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| Arados
After war ended, several captured Arado Ar 234 B-2 jet bombers from Sola
airfield (Stavanger) in Norway had to be ferried to the United Kingdom. The
Arado’s were first to be flown to Schleswig and from there flown to Farnborough
with a possible stop at Melsbroek in Belgium, if the weather dictated this.
As
there were not enough qualified allied pilots available for these flights
Captain Brown had recruited a German Hauptmann, who had served as a maintenance
test pilot at Sola, to help fly the Ar 234's on these ferry-flights. One of
these ferry flights ended not as it was planned. |
Arado at Eelde
Arado at Eelde |
In the late afternoon of the 3rd October 1945 Capt. Brown and Hauptmann
were ready for the ferry flight in formation of two Ar 234’s from Schleswig to
Melsbroek. After the take-off for the one-hour flight both aircraft ran into sea
fog over the Zuiderzee in the Netherlands and became separated. Captain Brown
searched for the other Ar 234 but was not able to find it and calculated that
owing to the fuel-situation returning to Schleswig was impossible. Even after
shutting down one engine to improve the range it was doubtful if Schleswig could
be reached.
Captain Brown decided to cut one engine and try to reach Nordholz airfield
near Cuxhaven. This solution brought another problem because flying on one
engine reduced the cruise speed so much that dusk would fall before Nordholz
could be reached. Nordholz was badly damaged and no landing lights were
operational.
A British naval unit spotted the lone Ar 234 and lighted two searchlights and
pointed them in the direction of Nordholz. At Nordholz the USAAF unit stationed
there was informed by the British Naval unit about the situation and used the
headlights of some jeeps to light the landing strip. After re-starting the 2nd
engine Captain Brown made a textbook landing on the sparsely lighted airfield.
German Hauptmann MIERSCH had made a very successful emergency landing
at 1830hrs at the very small and badly damaged Eelde airfield in the northern
part of the Netherlands.
It was impossible to fly the aircraft out, between the bomb craters of the
airfield and so it was decided to dismantle the aircraft. It was handed over to
No. 417 Repair & Salvage Unit for dismantling and further transportation
by truck.
- 5 May 1945: Flown from Leck to Sola by Lt. Frank. Aircraft coded F1+HT.
- 10 May 1945: Captured by British forces at Sola
- 24 September 1945: Flown from Sola via Grove to Schleswig by Haupt.
Miersch
- 3 October 1945: Flown from Schleswig and landed at Eelde
140596 was one of 6 Arado Ar 234 aircraft that where flown from Leck to Sola
on May 5, 1945.
The engines were changed either at Sola before 24 September 1945 or at Schleswig
between 24 September 1945 and 3 October 1945.
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