Me 323 Gigant, Who was inside?

The problem with these losses is that several pilots & flak crew claimed the same Me 323 at the end of August 1944, so we have more claims than actual losses. It would be nice to sort out the actual losses from German sources.

That must be Olmütz, today know as Olomouc, Czech Rep.

Actually, it happened a day earlier, when five Me 323s from TG 5 were destroyed on Kecskemét airfield by strafing Mustangs (interestingly, some reports say it were Rumanian Bf 109Gs, seven of them, which made the destruction!). Two days later, three more Me 323s were also destroyed in Hungary, this time at Debrecen airfield.

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on August 16, 2005 01:50 am

The data I wrote is from German sourses.

Can you point out the mentioned source?

Gen. Dénes

Sorry!
I was going to,but I had to leave...
The book if abot the ME 321/323 by Hans Peter Dabrowski .
Chapter about losses TG-5 August 44.

Thanks, C-2.
I know Hans-Peter, so I will ask him for more details.

Gen. Dénes

The thread is: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=82643

Thanks. Very interesting thread.
So our 'C-2' is 'Claus' over there...

Gen. Dénes

Yes ,
It's a combination of my names.

The problem with these losses is that several pilots & flak crew claimed the same Me 323 at the end of August 1944, so we have more claims than actual losses. It would be nice to sort out the actual losses from German sources.

That must be Olmütz, today know as Olomouc, Czech Rep.

Actually, it happened a day earlier, when five Me 323s from TG 5 were destroyed on Kecskemét airfield by strafing Mustangs (interestingly, some reports say it were Rumanian Bf 109Gs, seven of them, which made the destruction!). Two days later, three more Me 323s were also destroyed in Hungary, this time at Debrecen airfield.

Gen. Dénes

That must be Olmütz, today know as Olomouc, Czech Rep.

Olnutz is for sure Olmütz (Olomouc), now Czech Republic, in that time Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren. On August 27 1944 fighters of 31st FG 15th AF strafed Airfield Prossnitz (Prostějov) nearby Olmütz (Olomouc). They attacked five planes, out of which 4 were burned out.

Well then, we might have to take away from C-2's list the two planes destroyed at Olmütz (Olomouc). But there still remain 7 Me-323 planes destroyed and 4 captured in the end of August 1944. Is this the final count for Romania?

I believe that happened in early September 1944, on Alba-Iulia airfield.

Gen. Dénes

I can corroborate this story.
According to the memories of my late grandfather, who, at the time was a kid living in Lancram, near Sebes-Alba, this particular Me 323 took off from Bulgaria in June 1944, and on it's way over the Carpathians was struck by lightning , passing over the village on his way to its emergency landing at Alba-Iulia. It was flying very low, and he could remember such details as a stopped engine on the left wing, and a piece of canvas coming off from the same (the piece was later found by a neighbour in a nearby field).
After that, in September 1944, he took a school trip to Alba Iulia, during which he saw the charred remains of the Me 323 in front of the hangar, with it's wings hanging low to the ground, and learned it's story from a relative who worked at the airport.
It appears that the repairs on the plane were already completed on August 23, and it was awaiting further orders from Berlin when the Insurrection struck. As such, it was seized by Romanian forces, that also captured some of the German mechanics and flight personnel present on the base. A few days later (presumably on Aug. 27-28) a pair of Fw190 showed up, and, in an attempt to recapture the "Giant", one of them provided covering fire, while the other tried to land near the plane. As it were, the German pilot was unfamiliar with the terrain, so he managed to overshoot the runway, capsizing his plane on landing. Fortunately, he was unhurt, but vital minutes were lost, and when he managed to crawl out of the wreck he was taken prisoner by a detachment of Romanian soldiers that had hurried to the crash site.
Meanwhile, his wingman was hit by Romanian flak and forced to belly-land just behind the Alba Iulia train station, where he was also captured. His plane was later seen and thoroughly inspected by my grandfather, who recalls that by the time he got there, somebody had managed to jack up the plane, force open the landing gear doors and steal the tires, as well as the canopy. He managed to take a few “souvenirs” himself, including an electromagnet used for firing the cowl mounted mg's.
A few days after the unsuccessful take-over, at dawn, a Schwarm of Me 109s came at treetop height from the direction of Oradea, and attacked the “Giant”, setting it ablaze with incendiaries. At the same time, a few Ju 88’s (188, 288?) bombed the railway station, destroying a few carriages and killing 2 people.

this more a side note but i've found here two romanian Me 109 G parked near a Me 323 gigant; date and location unknown



source of the photo

http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogspot.co...ch/label/Gigant

best regards
M.

Without proper protection from fighter planes, Me 323 was just a big fat duck.
12 or 14 were shot down in just one day, in April 1943, near the shore of North Africa.

This post has been edited by Florin on June 15, 2009 03:33 am

I have better info regarding the place of crash of the Me 323 shot down by Cpt. Scurtu Dan.

The plane crashed near Colacu village in the place called by the villagers "Ceca".
A witness an old lady farmer (10 years old in '44) told me that he saw the germans jumping in the corn from the burning plane while still flying.
Cpt Dan Scurtu is a well known figure to the villagers in the area because he used to ride his motorcycle from Boteni airfield to the small villages hunting girls.