbed a Very pistol and ran from the control tower and jumped onto the wing of Faber’s aircraft as it taxied in. Faber was apprehended and later taken to RAF Fairwood Common by Group Captain David Atcherley (twin brother of Richard Atcherley) for interrogation.
By the spring of 1942 the Fw 190 had become an uncomfortably sharp thorn in the side of RAF Fighter Command. Obviously, if an airworthy example of the Fw 190 could be captured and its secrets probed, that would be of inestimable value. Capt. Philip Pinckney, a British commando officer, hatched a daring plan to gain that end.
In an operation of this type, two men might succeed where more might fail. Pinckney suggested that his good friend Jeffrey Quill, chief test pilot at the Supermarine Company, should accompany him on the enterprise.
The essentials of the plan were as follows. On Night 1 a Royal Navy motor gunboat, equipped with direction-finding radio, was to carry the pair to a point within about two miles of a selected beach on the French coast, where they would disembark into a folding canoe. The pair would paddle ashore, hide their boat in sand dunes and lie up during the following day. On Night 2 the pair would move inland to within observation range of the selected Fw 190 airfield, and hide up before dawn. During the daylight hours the pair would keep the airfield under observation and plan their attack. On Night 3 the pair would penetrate the airfield defences by stealth, and conceal themselves as near as possible to one or more Fw 190s at their dispersal points. The pair would then wait until the next day, when the ground crew arrived to run the engine of one of the fighters.
The pair would then break cover, shoot or drive away the ground crewmen, and Jeffrey Quill would jump into the cockpit and taxi the machine to the runway. As he did so, Pinckney would be outside the plane warding off any attempt to interfere with the operation. Once Quill was safely airborne, Pinckney would withdraw to a previously prepared hide. On Night 4 he would return to the hidden canoe. Just before dawn he would launch the craft and paddle out to sea, making radio transmissions so that the motor gunboat could home on the craft and pick him up.
Yet in a remarkable coincidence, on the very day Pinckney submitted his proposal, the need for this risky operation disappeared. On the afternoon of 23 June an Fw 190 pilot had become disorientated in a dogfight with Spitfires over southern England. He mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel and made a wheels-down landing at Pembrey airfield, south Wales [above]. Thus, the RAF gained the coveted example of an Fw 190, without having to resort to the risky ‘Airthief operation.
https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/11/18/operation-airthief-the-plan-to-hijack-an-fw-190a/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Faber
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc frank LTC (Join to see) @ ltc john LTC John Mohor @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown @ capt marty Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgct doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ ssgt larry SSgt (Join to see) @ sra christopher SrA Christopher Wright MSG Andrew White @ sfc joe SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL @ sgt david SGT (Join to see) @ sgt david SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 robert SP5 Robert Ruck SCPO Morris Ramsey @ po3 tom PO3 Tom Howard Alan K.
WWII World War Two
Military History
World History
Aviation
England
Posted 7 y ago
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Thankfully the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes are bypassed by unfolding events. In this case British commando Capt. Philip Pinckney's plan to steal a FW-190 from France was deemed unnecessary by Oberstleutnant Armin Faber mistaking Wales for France on 23 June, 1942 when he landed his FW-190 at an RAF airfield SGT John " Mac " McConnell
Images: Oberleutnant Armin Faber; Lone Wolf, a painting by the Author to depict the conflict between Obit Armin Faber and F/Sgt František Trejtnar. The Spitfire went down in flames, with the pilot baling out. Faber, dis-oriented, 'presented' the FW 190 to the RAF!; 1942-06-23 Faber's FW 190A-3 at Pembrey - still with all of its markings
Background:
"Unintentional Gift
IN TIMES OF WAR the chances of the enemy giving you one of their latest aircraft to inspect are rare to say the least. However, one midsummer’s day in 1942 this seemed to be precisely the case, when a Focke-Wulf FW190A-3 arrived at Pembrey in South Wales.
