JEFF HUSTON COLLECTION
No. 14420. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 ("97") Luftwaffe
No. 14420. Junkers Ju 88 G-1 (c/n 590153) Luftwaffe
Photographs from USAAF, taken at Merseburg, Germany, May 4, 1945, via National Archives

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 & Junkers Ju 88 G-1
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02/08/2026. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "Just as the Italians, Japanese and Americans experimented with varying degrees of success using aircraft as flying bombs, so the potentialities of such schemes did not escape the Germans' attention. Their experiments followed directly on studies carried out by Fritz Stamer of the DFS.

Stamer's study was an unorthodox 'pick-a-back' composite arrangement originally envisaged for aerial-tug purposes. In 1942 he used a DFS 230 glider as the lower component of a composite pair, the upper component eventually being a Messerschmitt Bf 109 E fighter. The success of flight trials prompted the RLM to study the possibility of using the Junkers Ju 88 A-4 and Bf 109 F, the bomber component being a crewless flying bomb whose engines provided power for an outward flight to the target. Codenamed Mistel (Mistletoe) this tactic was pursued by DFS who developed the interconnecting superstructure, while a guidance and control system was undertaken by DFS, Junkers and Patin.

Under the weapon codename Beethoven, the Junkers Ju 88 A-4 flying bomb was modified to incorporate additional fuselage fuel tanks and a 7,715 lb (3,500 kg) hollow-charge warhead with a 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) steel core which theoretically was capable of penetrating 24 ft 7 in (7.5 m) of armor. In practice a core penetrated 60 ft 9 in (18.5 m) of concrete, a result which indicated its potential destructive force against bridge targets.

By April 16, 1944 plans had been laid for possible attacks by the weapons on Gibraltar (British Oversea Territory), Leningrad (USSR) and Scapa Flow (sheltered bay in Orkney Islands, Scotland) and 2/KG 101 was formed under Hauptmann Horst Rudat who set up a training station at Kolberg (presently Kołobrzeg, Poland on the Baltic Sea) with five Mistels.

As preparations were being made to launch a Mistel attack on Scapa Flow, the Allied landings in Normandy caused 2/KG 101 to be moved to St Dizier, France. The attack was made on the night of June 24/25, 1944 against shipping in the mouth of the Seine, the Mistels being escorted by Bf 109 Gs of I/JG 301. Feldwebel Saalfeld was the pilot of the first of five aircraft to attack and four ships were hit. Other attacks followed, one Beethoven impacting near Andover, Hampshire, England, and another near Maidstone, Kent. The Scapa Flow attack was eventually launched in October by five Mistels of 2/KG 101, by then redesignated III/KG 66, but three crashed pre-maturely and the other two pilots became lost.

Meanwhile the Mistel force was being enlarged substantially. New versions of the Ju 88 were being employed, and II/KG 200 was activated with three operational squadrons. Combinations now included Bf 109 Fs, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 As and Fw 190 Fs with the Ju 88 A, Ju 88 G, Ju 88 H and Ju 88 S, as well as the Ju 188 A and Ju 188 E.

The gravity of the situation on the Eastern front forced abandonment of further attacks on Scapa Flow, and instead Unternehmen Eisenhammer (Operation Iron Hammer) was formulated to use Mistels against Soviet power stations. At the same time II/KG 200 embarked on a series of attacks on key road and rail bridges, the first on March 9 against the twin Görlitz bridges over the river Neisse (border Germany-Poland), both of which were hit. Other raids were then launched against bridges over the rivers Vistula (Poland) and Rhine (Germany).

In all something over 200 Mistels entered operational service during the last four months of the war, and attacks, many of them successful, were made on bridges over the Bober, Küstrin, Oder and Quais rivers, flying from Marienehe, Oranienburg, Parchim and Rechlin-Lärz. Allied air supremacy over Germany, however, soon rendered further efforts impossible. On February 3 four out of six Mistels were shot down by Allied fighters near Hamburg, and on April 9 American bombers destroyed the Mistel base at Rechlin-Lärz. The last Mistel attack was mounted on April 16 against Russian forces in the East.

Manufacturer: Junkers.
Model: Mistel (Mistletoe).
Type: Unmanned expendable (composite) attack aircraft.
Power Plant: Two 1,340 hp Junkers Jumo 211 J-2; plus one (optional) 1,350 hp Daimler-Benz DB 601E-1.
Crew: 1.
Variants:
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 and Junkers Ju 88 G-1
Mistel 2: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 ("97") & Junkers Ju 88 G-1

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 & Junkers Ju 88 A-6
Mistel S3A: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 ("77") & Junkers Ju 88 A-6 ("77") (Johan Visschedijk Collection)

This photo was taken at the Enemy Aircraft Exhibition at Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, October/November 1945.

On May 8, 1945, four Mistels surrendered to British forces at Tirstrup, Denmark. Three Mistels were selected by to transferred to the UK, hence they received Air Ministry identification numbers (read the identification procedure below). These Mistel compositions consisted of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 as the upper component and a Junkers Ju 88 as the lower component, both of which received the same Air Ministry identification number: On July 30 the Mistels were ferried to Schleswig, where the composite aircraft were separated into its components for ferrying to the UK. However, only three of the six Mistel components were ferried to the UK: Fw 190 A-8/R 6 ("75"), Fw 190 A ("77") and Ju 88 A ("77"). The Fw 190 A-8 ("76") and the Ju 88 H-1 ("75" and "76") were scrapped at Schleswig.

The three Mistel components that were delivered to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough were apparently not tested in flight, as they were not allotted RAF serials.

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R 6 ("75") is the only Mistel component still in the UK, it is presently on display at the RAF Museum, Cosford.


Air Ministry identification procedure.

Prior to the German surrender, the British and Americans had set up 'Air Disarmament Units', whose task it was to enter captured territory and take over captured aircraft and equipment, with the prime aim of disabling them to prevent further use. A major task was to guard and destroy all captured bombs and ammunition. However, a secondary task was to identify items that might be of interest to the Air Technical Intelligence (ATI) teams and to secure these until the ATI personnel could arrive to evaluate them.

In the areas under British control (Norway, Denmark and the northern half of Germany) the first ATI team, which reported directly to the Air Ministry in London, was drawn from staff of the Central Fighter Establishment. It began identifying its targets from a jointly compiled (British/US) list of items required for evaluation. As items were found, the aircraft were painted with the words 'Air Ministry' (often abbreviated to 'Air. Min.' or 'A.M.'), followed by a sequential number. (The two aircraft of a Mistel composition were the only ones that received the same number.)

After some weeks, the RAF team handed over to another group from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. The RAE team also included many RAF personnel, as well as Royal Navy people and civilian specialists. The new team continued the earlier system of identifying items with 'Air. Min.' numbers. After arrival at Farnborough, those that were selected for further flight trials also received RAF serial numbers.


Created February 8, 2026