Saturday, 7 April 2018

Messerschmitt Bf.109G - Swiss users

In 1944 a German Bf.110 pursued a British Avro Lancaster into Swiss territory on the night of April 28 to 29.
Due to an engine failure, the German pilot, Wilhelm Johnen was forced to land at Dübendorf airfield, in Zürich, where the pilot was interned.
By international laws, the Swiss government had the right to put the fighter into service, however, as the Germans were concerned that the Allied intelligence could examine the FuG 220 Lichtenstein radar and the Schräge Musik gun system, their government got into negotiations with the Swiss one.
An agreement was reached thanks to which the Swiss burned the Bf.110 under the supervision of German observers in exchange for a sale of twelve new Bf.109G to replace combat losses, which the Swiss Air Force had suffered.
Those new Gustavs were delivered in batches of six between 20th and 22nd of May. However, those new planes had some serious manufacturing defects due to poor workmanship and production disruptions caused by Allied bombings. After complaints from the Swiss government, Germany refunded half of the six million Swiss Franc purchase price.
A total of 14 Gustavs, including two interned ones, served with the Swiss Air Force during the World War II. However, they were too difficult to maintain and remained in service until 1947 (even if the Emil, which was older, was active until 1949) when the Swiss government bought a surplus of North American P-51 Mustang from the United States which served as an interim fighter before entering into the jet age.










Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109_operational_history
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Swiss_Air_Force

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