Traveling circus Rosarius

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Traveling Circus Rosarius (also "Beute circus Rosarius" or simply "Circus Rosarius") was the unofficial name of the 2nd season of the Experimental Association Supreme Commander of the Air Force ( 2./Versuchsverband Ob.dL ) in World War II . The Luftwaffe used captured Allied aircraft to present them to German fighter pilots so that they could learn about their strengths and weaknesses.

history

The test association Ob.dL was set up in Rheine in March 1942 , while the 2./Versuchsverband Ob.dL was only set up in Oranienburg in 1943 on the instructions of the then General of the Fighter Pilot Adolf Galland and led by Captain Theodor Rosarius. In 1944 it was relocated to the Göttingen airfield , which was particularly well equipped with the necessary facilities for repair and maintenance. In "Sonderkommando IX", the first flying wing Horten H IX was worked towards with von Ohain's jet engines .

In the unit, German pilots flew with captured Allied fighter planes, which were presented at fighter pilot schools, supplementary and regular day and night hunting associations. To do this, they flew from location to location, which ultimately led to the unofficial name "Traveling Circus Rosarius". The German fighter pilots were able to familiarize themselves with the peculiarities of the Allied aircraft and, for example, fly sham attacks on them. These training missions with front-line units were usually carried out with five to six aircraft.

equipment

The 2nd squadron was equipped with a number of different captured Allied fighters. These included Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, North American P-51 Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire , de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito , Hawker Tempest , Lavochkin La-5 and Jakowlew Jak-3 . Some of the machines came from the inventory of the Rechlin test center , which first carried out extensive flight tests with the booty. As a special identification, almost all machines had a yellow paint on the underside. The wing recognition was "T9".

The 1st season of the experimental association was entrusted with long-distance reconnaissance tasks and mainly used the Junkers Ju 88 for this purpose . It was set up in January 1943 from the former 4th long-range reconnaissance squadron of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force (4th (F) /Ob.dL). The 3rd season carried out tests with captured Allied equipment. Parts of the experimental unit were transferred to the newly established Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200) in early 1944 .

On the part of the Royal Air Force (RAF), the No. 1426 Flight RAF a corresponding British air force unit.

Web links

literature

  • Hans-Heiri Stapfer: Strangers in a strange land. Squadron / Signal Publications, Carrollton TX 1988, ISBN 0-89747-198-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List
  2. ↑ Aircraft inventory report
  3. ↑ Horst Boog , Gerhard Krebs , Detlef Vogel: The German Empire and the Second World War . Volume 7: The German Reich on the Defensive - Strategic Air War in Europe, War in the West and in East Asia 1943 to 1944/45. DVA 2001, ISBN 3-421-05507-6 , p. 159.