Rare warbird on display

ONE of the world’s rarest aircraft has gone on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

The World War II German Messerschmitt Bf-109 is the only one remaining in the world still in its wartime paint scheme, and is on public display for the first time.

It has been installed in the Memorial’s Anzac Hall as part of the project that will eventually see the return of the famous Lancaster bomber G for George.

G for George will be the centre-piece of a display that will recreate a raid in December 1943 on Berlin, when George – the survivor of an unprecedented 90 missions – successfully bombed the target despite the danger of flak and attack by night fighters.

Also on display will be the Bf-109, and a Messerschmitt 163 and 262.

The display, called Striking by Night, will open to the public on December 6.

The Bf-109 was built in 1944 at Regensburg, and although its operational history is unknown, there is evidence of patched bullet holes, indicating a combat role.

It is known that it was once repaired by Russian POWs who wrote a curse on the inside of the fuselage.

The aircraft was acquired for the Royal Australian Air Force – probably as a war prize – in 1946 before being transferred to the Memorial in the mid-1950s.

It was subsequently sold, and passed through the hands of a number of private collectors.

It was seized by Australian Customs in 1979 after an attempt was made to export the aircraft. A court in 1987 ordered that the Bf-109 be awarded to the Memorial to ensure its restoration and preservation.

 

 

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