Swiss Messerschmitts

[Hobilar]

In late 1944 the Swiss Government was presented with twelve new Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters by the Germans, in return for a guarantee that a Luftwaffe Me 110 night fighter which had been forced down over Swiss territory, would be completely destroyed to stop its secret Radar from falling into Allied hands.

[gao_yixing]

Uh.... Any more information about that?

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by gao_yixing

Uh.... Any more information about that?

There is reference to it at Axis History Factbook: Messerschmitt Bf 109 but not much more.

[Helmut Von Moltke]

There is also mention of it in the Time Life book "The Neutrals", in their WWII series.

Kevin

[515]

i got a bit on it.
this is from Encyclopeida of aircraft of world war II.
"The Fliegertruppe took delievery of its first Bf 109 , one of the 10 D-1s, on 17 December 1938, paving the way for the supply of 80 Bf 109E-3s from April 1939. Other aircraft were added by interernment of German machines (two Bf 109Fs and two Bf 109Gs), and the purchase of 12 Bf 190G-6s in May 1944. The aircraft were very active protecting Swiss neutrality (for which they were given large striped markings), included the shooting down of several German aircraft. "


--- i didnt know that they shot down the Luftwaffe. I didnt know they shot down anybody.

[phylo_roadking]

IIRC, there was an American raid of Liberators into North Italy - Pavia? - that mistakenly crossed into Swiss territory on the return leg, i think three were shot or otherwise forced down

[sniper1shot]

I have read on dogfights but nothing about a specific craft being shot down.
Me vs Me's type of deal.

[phylo_roadking]

I read just this afternoon that the 109s were flown into Altenrhein on Lake Constance - where the Swiss promptly stripped them down and rebuilt them, they were "somewhat dismayed" at the standard of mechanical engineering and assembly coming out of the German factory!!!

[TRDG]

How bad was it, and did the Swiss make a "better" machine, or just retuned them?

Cheers, thanks

TRDG

Tom

[phylo_roadking]

The comment was that they were delivered in the same condition as they would have been to a German frontline unit, and the Swiss found this unsatisfactory!They mustn't have ticked like...a cuckoo clock!

In all seriousness, wartime combat aircraft weren't designed or built for the thousands of hours' of flying time modern aircraft do. Look at your local private airfield...you'll see 25, maybe 30 year old Cessnas and Pipers with thousands of hours on them. Period combat aircraft had VERY high performance engines, and strong but light frames of aluminimum and other alloys that readily stress-fatigued in high-g combat flying and engine vibration as fast as the engines wore.

Into that you have to add the terrible wartime manufacturing conditions in Germany, with simplified production for semi-skilled labour, and a variety of replacement techniques for impossible-to-source items like certain grades of ballbearings after the destruction of Schweinfurt. The Swiss tore the 109s down and "blueprinted" them, and IIRC they remained in service for another 15-20 years or so.