IL2

Messerschmitt Bf-109E JG27.1 (W5+) $Albert Espenlaub N. Africa Nov 25, 1941 01

Photo 01: Ofw. Espenlaub seated on the wing of Bf-109E-7 White 5 soon after arriving in North Mrica

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.1 (W5+) $Albert Espenlaub N. Africa Nov 25, 1941 01

Photo 01: Espenlaub later flew this Bf-109F-4, also coded White 5. Barely visible on the rudder are 11 white victory bars, the last representing a Boston shot down south of Gazala on 24 November 1941. As Espenlaubs 12th victory was claimed the next day, it is possible that Photo 03:

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.1 (W5+) $Albert Espenlaub N. Africa Nov 25, 1941 02

Photo 03: shows Espenlaub landing after a sortie flown on the 25th during which he shot down a P-40 south-east of Tobruk.

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.1 (W11+) $Albert Espenlaub W.Nr 8477 El Adem, N Africa Dec 13, 1941 00

Messerschmitt Bf-109F.4 Trop White 11 flown by Ofw. Albert Espenlaub of 1./JG27, December 1941 This aircraft is depicted as it is believed to have appeared shortly before it was shot down on 13 December. It was finished in standard 79 Sand Yellow uppersurfaces with 78 undersurfaces and white theatre markings. The 14 victory bars are speculative and are based on the Abschussbalken seen on the rudder of this pilots White 5, shown on the previous page.

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.1 (W11+) $Albert Espenlaub W.Nr 8477 El Adem, N Africa Dec 13, 1941 01

Photo’s 01-02: British soldiers posing near El Adem with Ofw. Albert Espenlaubs Bf-109F-4 Trop, White 11. During air combat on 13 December 1941, this aircraft, W.Nr. 8477, received damage to its engine cooling system and crash-landed behind Allied lines. At this time, Espenlaub had 14 victories but the two rows of Abschussbalken, which would have appeared on the rudder above the large tear in the fabric, have already been removed as souvenirs. Note that the aircraft appears darker than usual in these photographs on account of the liberal amount of boiling oil which has sprayed from the engine and coated most of the fuselage and leading edge of the fin. Ofw. Espenlaub was captured uninjured but later was shot and killed by a guard while trying to escape from a PoW camp in Palestine.

Pilots JG27 $Albert Espenlaub 01

Photo 01: Pilots of I./JG27 before their flight to North Africa. On the extreme left is Fw. Werner Schroer and, next to him holding papers, Oblt. Wolfgang Redlich, the Staffelkapitan. Second from the right is Ofw. Albert Espenlaub, wearing a life jacket.

Pilots JG27 $Albert Espenlaub 02

Pilots JG27 $Albert Espenlaub 03

Photo 03: examining the remains of burned-out Hurricane.

Pilots JG27 $Albert Espenlaub 04

Espenlaub gravestone in the British and Commonwealth war grave at Rameleh, formerly in Palestine, now in Israel.

The Fate of Ofw. Albert Espenlaub

Anyone who has visited the war graves managed today by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, will not be surprised to learn that some cemeteries contain headstones commemorating German soldiers. At Rameleh, about 20 km from Jerusalem, there is a cemetery which, as well as being the final resting place for several hundred Commonweath soldiers killed during the First and Second World Wars, also contains the remains of Luftwaffe pilot Albert Espenlaub. Several historians have stated, incorrectly, that Espenlaub was killed in aerial combat, or mention only that he made an emergency landing; invariably they fail to explain that today he lies in the War Graves cemetery at Rameleh. This is his story.

Albert Espenlaub was born on 25 August 1913 in Balzholt, today part of Beuren, in Baden Wurttemberg, about 40 km south of Stuttgart. The Espenlaub family was already connected with aviation and, indeed, Albert's older brother, Gottlob, born 13 years earlier, had grown up with a fascination for aeronautics which, in 1919, resulted in him being involved in the first of the R6hn glider trials on the Wasserkuppe. Later, Gottlob began building his own aircraft and gained world-wide fame in aviation circles for various feats which included making the first flight in a rocket-powered aircraft. Eventually, Gottlob launched his own company, EspenlaubFlugzeugbau which, after a modest beginning, quickly grew with premises successively located in Kassel, Goslar and later in Diisseldorf where the company was then completing aircraft at the rate of one per day. In 1939, the company moved to Wuppertal but, with the outbreak of war and the construction of private aircraft becoming more difficult, EspenlaubFlugzeugbau was engaged in the repair of ]u 87s and various fighter aircraft. Later, branches of the company were created at Riga in Latvia, and at Reval in Estonia, by which time the company employed about 3,000 workers.

