In the spring of 1945 when RAF Corporal Fred Hislop was serving with No. 409 Repair and Salvage Unit in Schleswig-Holstein, he photographed many captured German aircraft and several of his photos accompanied an article he wrote for the June 1994 issue of Aeroplane Monthly. Amongst these were two showing a Ju 87 D-5, possibly one of the 27 Stukas found at Eggebeck. I wrote to Mr Hislop at the time, expressing an interest in these two photos but he told me that he had given another magazine first option on their use in a further article but so far as I know, this never appeared. The versions here are scans from the magazine so their quality is far from ideal but even so there are a number of points of interest. If anyone has the originals or better copies, please do get in touch.

The photographs were taken at different times, evident from the amount of snow on the ground. I have wondered whether they might show different aircraft (two more Ju 87s can be made out in the background) but the repeated appearance of the individual aircraft letter ‘A’ argues for both images being of the same machine. It is possible that it was moved between shots or at least that some of the discarded items on the ground were cleared away. This was a Ju 87 D-5 with the longer wingspan and, as required by the Allies, its airscrew, wing cannon and rudder have been removed. Neither view appears to show underwing bomb racks although the mission reports above confirm that NSGr. 8’s aircraft had them. The starboard wing has a bent tip and minor damage to its leading edge.

Camouflage and Markings

Both views show a small black ‘A’ under the outer wing panel; from starboard NSGr. 8’s unit ‘6J’ code can be seen while on the port rear fuselage are the letters ‘AA’ (the first of these in a lighter colour, possibly green). The port view shows a small, light-coloured ‘A’ on the port wheel spat and (probably) on the starboard one.

The fuselage Balkenkreuze have a black centre and broad white outline, and the same is true of the Hakenkreuze on the fin and the port underwing Balkenkreuz while its starboard counterpart has a thin black outline. I believe that this last difference can be accounted for by the port wing being a replacement because the ‘A’ is on a slightly lighter patch of paint, suggesting that another letter has been overpainted.

Camouflage appears to be the standard splinter pattern of greens 70/71 on the upper surfaces with pale blue 65 on the undersides. The division along the wing leading edges is sharp with no ‘feathering’ and the only concession to night camouflage is on the port cowling and exhaust suppressor where some wavy streaks in a lighter colour seem to have been applied. Again, these panels may have been replacements.

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