Messerschmitt Me 109 in flight, 1943
The wreckage of a Messerschmitt Me 109 (also called Me 109) German fighter aircraft has been recovered from the ground near Vámosszabadi (northwestern Hungary). The most valuable part of the wreckage is a Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine, which was dug up from a depth of three and a half meters, said Ensign Károly Magó, military historian of the Defense Forces’ Kiss József 86th Helicopter Brigade.
Károly Magó recalled that Ervin Alasztics, a local historian, had contacted him with the supposed identification of the site of the plane that crashed on December 6, 1944.
A magnetometer survey of the area revealed that the plane’s engine was in the ground.
Photo: Honvedelemhu
A planned search was launched on October 14, ending in the recovery of finds.
Károly Magó pointed out that in the end the engine and pieces of the wreckage were not pulled out, but were extracted with the help of a backhoe. The swampy, muddy soil preserved the engine well, but some parts of it were corroded in the soil. Overall, the engine is in good condition, he highlighted.
Photo: Honvedelemhu
He added that the excavation also unearthed various elements of the aircraft’s structure, including a fuel tank fragment, armament and a broken piece of landing gear. The damage shows that the plane hit the ground with great force.
The wreckage will first be exhibited in Vámosszabadi and then transferred to the central collection in Szolnok (central Hungary).
Ervin Arasztics recalled that on the morning of December 6, 1944, 31 B-24 heavy bombers took off from Pantelleria airfield in southern Italy with the aim of bombing the Bratislava marshaling yard. However, due to cloudy weather, they attacked the railway line at Devínska Nová Ves (Dévényújfalu, Slovakia).
The squadron dropped 61 tons of destroyer bombs, and after they had returned, 15-20 Messerschmitt Me 109 fighters taking off from the Slovakia attacked the squadron and fired four bombers. Three Messerschmitts crashed in the air battle, two in Slovak territory and one near the village of Vámosszabadi, then called Alsóvámos. The plane crashed into a oxbow lake, quickly sinking into the muddy ground. Ervin Arasztics added that
in 1945 and in the 1960s, small attempts were made to recover the wreckage, without success.
The landscape has changed since then, and the surface traces have disappeared over time, he said, adding that a 1958 military aerial photograph showed a discoloration and was used to decipher the exact location.
Photo: Honvedelemhu
The pilot of the plane, Alfred Hirsch, died and was buried in Vámosszabadi cemetery. He was exhumed in 1994 and laid to rest in the military cemetery in Veszprém (western Hungary).
The Messerschmitt Me 109 aircraft’s designer, Wilhelm Emil “Willy” Messerschmitt, was still employed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (BF) when development began, and the company changed its name to Messerschmitt AG (Me) in 1938. Therefore, all developments that started before that date continued to use the BF designation, while developments started after that date used the Me designation. The BF 109 was the most widely produced fighter aircraft in the German air force during World War II. Pilots flying the BF 109 achieved more aerial victories during the Second World War than pilots of any other aircraft in the history of aviation. It was the first truly modern fighter aircraft of the era.
Via MTI; Featured image via Wikipedia