To the great disappointment of Gottlob, who offered his brother a good position in his company, Albert was determined to become a Jagdflieger and entered the Wehrmacht in 1937. With his flying-training completed, at the end of 1940 Albert Espenlaub was transferred as an Unteroffizier to I./JG27, then under the command of Oblt. Wolfgang Redlich Espenlaub claimed his first victory, a Hurricane near Tobruk, on 21 April 1941; the second day his Staffel was in action il1NorthAfrica, but in spite of his outstanding abilities as a pilot, claimed no more victories until November. By 15 November, he gad made three claims and on that day claimed his fourth, again a Hurricane, and ended the month with a total of 12 victories including three'on the 23rd. On7 December he shot down a P-40 and on the 11th, a Blenheim. This was to be his last victory for, twO days later, he was himself shot down. His Staffelfuhrer, Oblt. Hugo Schneider, described what happened in the following letter, addressed to Espenlaub family, and dated 1 ]anuary1942:

December, we had a fight with English Hurricanes over enemy territory. Your son, who had already claimed 14 victories, dived too soon towards one enemy aircraft and received hits in the cooling system of his aircraft's engine. His comrades immediately drew the attention of the English on themselves in order to allow Albert and his damaged aircraft to leave the danger area and find protection in the clouds. He was last seen flying into such a cloud.

After a hit in the cooling system, the engine only runs five more minutes, after which one must land. I am certain that Albert made an emergency landing and was taken prisoner by the English who always treat captured airmen correctly and fairly. However, we are waiting for confirmation of this and although there is still a chance that he might be able to reach our lines and return to his unit, for the time being we must consider him missing in action. Should we receive any information from the English, I will inform you immediately. I am sorry that Albert is no longer with the Staffel, not only because he was our best fighter pilot, but also because I felt very close to him as a personal friend who taught me a lot.

In fact, Hugo Schneider was correct in believing that his friend was alive and in captivity, although he was probably never certain of this as he was himself killed in combat with a P-40 on 11 January. The same day, Ofw. Albert Espenlaub wrote his parents a one-page letter from Cage No. 14, Prisoner of War Camp No. 321, which induded the following lines:

"Dear Parents!

By now, the reason for my long silence will be clear to you. On 13 December I had to make a belly-landing and I am now a prisoner of the English. My health is pretty good and I hope that this is also the case with you. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be home for Christmas as I had hoped and I must say how sorry I was about this."

In due course, the Espenlaub family received another letter, this time from the German     Red Cross, which read:

"[. ..] Via the Spanish consul in Jerusalem and the Spanish Foreign Ministry, which contacted the German Embassy in Madrid, we have learned that a representative of the British armed forces has advised the Spanish authorities that in the early morning of 25 February 1942, Oberfeldwebel Albert Espenlaub was shot by guards while attempting to escape from a PoW camp. One shot was fired which killed him instantly. [. . .j"

Also in the PoW camp at that time was Otto Berchner, one of Albert Espenlaub's contemporaries who had flown with 7./ZG26 and who knew Espenlaub. Berchner was later transferred to Canada in August 1942 and, many years after the war, he visited cemetery near the camp and discovered Espenlaub's grave recalled:

"In early 1942, there were about 25-30 officers an equivalent number of other ranks in the camp situated about 12 km from Jerusalem. Most of the Pow’s were members of the Afrika Korps but there were also, like me, members of the Luftwaffe who had been shot down and captured. The morale among us prisoners varied greatly. There were those who realised that the Allies outnumbered the Afrika Korps and no longer believed in a German victory. On the other hand, there were several others who still wanted to fight again, and it was not unusual to hear men discussing the possibility of escaping and reaching our lines. Personally, I never heard            Espenlaub speak about his plans, but during the night of 24-25 February, while we were   asleep he slipped out of our barracks and succeeded in getting over the first barbed-wire but, as he was attempting to get over the       second one, he was discovered by a guard who opened fire. We were awoken by the sound of the shot and saw the tragic scene. Later; we were told that the guard responsible - a jew - had been court-martialled. Espenlaub was not the only German shot in this camp and I can recall at least two others."

As a final postscript, it should be mentioned that although Espenlaub was probably not aware of it, in Germany a young woman was expecting his child. Whether knowledge of this would have deterred him from risking his life in his escape attempt or made him even more determined to return is not known, but in due course the woman gave birth to a son, whom she named Albert, after his father. He lives today, in Australia.