Photo from T. Genth
FW 190 A-7 WNr. 340 001 SV + DA 'Brown 4 + -' of Oblt. Waldemar Radener, Staffelkapitän of 7./J.G. 26, Cambrai-Süd, France, May 1944 (T. Genth)

The formation shown in flight above is Oblt. Waldemar Radener's 7./J.G. 26 in May 1944. In the foreground is the aircraft of Radener himself, an FW 190 A-7 marked 'Brown 4 + -'. The only other aircraft identifiable in the photograph is 'Brown 5 + -'. By May 1944, Radener had began to use an FW 190 A-8 'Brown 2 + -', and was wounded when he crashed it on 11 May 1944.

The Pilot
Waldemar Radener's first known victory was a Spitfire on 3 May 1943. By the end of that year he had seven, and at war's end he had 37 victories, including at least 17 four-engined bombers. He had also recieved the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross). He led the 7. Staffel of J.G. 26 until being appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./J.G. 26 on 30 January 1945. He went to II./J.G. 300 as Kommander on 23 February 1945, and remained there until the end of the war.

The Aircraft
W.Nr 340 001 SV + DA was the first FW 190 A-7 built in a production batch by Focke-Wulf at Cottbus in December 1943. This FW 190 was at Cambrai on 10 May 1944, but on 12 May suffered a crash-landing at Epinoy, France. The pilot, Uffz. Gerhard Langhammer, was wounded. On the last day of May, the aircraft went to the Auxerre repair facility in France. It was captured there by the Allies in October 1944.

E. Brown Ryle has produced a colour profile of this aircraft, based on the above photograph. Ryle notes that the photograph was taken on 9, 10 or 11 May 1944, when the aircraft had four rows of five victories on the yellow rudder. The lower engine cowling was also yellow, and the spinner was a dark colour - black or green. The white of the Balkenkreuz had been darkened slightly, and the 'Brown 4' was painted over a previous single-digit marking.

Table 1: Loss List for Waldemar Radener and WNr. 340 001
Date Unit Pilot & Fate Type WNr. Markings Remarks Location % F/H
11.05.44 7./J.G. 26 Oblt. Waldemar Radener W FW 190 A-8 680 120 'Brown 2 + -' Crashed after ramming a bomber Chateaudun Bazoches ? F
12.05.44 7./J.G. 26 Uffz. Gerhard Langhammer W FW 190 A-7 340 001 'Brown 4 + -' Crashed on landing Fl.Pl. Epinoy ? F
15.06.44 7./J.G. 26 Oblt. Waldemar Radener W FW 190 A-8 730 934 'Brown 2 + -' Crashed after combat with fighters Danoy ? F

Table 2: Victory List for Waldemar Radener
Date Pilot: Tally Unit Type Location: Altitude Time Source
03.05.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 1 4./J.G. 26 Spitfire 15 km N. Berck-sur-Mer: tiefflug 16:50
22.06.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 2 4./J.G. 26 P-47 10-75 km N.W. Domburg: tiefflug 09:34
26.06.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 3 4./J.G. 26 P-47 10-12 km N.N.W. Le Tréport: 400 m 19:04
30.07.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 4 6./J.G. 26 P-47 Elten S.E. Arnhem: 6,000 m 10:20
30.07.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 5 6./J.G. 26 P-47 3 km S. Werkendam: 500 m 10:28
03.09.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 6 6./J.G. 26 P-47 3 km N. Guyancourt: 30 m 09:58
30.12.43 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 7 7./J.G. 26 P-47 S.E. Beauvais: 8,500 m 14:00
05.01.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 8 7./J.G. 26 B-17 S.W. Miraumont: 2,500 m 13:14
11.01.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 9 7./J.G. 26 P-47 Bakum 10 km S.E. Cloppenburg: - 13:15
04.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 10 7./J.G. 26 B-24 RF-2: 10 km S.E. Albert: 4,000 m 12:00
11.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 11 7./J.G. 26 P-38 PH-4 5 km S. Valenciennes 13:50
18.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 12 7./J.G. 26 Typhoon N. Amiens: 20 m 12:05-10
24.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 13 7./J.G. 26 B-24 Asslar: 7,000 m [N.W. Wetzlar] 14:00
25.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 14 7./J.G. 26 B-24 HSS Notweiler b. Bad Bergzabern: 6-7,000 m 14:45
25.02.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 15 7./J.G. 26 B-24 e.V. zw. Landau u. Pirmasens: 6,000 m 15:20-22
12.04.44 Lt. Waldemar Radener: 16 7./J.G. 26 B-24 HSS OM-PM: 5,000 m [Sprimont-Stavelot] 13:10
24.04.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 17 7./J.G. 26 B-17 HSS N.E. St. Dizier: 7-8,000 m 12:22
27.04.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 18 7./J.G. 26 P-47 S.W. Reims: 5,000-500 m 17:42
29.04.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 19 7./J.G. 26 B-17 5 km S.E. Roubaix: - 13:35
08.05.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 20 7./J.G. 26 P-47 TG-SG: - [10 km N. Soissons] 10:32
11.05.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 21 7./J.G. 26 B-24 Bazoches-en-Dunois: 6-7,000 m 14:00
15.06.44 Oblt. Waldemar Radener: 22 7./J.G. 26 P-51 Bonneval 20 km S. Chartres: - -



Back to Late-war FW 190 Gallery