It was June 23 and two Spitfires of 310 (Czech) Squadron piloted by P/O Střihavka and F/S Trejtnar were sent from Exeter to Bolt Head to join 312 (Czech) Squadron. They arrived at 17.20 hours and were ordered to readiness. At 19.08 they were both ordered to scramble, together with the remaining section of 312 Squadron.
P/O Střihavka, failed to take-off owing to his Spitfire being rammed by F/S Mareš before he had even moved. Luckily both pilots were uninjured.
F/S Trejtnar took-off with the remaining section of 312 Squadron. Across the Channel Obit Armin Faber, who was the Adjutant of the 7th Staffel of JG2 Richthofen was flying as last man with Egon Mayer’s Squadron. He had personally handed over the written order from Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, which stated clearly that no Focke-Wulf fighter was to cross the Channel and must turn back to France upon reaching half-way.
The unit had been scrambled to intercept a force of 12 Bostons on their way to bomb Morlaix Aerodrome. These were escorted by the complete Czech Wing led by their C/O, W/C Vašátko.
On becoming airborne Faber discovered his radio was u/s, but the Spitfires were soon sighted and a wild fight ensued, during which W/C Vašátko’s fighter was seen to plummet into the ocean. He had been shot down by Uffz Wilhelm Reushling, but the German pilot’s elation was short-lived, for as he passed over his victim the Spitfire exploded, wrecking the Focke-Wulf. Reushling was lucky enough to take to his parachute, later to be picked-up by a launch, but Vašátko was not so fortunate. Later the next day a sea search was mounted for their C/O, but he was never found.
Suddenly, Faber found himself alone and, of course, remembering Göering’s order was looking for a French aerodrome on which to put down, when suddenly he saw the outline of a Spitfire on his tail. It was F/S František Trejtnar, and try as he may he could not shake off the determined Czech pilot.
Faber flew north of Exeter and had climbed to 19,000ft into the sun and, in a last desperate effort, performed an Immelmann turn, just as he had read in his World War One aircraft books and later learned at Fighter School. It worked, and in the head-on attack Trejtnar must have been blinded by the evening sun. Only one of the Focke-Wulf’s cannons was working. Both pilots fired simultaneously at about 600 yards range. Trejtnar saw his tracers dance all around the ‘190 with no strikes, but then there was a jolt as parts of his starboard wing flew off and a splinter hit him in the right arm. The Spitfire went into a spin and burst into flames, at about 5,000ft Trejtnar was able to pull himself out of the confines of his cockpit and pull his ripcord.
Faber circled the slowly descending airman 1½ times and saluted his adversary before flying off in a northward direction.
Below in the fields local farmhands were haymaking and had watched the fight going on high above them. Some had to duck under the hay carts as bullets hit the ground around them. When they saw the German flying around Trejtnar as he floated down, they thought he was going to be shot as they had heard all sorts of stories. Had Faber realised he was not over France he would not have wasted valuable fuel on such a chivalrous gesture!
The Czech airman landed heavily sustaining a simple fracture to his right leg. He was heard to say “the bastard got me!” Eager to help, the farmhands took a five-bar gate off its post and put Trejtnar on it to carry him to the nearby road. His Spitfire, 8L517, spun into the ground at the village of Blackdog and burnt out.
Meanwhile, Armin Faber had flown north instead of south and flew over the Bristol Channel. Thinking he was back in France he thought it quite in order to lower his undercarriage as he came in to land on what he thought was a French aerodrome. He performed a perfect victory roll which was all observed by Sgt Jeffreys, a duty pilot who could not believe his eyes!
Grabbing a Very pistol, he ran up to the German pilot. Faber just could not understand what was going on. Such was the shock that he spoke only French for two hours, until the fateful conclusion was reached that he had landed in error at Pembrey in South Wales.
This unintentional gift could not have been more timely. For on that very day a plan was to have been put forward to Combined Operations by Captain Philip Pinckney of E Troop, 12 Commando to actually steal one of Hitler’s new fighters from an airfield in France! The Focke-Wulf FW190 was regarded as the Luftwaffe’s best-ever fighter and it really had an edge on our aircraft in those days. Captain Pinckney’s plan was given serious consideration by his friend Jeffrey Quill whose job it would have been to fly the Butcher Bird back to England.
