The Tail Fin

The port tail fin of Schnaufer’s favourite aircraft,
G9+EF, sold at auction to a private collector in 2015.

On the evening of March 7, 1945, Harris and his crew encountered a formidable opponent in German Luftwaffe night-fighter pilot Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer.  Schnaufer is considered Germany’s ‘top-scoring’ night-fighter pilot and was credited with 121 heavy bomber night victories in a Messerschmitt Bf 110B.

Schnaufer commemorated each ‘victory’ by having a bomber icon painted onto the tailfins of his favourite aircraft.  He flew at least two Messerschmitts and had the markings applied to each:

3C+BA: Schnaufer flew this particular aircraft but never claimed any victories aboard it. The port fin is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London, England.  The starboard fin can be viewed at the Australian War Museum in Canberra, Australia.

G9+EF: Schnaufer’s favourite aircraft and one in which he shot down 34 British bombers, including that of the Harris crew.   This aircraft was shot down March 30, 1945 while being flown by another crew.  The remains of the aircraft were taken away by a scrap dealer, then picked up by a chimney sweep, reportedly to be used as a patch on a roof.  The port fin was purchased by a German military-air historian who then put the fin up for auction in 2015.  The fin was sold to a private collector for £90,000.  The location of the starboard tail fin of this aircraft is unknown.

In each case, the Harris crew’s aircraft is symbolized by the 121st and last icon on each fin.  It was Schnaufer’s last victory of the war and he was assigned to other duties immediately afterwards.