A mystery Bf108

[John]

This photo is a mystery I've been trying to get to the bottom of for years, with little luck so far:

It's a Bf108, which visited the Central Scotland Airport at Grangemouth in the Summer of 1939. It was flown by Captain Eberhard Spiller, an Air Attache at the German Embassy in London. Apparently Spiller and his wife were prone to taking "holidays" flying around the country and staying overnight at various airfields.

After the outbreak of the war, Spiller transferred to Norway, and was killed during the German invasion while leading a column trying to capture the Norwegian Royal Family.

The problem is the markings on the aircraft. It looks like it could be D-IHGW or possibly D-AHGW. The trouble is I can't trace this registration. It isn't one of the aircraft on the strength of the Embassy, nor can I find either of them in any lists of pre-war German registrations. In fact D-IHGW is a Cessna Citation, and I can't find any record of D-AHGW ever being used.

I wonder if it could be a Luftdienst aircraft modified for Spiller's clandestine activities and carrying a spurious registration? Also, any opinion on colours, blue perhaps?

I've placed similar posts on various specialist Luftwaffe boards over the years, but without a lot of success.

John

[The original Kit Builder]

It's definitely not an 'A', John. It is parallel to the 'H' next to it. I'd say it's far more likely to be an 'H', or 'M', if it isn't an 'I'.

[Dave Fleming]

John,

Did I send you this?

http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_D-a.htm

My bet is they changed the letters to confuse British Intelligence.

[John]

John,

Did I send you this?

http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_D-a.htm

My bet is they changed the letters to confuse British Intelligence.

Hi Dave, yes you did send me the list some time ago and it struck me as interesting that there were a number of gaps in the D-IHG* range. I suspect that the registration is spurious, but since it's from a rane known to be in use, it wouldn't be immediately obvious to the casual observer.

I doubt if it's one of the Embassy's aircraft remarked. They were kept at Croydon and in 1939 were no doubt kept an eye on. I suspect it was flown in from Germany as and when required. Apparently Frau Spiller often took photos with a camera from the passenger seat, but I wouldn't be surprised if this one is a bit more sophisticated.

It's definitely not an 'A', John. It is parallel to the 'H' next to it. I'd say it's far more likely to be an 'H', or 'M', if it isn't an 'I'.

I wondered about those too, but Dave's list seems to show that neither D-H*** or D-M*** were combinations used pre-war.

John

[Test Graham]

I understand that the Germans did not use a range, as such, but issued the registrations at random.

[Angels49]

That looks eeriely familiar to the ones used in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last crusade" though the markings are different the colour in the movie was a tan IIRC.

[John]

I've had a reply about this aircraft from a researcher in Germany:

Dear Mr. Walker,

thank you very much for your answers and the photo of the Messerschmitt Bf 108 B with the registration D-IHGW which can be clearly seen on this picture. Based on an official factory document about all civil 108 registrations D-IHGW belongs to the serial number 1918. This plane was built 1938 at the Messerschmitt Regensburg plant and was probably first flown by the Messerschmitt test pilot Trenkle in August 1938 and later by Loew. In October 1938 the plane was transferred from Regensburg to Berlin Staaken airfield and belonged since then to the RLM Flugbereitschaft Staaken (airpark of the german air ministery). As Eberhard Spiller was an employee of the RLM he could use this plane for his clandestine trips to England as described. So #1918 was a quite normal airplane of which many have been in usage by the RLM and the registration was official and not spurious.

What seems to be strange is that there is no trace of this plane in my documentation anymore after beginning of WWII. So my question is if this plane was left in England after outbreak of war and Spiller had to leave your country in a hurry. There is still this mystery about the identity of a Bf 108 B which was seized at Croydon airfield at September 3, 1939: somebody put nails into the tires and took away the tire valves so that the plane could not be moved away anymore.....Reffering to different british sources this plane should have had the registration D-IJHW but I could not find any picture or document about a plane with the registration D-IJHW! So there is a slight chance that maybe D-IHGW and D-IJHW are identical but the definitive proof is missing. This is of some interest for us historicans here in Germany because the plane still exists with the registration D-ESBH and belongs to the Messerschmitt Stiftung at Manching (see attached picture).

During the restoration of this plane no trace of a serial could be found so that D-ESBH is now flying with a serial number 370114 - a number which was found on some internal parts of the wings during the time this plane was still in England. 370114 sounds to me to be the date January 14, 1937 in english way of writing. Anyhow the picture of D-IHGW gives me some hints of how this plane looked like and I have to continue my investigations to find out the real indenty of this mystery plane left in England!

The link you sent me was known to me - it is unfortunately incomplete and partially also wrong - it needs a major update!

Thank you very much again for your help - I will keep you informed as soon as I found new informations about Spiller and his plane!

Yours sincerely

Heinz Schneider

Edited November 3, 2008 by John