Armin Faber’s aircraft was repainted in RAF camouflage and given the serial MP499, making its maiden flight in the new colours on July 3, 1942 at RAE Farnborough. It was later evaluated at the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford.
Faber was shipped off to Canada and after two escape attempts he was repatriated just before the end of the war due to ill health.
The FW 190's partially refurbished front cockpit section and armoured screen. The control column is from another '190 and used for many years as a door handle!
The only known surviving relic, the Focke-Wulf’s front cockpit with armoured screen still bearing traces of the RAF paint applied to it during its evaluation can be seen at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum at Shoreham Village near Sevenoaks, Kent, along with many photographs and eyewitness accounts of this incident. In August 1991 the few remaining relics of Frantisek Trejtnar’s Spitfire were recovered by Graham Lewis and his team from the Crediton Museum Society who very kindly donated many relics for exhibition in our display at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum.
On September 21, 1991 Armin Faber visited the Museum and donated his Officer’s dagger and pilot’s badge for the display.
Inspired by this amazing story and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event, the Author has completed two paintings, Aces High and Lone Wolf which depict the air action of that day and a scene typical of many Luftwaffe airfields in France. Prints have been produced limited to 525, signed by Armin Faber, each with a certificate of authenticity."
https://fcafa.com/2011/10/26/unintentional-gift/
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT MSG Andrew White SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Joshua Caldwell CPT Gabe Snell
Images: Oberleutnant Armin Faber; Lone Wolf, a painting by the Author to depict the conflict between Obit Armin Faber and F/Sgt František Trejtnar. The Spitfire went down in flames, with the pilot baling out. Faber, dis-oriented, 'presented' the FW 190 to the RAF!; 1942-06-23 Faber's FW 190A-3 at Pembrey - still with all of its markings
Background:
"Unintentional Gift
IN TIMES OF WAR the chances of the enemy giving you one of their latest aircraft to inspect are rare to say the least. However, one midsummer’s day in 1942 this seemed to be precisely the case, when a Focke-Wulf FW190A-3 arrived at Pembrey in South Wales.
It was June 23 and two Spitfires of 310 (Czech) Squadron piloted by P/O Střihavka and F/S Trejtnar were sent from Exeter to Bolt Head to join 312 (Czech) Squadron. They arrived at 17.20 hours and were ordered to readiness. At 19.08 they were both ordered to scramble, together with the remaining section of 312 Squadron.
P/O Střihavka, failed to take-off owing to his Spitfire being rammed by F/S Mareš before he had even moved. Luckily both pilots were uninjured.
F/S Trejtnar took-off with the remaining section of 312 Squadron. Across the Channel Obit Armin Faber, who was the Adjutant of the 7th Staffel of JG2 Richthofen was flying as last man with Egon Mayer’s Squadron. He had personally handed over the written order from Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, which stated clearly that no Focke-Wulf fighter was to cross the Channel and must turn back to France upon reaching half-way.
The unit had been scrambled to intercept a force of 12 Bostons on their way to bomb Morlaix Aerodrome. These were escorted by the complete Czech Wing led by their C/O, W/C Vašátko.
On becoming airborne Faber discovered his radio was u/s, but the Spitfires were soon sighted and a wild fight ensued, during which W/C Vašátko’s fighter was seen to plummet into the ocean. He had been shot down by Uffz Wilhelm Reushling, but the German pilot’s elation was short-lived, for as he passed over his victim the Spitfire exploded, wrecking the Focke-Wulf. Reushling was lucky enough to take to his parachute, later to be picked-up by a launch, but Vašátko was not so fortunate. Later the next day a sea search was mounted for their C/O, but he was never found.
Suddenly, Faber found himself alone and, of course, remembering Göering’s order was looking for a French aerodrome on which to put down, when suddenly he saw the outline of a Spitfire on his tail. It was F/S František Trejtnar, and try as he may he could not shake off the determined Czech pilot.
