ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>The 321st Bombradment Group</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#CCFFCC"> <Center> <IMG SRC="SpinglerTitlePage.jpg" Width=631 Height=200> </Center><BR> <CENTER><FONT SIZE="5"> <FONT COLOR=BLUE><B>German Stuff</B> </FONT COLOR></FONT SIZE="5"> <Center><BR><Font Size=4>Quotes from Dick Spingler appear in <Font Color=Blue>blue </Font Color=Blue>lettering</Font Size=4></CENTER><BR><BR><BR> <Font Size=4><Font Color=Blue> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman02.jpg" Width=800 Height=535 ALT="Italian Tank."><BR> "I would guess that both tanks are in the vicinity of Bizerte. A big tank battle occured near there just before the Germans left N. Africa. There was a large hill to the west, the plain in front was covered with disabled U.S. Army Tanks. Germans were on the hill, about out of gas, so made a last stand."</Font Color=Blue> Although described as a German tank with a 20mm cannon on the back of this photograph, Christian Gloor wrote to me and said, "The <A HREF="Fiat.jpg">tank on top</A> seems to be an Italian Carro Armato Fiat 13/40. The side-hatch is very distinctive." Roger Juglair says, "The first tank is not German, instead it is an Italian Ansaldo M14/41 with a gun of 37mm."<Font Color=Blue><BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman03.jpg" Width=800 Height=534 ALT="German tank."><BR> "The tank with the long gun would be a German with an 88mm cannon. This was their best anti-air weapon."</Font Color=Blue> Christian Gloor says, "The <A HREF="Marder.jpg">second tank</A> looks like a German tankhunter "Marder III" (PzKpfw38(t)). These "Panzerkampfwagen 38 tons" were originally a Czech design (TNH P-S), license built by the Germans." Roger says, "the second tank is a Wespe a MkII Chassis with a captured Russian 76mm gun."<Font Color=Blue> <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman04.jpg" Width=800 Height=495 ALT="Messerschmidt."><BR> "This plane and those below are probably at Grottaglia, Italy in October of 1943."</Font Color=Blue> Giuseppe Barcaccia wrote and said the hangar was not at Grotagglie but Pontecagnano (Salerno) airfield, which during WWII was named Montecorvino airfield. A former pilot of Regia Aeronautica, Carmine Bove, gave Giuseppe this information. Giuseppe notes the hangar was designed by <a href="http://www.aiciengineering.it/spip.php?article15"> Pierluigi Nervi</a> and can be seen on google earth: 40°37'20,78"N 14°54'31,88"E. <Font color=blue>"This one looks like a Messerschmidt Fighter/Bomber 112?" </Font Color=Blue>Christian Gloor says, "The <A HREF="Wespe.jpg">twin engine aircraft</A> is a German Messerschmitt Bf-110G-2 Heavy Fighter / Destroyer and the insignia seem to identify it as from ZG 1 "Wespe" (Zerstörergeschwader 1 "Wasp")." Amazingly, it looks as though the color <A HREF="Wespe.jpg">Luft Archive photo</A> may be of the same aircraft in the same hangar. Roger Juglair says, "The bimotor plane is a Messerschmitt Me 110 of ZG26 Wespen Geshwader." <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman05.jpg" Width=800 Height=495 ALT="Grottaglia."><BR> Christian Gloor says, "The single engine fighter seems to be a Focke Wulf FW 190G-3. This version was based on the FW 190A-5 / A-6 airframe and was used as a "long range fighter" with a bomb rack under the fuselage and two racks under the wings to attach 300 litre drop tanks. It seems to be a very rare version of the FW 190, with reportedly only 144 of them built, entering service in Spring 1943." Roger Juglair says, "The German fighter is a double role FW190 A4." <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman06.jpg" Width=800 Height=493 ALT="Grottaglia."><BR><Font Color=Blue> "Italian 1930s Fighter?"</Font Color=Blue> Christian Gloor says, "The Italian fighter aircraft from the Thirties is a Fiat CR 42 Falco. Being obsolete already in 1940, it was well used until the end of WWII by Italy , Germany and Sweden, first as a fighter, later as night intruder." Roger Juglair says, "The Italian plane is a Fiat Cr42." <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman01.jpg" Width=800 Height=574 ALT="Focke-Wolfe."><BR><Font Color=Blue> "The captured German plane is a Focke-Wolfe."<BR><BR><BR></Font Color=Blue> <IMG SRC="SpinglerGerman07.jpg" Width=600 Height=407 ALT="Grottaglia."><BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="Boneyard.jpg" Width=532 Height=251 ALT="Luftwaffe Boneyard."><BR> Destroyed German and Italian aircraft (probably in April of 1943) at the El Aouina airfield near Tunis following Allied air attacks.<BR><BR><BR> Back to <A HREF="321447.html">Contents</A><BR><BR><BR> If you have any comments or suggestions please <A HREF="mailto:489thcorsica@gmail.com?Subject=The 489th Bombardment Squadron in Corsica"> email me</A>.<BR><BR> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" --> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">var site="sm6Fstella"</script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2" src="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=sm6Fstella"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm6Fstella" target="_top"> <img src="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=sm6Fstella" alt="Site Meter" border=0></a> </noscript> <!-- Copyright (c)2000 Site Meter --> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan --> </Center></Font Size=4> </BODY> </HTML>