Ju52 of the Aegean
When I first joined this forum back in 2017, my focus in militaria collecting was primarily in Luftwaffe aircraft relics. 'Hence my username'. It eventually became an addiction, and before I knew it I was completely buried in massive heaps of twisted aluminum recovered from various crash sites across Europe. I enjoyed the history behind these pieces, but my passion would shift to other aspects of militaria. As time passed I grew more interested in other things. Uniforms, badges, headgear, firearms, just to name a few. It became increasingly clear to me that my collection was undergoing a large change, and to compensate for this I would need to make space. So.. several years back I decided to part with 99% of my old Luftwaffe relic collection. I sold off close to everything I had, and now my old relics are in many different collections around the globe.
I don’t regret this decision, as it allowed me to make a very important shift in my collection. It allowed for more room for the other items I started to collect, and it also gave me the funds to buy new pieces as well. Although I 'more or less' swore off Luftwaffe relics years ago, I’ve still been open to the idea of possibly buying another relic in the future. But it would have to be a pretty special example, and that particular example would have to end there, as I know the addictive dangers of collecting such things!
A few months ago as I was browsing eBay, I found just the relic that fit this criteria. A section of the fuel valve system from a downed Ju52. On its own it doesn’t seem like too remarkable of a relic, but the history behind this particular piece is what caught my attention. The seller of this relic claimed it came from a Ju52 that crashed into the Aegean Sea in 1944, and that the relic was discovered by Greek fishermen by accident in the 80s. Quite the story.. but I decided to dig deeper prior to purchasing this. After doing some research online, and asking the seller a few questions, I felt comfortable that the story was in fact true, and then pulled the trigger on purchasing the relic. So… I now present to you a summarized history of this amazing piece of history.
On January 27th 1944 two flights of RAF Beaufighters from RAF 603 squadron took off for an offensive reconnaissance mission over the Aegean Sea. Flight A returned to base due to adverse weather conditions, Flight B 'consisting of 4 Beaufighters' carried on with their mission and spotted a convoy of Luftwaffe aircraft west of Mykonos island. This convoy consisted of three Junker Ju52s, being escorted by three 'possibly four' Arado Ar196 float planes. This RAF squadron immediately engaged the German aircraft, and an intense air battle over the Aegean ensued. This battle resulted in the RAF destroying 5 of the German aircraft. Three Ju52s and two Ar196 float plans, with a third Ar196 being ditched at sea. During the battle one Beaufighter from flight B reported mechanical problems with their plane, and were forced to ditch their plane at sea as well. It is reported that after the plane was ditched both crew members were seen on their emergency dinghy in the water. The next morning after the battle a search and rescue mission was attempted to find these men, but unfortunately it was without any success. They were later declared missing in action.
More history about this battle, the crew members on board the planes, even original documents pertaining to the battle from both the British and German sides are available at this link. Two Greek researchers have found an immense amount of history concerning this specific battle, and it’s because of their article on the WW2 Wrecks website that I’m able to know all of this information. The Air Battle over Mykonos island: 27 January 1944, hell over the Aegean – WW2Wrecks.com
Now comes the question.. how did this relic end up all the way in my collection here in America? As I briefly mentioned in the beginning of this thread, this relic was supposedly found in the 80s by accident by greek fishermen operating in the Aegean. After talking to the seller and consulting this amazing article over on WW2 Wrecks, I now have a clear picture of how this relic ended up in my hands. It was sometime in 1986 when this relic was brought up in a fishing net by accident. Specifically the Greek fisherman had brought up a section of wing from one of these three Ju52s that was shot down in 1944. They brought the relic on board the boat and later brought it back to land. It was from here that it caught the attention of one of the men mentioned in the article I linked. A local WW2 researcher and enthusiast. He managed to remove a section of the fuel shut off system from the wing for his own collection. Before he could secure any more from this discovery, the wing structure disappeared. It’s assumed it was later scrapped, which is very unfortunate if true.
Now here comes the part where the seller I bought this from gets in the picture. I was really curious to know how he ended up with a piece of this wreck, and how it made it made its way to the states. After asking the seller some questions he responded with exactly what I wanted to know. I will quote him directly here.
"My Greek friend found the wing and I was hoping for a relic.
When we went there the person that seemed to have control of it said we could take what we wanted and even lent us the saw to remove it. It was sometime in the 90's."
So the man I got it from happened to have connections in Greece, and was told about this Ju52 wing discovery. During a trip to Greece in the 90s he was given the choice to take what he wanted from the fuel shut off system, and was even given a saw to cut off what section he wanted. The particular section he decided to take is pretty neat, and I’m guessing it’s a valve of sorts. I’ve yet to see any diagrams that show exactly what this part did, or where exactly it was located on the wing. But I’m sure with enough digging I can find some German schematics somewhere.
This relic scratches a very specific itch Ive had since my Luftwaffe collecting days. The Ju52 is my favorite German aircraft of the war, and because of this I had a substantial collection of Ju52 relics years ago. The vast majority of which were sourced from the Pitomnik and Gumrak airfields of Stalingrad. It should be no surprise that a lot of Ju52 relics have been found in those airfields, given the intense situation and desperate evacuation attempts made there by these planes during the last days of the battle of Stalingrad. I liked these relics, but when I personally think of the iconic 'Tante Ju' my mind usually pictures these planes above the skies of the balkans. Dropping fallschirmjäger troops into Crete and so on. While this relic most likely comes from a plane that was simply transporting munitions, it still fascinates me beyond belief. All of my past Luftwaffe relics were sourced from crash sites on the Eastern front. I never thought I would own a true 'Greek' Ju52 relic, let alone one that was recovered from the ocean floor! The relic is even still covered in old marine life which just proves its time in the ocean. With this piece.. I am satisfied, and can now finally close this chapter in this area of my collection.
Without further ado, here is the relic itself. I hope you all enjoy taking a look at it.
.
Bookmarks