Faber flew north of Exeter and had climbed to 19,000ft into the sun and, in a last desperate effort, performed an Immelmann turn, just as he had read in his World War One aircraft books and later learned at Fighter School. It worked, and in the head-on attack Trejtnar must have been blinded by the evening sun. Only one of the Focke-Wulf’s cannons was working. Both pilots fired simultaneously at about 600 yards range. Trejtnar saw his tracers dance all around the ‘190 with no strikes, but then there was a jolt as parts of his starboard wing flew off and a splinter hit him in the right arm. The Spitfire went into a spin and burst into flames, at about 5,000ft Trejtnar was able to pull himself out of the confines of his cockpit and pull his ripcord.
Faber circled the slowly descending airman 1½ times and saluted his adversary before flying off in a northward direction.
Below in the fields local farmhands were haymaking and had watched the fight going on high above them. Some had to duck under the hay carts as bullets hit the ground around them. When they saw the German flying around Trejtnar as he floated down, they thought he was going to be shot as they had heard all sorts of stories. Had Faber realised he was not over France he would not have wasted valuable fuel on such a chivalrous gesture!
The Czech airman landed heavily sustaining a simple fracture to his right leg. He was heard to say “the bastard got me!” Eager to help, the farmhands took a five-bar gate off its post and put Trejtnar on it to carry him to the nearby road. His Spitfire, 8L517, spun into the ground at the village of Blackdog and burnt out.
Meanwhile, Armin Faber had flown north instead of south and flew over the Bristol Channel. Thinking he was back in France he thought it quite in order to lower his undercarriage as he came in to land on what he thought was a French aerodrome. He performed a perfect victory roll which was all observed by Sgt Jeffreys, a duty pilot who could not believe his eyes!
Grabbing a Very pistol, he ran up to the German pilot. Faber just could not understand what was going on. Such was the shock that he spoke only French for two hours, until the fateful conclusion was reached that he had landed in error at Pembrey in South Wales.
This unintentional gift could not have been more timely. For on that very day a plan was to have been put forward to Combined Operations by Captain Philip Pinckney of E Troop, 12 Commando to actually steal one of Hitler’s new fighters from an airfield in France! The Focke-Wulf FW190 was regarded as the Luftwaffe’s best-ever fighter and it really had an edge on our aircraft in those days. Captain Pinckney’s plan was given serious consideration by his friend Jeffrey Quill whose job it would have been to fly the Butcher Bird back to England.
Armin Faber’s aircraft was repainted in RAF camouflage and given the serial MP499, making its maiden flight in the new colours on July 3, 1942 at RAE Farnborough. It was later evaluated at the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford.
Faber was shipped off to Canada and after two escape attempts he was repatriated just before the end of the war due to ill health.
The FW 190's partially refurbished front cockpit section and armoured screen. The control column is from another '190 and used for many years as a door handle!
The only known surviving relic, the Focke-Wulf’s front cockpit with armoured screen still bearing traces of the RAF paint applied to it during its evaluation can be seen at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum at Shoreham Village near Sevenoaks, Kent, along with many photographs and eyewitness accounts of this incident. In August 1991 the few remaining relics of Frantisek Trejtnar’s Spitfire were recovered by Graham Lewis and his team from the Crediton Museum Society who very kindly donated many relics for exhibition in our display at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum.
On September 21, 1991 Armin Faber visited the Museum and donated his Officer’s dagger and pilot’s badge for the display.
Inspired by this amazing story and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event, the Author has completed two paintings, Aces High and Lone Wolf which depict the air action of that day and a scene typical of many Luftwaffe airfields in France. Prints have been produced limited to 525, signed by Armin Faber, each with a certificate of authenticity."
https://fcafa.com/2011/10/26/unintentional-gift/
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT MSG Andrew White SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Joshua Caldwell CPT Gabe Snell
Just when the British werec onsidering snatching an FW 190 one was ‘delivered’ to them. Geoff Nutkins puts the surviving pieces into context. IN TIMES OF WAR the chances of the enem…
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