I’ll finish the post I started earlier about the German fighter «Messerschmidt» raised along with the pilot’s body.
This is what the only number on the lifted parts of the aircraft looked like.
Punching a part on the token also did not bring the expected results — Jagdgeschwader 103 (JG103) did not fight in that area. It turns out that the pilot was transferred to another unit, which was a normal occurrence.
This photo shows a close-up of a badge with a cord, which the Germans usually wore on their chests. Encrypted unit number 53931, personal number 179. Oddly enough, the Germans only encrypted Luftwaffe units.
Other items found on the pilot: a Luftwaffe compass, a standard officer’s frame buckle, a wallet with metal and paper Polish money…
The German bureaucracy does not allow the transfer of personal data of the pilot through the «People’s Union». Nevertheless, the pilot was established with a fairly high percentage of probability, first by Russian researchers of the issue, and then confirmed by German colleagues!
It turned out to be Lieutenant Adolf von Gordon, born in 1921. from the third group of the 3rd Jagdgeschwader. He did not return to the airfield on April 20, 1943. Gordon flew in the Novorossiysk area on a «Messerschmidt» Bf-109 G-4 with serial number 14 946.
This is what the German pilot’s plane looked like.
According to German documents, the pilot died in an air battle with a Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft. This version is confirmed by Soviet documents from the war. For the destruction of Gordon’s fighter and other feats, Il-2 gunner, senior sergeant Varich Grigory Akimovich, born 1922. was presented to the Order of the «Patriotic War» 2nd degree.
Quote from award document:
«…20.4.43 on the plane of pilot KISILEV where air gunner comrade VARICH was attacked by two ME-109 comrade. VARICH, acting in full cooperation with the crew commander, repelled the first attacks of the fighters, and when one of the fighters tried to go down comrade. VARICH asked the pilot to bank the plane and with a well-aimed burst killed the enemy pilot ME-109 crashed into the ground and burned…»
Video from the ascent.
More interesting finds for you, and if it’s still difficult to tear yourself away from your chair and go to the cops, then you’ll find more motivation here.
