The 380 ... Block of FW 190 A-8s

This is an article about a single block of FW 190 A-8s. Thanks to David E. Brown for providing the inspiration for this page.

Introduction
In this article a single block of FW 190 A-8s will be examined in detail. Production details, camouflage and markings, and losses of the 380 ... block will all be dealt with. An aircraft listing is included at the end. There are also some photos and a profile of aircraft from this block.

Production Details
The 380 ... block was probably built by Arado at Tutow, although this is not confirmed. It seems almost certain that it was solely an FW 190 A-8 block, although one aircraft, W.Nr 380 173, was recorded in the loss list as an FW 190 A-9. Below is a table showing the two groups of aircraft built in this Werk Nummer block.[1]

W.Nr Date Built
380 151 - 380 180 08.44 - 08.44
380 320 - 380 410 09.44 - 09.44

Camouflage and Markings of the 380 ... Block
The camouflage and markings of aircraft from the 380 ... block were distinctive in a number of ways:

1. The Werk Nummer was painted on the starboard and port fins in the lower position. This was very rare for FW 190s, the usual position being the top of the fin.

2. The stencilling used for the Werk Nummer was quite distinct, having a blocky and heavy style.

3. The RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme used for this block had a high demarcation line and no fuselage mottling.

4. The national markings were applied in the same style, size and position on all aircraft.

Aircraft Losses
Below is a table of known losses from the 380 ... block.

Date Unit Pilot & Fate Type W.Nr Markings Remarks Location % F/H
15.09.44 Fl.Ü.G. 1 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 337 ? Belly-landing due to engine problems near Großenhain / Germany 30 H
15.09.44 Fl.Ü.G. 1 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 340 ? Force-landing Quersa / Germany 30 H
26.09.44 12./J.G. 11 Uffz. Hermann Barion W FW 190 A-8 380 158 'Blue 3 + I' Crashed after combat Lobith/Tolkamer / Holland 100 F
29.09.44 11./J.G. 11 Uffz. Ludwig Rossner + FW 190 A-8 380 165 'Black 9 + I' Crashed after combat Arnhem area / Holland 100 F
09.10.44 14./J.G. 54 Uffz. Erwin Böttge W FW 190 A-8 380 350 ? Belly-landing due to lack of fuel after test flight Mörtlitz / Germany 40% H
16.10.44 6./J.G. 54 Obfhr. Georg-Heinrich Koch + FW 190 A-8 380 160 'Yellow 1 + ' Combat Pl.Qu. 17487 / Courland 100 F
10.11.44 13./J.G. 54 Gefr. Karl Sablatnig W FW 190 A-8 380 362 ? Overturned on landing Görlitz / Germany 60% ?
15.11.44 J.G. 1 Fw. Wolfram Murach + FW 190 A-8 380 163 'Yellow 20 + ' Crashed Mark.Friedland / Germany 100 H
05.12.44 16./J.G. 54 Fw. Heinz Marx + FW 190 A-8 380 170 'Blue 10 + ' Combat with Spitfire Dortmund area / Germany 100 F
05.12.44 4./J.G. 1 Obfhr. Gerhard Essig + FW 190 A-8 380 368 'Red 8 + ' Crashed after combat Rheinsberg / Germany 100 F
21.12.44 3./J.G. 54 Fw. Hans-Joachim Kroschinski W FW 190 A-8 380 360 'Yellow 6 + ' Hit by Pe-2 gunner, bailed out Frauenburg / Courland 100 F
01.01.45 I./J.G. 6 Uffz. Willi Voss + FW 190 A-8 380 349 'White 12 + ' Crashed Lingen / Germany 100 F
16.01.45 II./J.G. 1 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 345 ? Damaged due to engine failure ? dmg ?
23.01.45 II./J.G. 6 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 356 ? Destroyed by own troops Fl.Pl. Posen 100 H
17.02.45 6./J.G. 54 Obgefr. Erich Handtke + FW 190 A-8 380 373 'Yellow 8 + ' Pilot error after combat with Yak-9 Pl.Qu. 07611 / Courland 100 F
19.02.45 III./K.G.(J) 30 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 364 ? Pilot error on landing Fl.Pl. Pilsen / Czechoslovakia 25 ?
02.03.45 3./J.Gr. 10 ? - FW 190 A-9 380 173 ? Belly-landing, damaged by gunners near Wittenberg / Germany 40 F
02.03.45 II./K.G. 200 - FW 190 A-8 380 971 ? Low-level attack Fl.Pl. Alten-Grabow / Germany 100 F
08.03.45 I./Erg. K.G.(J) Obgefr. Golge W FW 190 A-8 380 396 ? Crashed on take-off Fl.Pl. Pilsen / Czechoslovakia 100 H
08.03.45 III./K.G.(J) 30 ? - FW 190 A-8 380 399 ? Crashed on landing Fl.Pl. Pilsen / Czechoslovakia 45 ?

