Museum Deelen Airfield

[One-Oh-Four]

On the way home from Heiden on Sunday April 7th we stopped by the Deelen Airfield Museum. Deelen lies next to Arnhem and was built by the German military during the occupation in World War 2. Together with Leeuwarden and Venlo it was used by the Nachtjagdwaffe. The Airfield was used after the war by the army liaison- and later helicopter units of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. At present the airfield is still military territory and used by the Airmobile Forces of the Royal Army when they exercise together with the RNLAF Chinooks and Cougars.

 

http://www.museumvlbdeelen.nl/

 

 

 

A Luftwaffe wheel chock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

FuG 220 + FuG 202:

 

Photo CL3299, Imperial War Museum

 

 

 

 

Objects from the "Diogenes" Nachtjagd air combat control bunker near Arnhem:

 

 

A diorama of an RAF bomber attacked by a Bf 110. The fired rounds are depicted by LED's. Difficult to photograph, very effective to the eye!

 

[JeroenPeters]

Thnx for this erik!

I was just amazed by the well preserved Fug, spitfire engine and mg131 guns.

 

Had a great day!

Cheerd,

Jeroen

[JeroenPeters]

Ps. I anyone wants to build these chocks in 1/32: pktinyland offers them.

[One-Oh-Four]

Of course, there are plenty objects from excavated downed bombers:

 

A Wellington exhaust:

 

Bristol Hercules engine:

 

Bomber Command pilot:

 

 

Quite a lot of aircraft were lost during Market-Garden:

 

 

 

Short Stirlings were used to tow the Horsa gliders to Arnhem and to replenish the troops once on the ground. A pilot seat of such a Stirling:

 

An upper fuselage part that was used for decades as a shed by a local farmer. You can observe that this Stirling did have the upper fuselage turret installed earlier:

 

 

 

 

 

Rear gunners hatch:

[One-Oh-Four]

Of course there's enough Luftwaffe stuff there, too.

 

Fw 190A:

 

These photos show wreckage from two Fw 190A-8's. One was excavated near Lobith in 1992 (Blaue 3). Parts from this aircraft are in the display cases. The other parts are from another -later- excavation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RLM 70 over red primer:

 

 

Remnants of a Tatzelwürm:

 

MG 131:

 

MG 151/20:

 

 

 

And to prove that I do occasionally build a model  :

 

 

 

Okay, it's the 1/48 Tamiya Fw 190A-8...

 

[JeroenPeters]

Great photo's Erik!

Thanks a bunch!!

[One-Oh-Four]

Bf 109G-6:

 

Also from different aircraft, at least two that I'm aware of:

 

 

 

A 19-year old pilot that was chased into the ground by P-51's. The excavation proved that he didn't even have had the chance to squeeze of a round at his opponents. Such was the situation in late 1944 and 1945, the new pilots could hardly control their mounts, much less use them in combat... This boy flew a Bf 109G-6AS, not the tamest combat fighter of the day...

 

 

 

 

 

One of the cowl-mounted MG 131's:

 

Observe the colours of the MG 131-rounds:

 

 

 

 

 

30mm Mk 108-rounds from a Bf 109G-6/U-4:

 

Mk 108 30mm cannon:

 

Since the parachute was found in the aircraft; the pilot perished. I don't know if actual remains were found in the wreckage. I find it hard to believe there weren't...

 

Two MG 131's, used as cowl guns both in the later Fw 190A's as the later Bf 109G's. On the left how it looks straight from the soil, on the right after some tender, loving care by the museum staff!

[One-Oh-Four]

The silent witnesses of a bizarre accident are the parts of a P-47D razorback. Flying P-47D 42-7961, WZ-M, Lt.Col. Melvin F. McNickle of the 78th FG became unconscious during flight at 28.000 ft because of a malfunction in his oxygen system. He flew into the P-47 WZ-I of 1Lt. Beyers. Beyers coached his aircraft till the village of Driel just southwest of Arnhem where he had to bail out. Unfortunately  too late, since his chute didn't open in time and 1Lt beyers fell to his death. The aircraft must've come howling down since it buried itself deep in the clay sediment of the river wetlands. Thats why a lot of the wreckage is as flattened as it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is also wreckage of Spitfire LF.Mk.IX MJ 874, 416 Sqn RCAF:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who says Rolls-Royce Merlin's always had the RR logo on the valve-covers?

 

USAAF pilots:

 

 

Luftwaffe pilot:

 

 

Miscellaneous:

German concrete practice bombs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A British 20mm shell which wound up in a tree. The tree was felled decades after the war ended. at the saw-mill the shell was found...

 

The fragmentation of a German 20mm shell:

 

And oh! Those two again!!! 

 

 

Cheers mates!

Erik.

[PAnderson]

That's amazing stuff. Not often you get to see the results of our follies like this. I have been to military museums but for the most part all of the items are in rather pristine condition. Kind of sad to see the stories of young men and the way they perished. The last war fought on US soil was the Civil War and those museums are sad in the very same way. Visit Gettysburg if you get a chance.

 

Paul