Here the lefthand side, more photos will follow!

Black chevron 2 of Stab I./JG 54, Flown by Unteroffizier Ludwig Nitsch, Windau/Latvia, 8 May 1945

After the Kommodore of JG 54, Deitrich Hrabak ordered his pilots to leave the Kurland pocket and flying out their fighters to the west, they stuffed their machines full with their "Black men" some machines with as many as five persons.

One of the machines flown out this day was this Fw 190 A-8s. as Uffz. Ludwig Nitsch took of in his Chevron 2 as ordered from Windau heading towards Denmark. However Nitsch was forced to to jettison his drop-tank and flew to Neutral Sweden instead where he belly-landed his machine at Lockarp.

Unable to jettison his cockpit, a young woman arrived and manage to crused the cockpit glass with a large stone and freed the trapped pilot. The woman later told the autor that when she had crushed the cockpit glass a stench of hard liquor hit her.

The consequenses of this dramaic encouter were to be lasting, as Ludwig Nitsch later married his savior.

© Claes Sundin 2022