Aircraft Listing

W.Nr 380 352
There are two photos of FW 190 A-8 W.Nr 380 352 'Black 10 + ' of 2./J.G. 11 on page 322 of Peter Rodeike's book. The photos were taken in early 1946 at Darmstadt, with the aircraft on its belly and missing many parts. The aircraft had a yellow RV fuselage band, yellow being J.G. 11's RV colour, and under the windshield on the port side was the rare Geschwader emblem. The W.Nr appeared on either side of the fin in the lower position, as 380 352. The RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme had the high demarcation line and no mottling on the fuselage. The top of the tail was painted yellow, and Rodeike speculates that the rudder was also yellow. Rodeike provides an interesting but incorrect explanation for the position of the W.Nr on 380 352. He says that it sat in that position because of the coat of yellow paint on top of the tail.[2] This is incorrect because the W.Nr was in that position on other FW 190s in this block, even when they did not have the top of the tail painted.

W.Nr 380 374
Although the first three digits are unclear in the photo of W.Nr 380 374 below, David E. Brown confirms that 'Yellow 17 + ' was from the 380 ... block. It has the Yellow / Red RV band used by J.G. 301.

Photo James V. Crow via David E. Brown
FW 190 A-8 W.Nr 380 374 'Yellow 17 + ' of 3./J.G. 301, Germany, April 1945 (James V. Crow via David E. Brown)

W.Nr 380 400
The photo of W.Nr 380 400 below appears in Eric Mombeek's book, and Thierry Dekker has produced a profile of it. Despite having W.Nr 300 400 painted on its starboard fin, this FW 190 A-8 is actually W.Nr 380 400. It seems that the wrong Werk Nummer was applied, because there is no evidence for a 300 ... block of FW 190s.[3]

Profile by Thierry Dekker
FW 190 A-8 W.Nr 380 400 'White 2 + ' of II.(Sturm)/J.G. 4, Germany, April 1945 (Thierry Dekker)

Photo Eric Mombeek via David E. Brown
FW 190 A-8 W.Nr 380 400 'White 2 + ' of II.(Sturm)/J.G. 4, Germany, April 1945 (Eric Mombeek via David E. Brown)

Aircraft with unknown Werk Nummern
There is a photo of an aircraft from the 380 ... block in John Manrho & Ron Putz, Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope, 1 January 1945, Hikoki, Crowborough, 2004, p.12. This FW 190 A-8 belonged to II./J.G. 1, and was photographed at Greifswald in December 1944. Another photo of a II./J.G. 1 FW 190 A-8 at Greifswald in December 1944 (possibly the same aircraft), can be seen in Eric Mombeek, Defending the Reich: The History of Jagdgeschwader 1 "Oesau", JAC Publishing, 1992, p.263.

Footnotes
[1] P. Rodeike, Focke-Wulf Jagdflugzeug - FW 190A, FW 190 "Dora", Ta 152H, Struve-Druck, Eutin, 1998, p.266
[2] Rodeike, Focke-Wulf Jagdflugzeug, p.322
[3] David E. Brown, Email 5 July 2004

Sources
Erwin Böttge, Logbook

André Marten, Emails 30 July 2004 & 20 September 2010

Rüdiger Kaufmann, Email 27 September 2009

David E. Brown, Email 5 July 2004

D. Peschier, Emails November 2004

P. Rodeike, Focke-Wulf Jagdflugzeug - Fw 190 A, Fw 190 'Dora', Ta 152 H, Struve-Druck, Eutin, 1998.

G. Rosipal, JG 54 Loss List



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