Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Log Books to Luftwaffe Pilot Theo Föhles

Flugbuch (5), covering the period, 10 March 1941 - 13 May 1944 - four with paper covers, one duplicating the period, 10 March - 25 June 1941, with card covers, good condition (5) £300-400

Theo Föhles was born on 6 March 1921. A toolmaker by occupation, he attended flying school during March 1941-April 1942. In May 1943 he was flying Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter planes with No.27 Squadron based at Nimes in southern France. in June 1943 he was transferred to Sicily with the 5th Fighter Group. His log book records being shot down by three spitfires off Sicily on 25 June. A translated account of the incident reads:

‘On his way back from a mission over Malta, Uffz. Föhles was shot down by Spitfires and had to parachute out just before reaching the Sicilian coast. The squadron saw him have a good landing and climb into his rubber dinghy. The Sicilian emergency sea rescue in whose area the crash site was, refused to get Föhles out as the crash was too far out (!) The alarm was raised with the 6th Sea Rescue Squadron based in Taormina with their Dornier 24 and they were prepared to carry out the rescue with the appropriate protective escort. .... he was found next morning after a search and the following tricky situation arose: while the Do.24 made a good landing on the water to pick Föhles up and the Bf.109 of the 5th JG Fighter Group 53 circled at a suitable height overhead, a row of Spitfires appeared higher above looking down at the activity below. The pilots of the 5th Squadron looked alternately down waiting for the Do.24 to finally start, and upwards at the Spitfires which, for the time being, were circling with no intention of interfering. Finally, when the Bf.109 were on the point of breaking away due to their fuel running low, the Do.24 moved, starting its journey home. The Spitfires also turned away without attacking because they respected the emergency sea rescue. The same day in Syracuse when Föhles was collected from the sea emergency station, he was asked why it had taken so long for the Do.24 to start and the following story came out: By chance Föhles’ rescue was some kind of landmark rescue - the four or five thousandth or something of that kind - and therefore when he was taken on board the Do.24, the Marsala wine was flowing to the point that all the men on board were completely drunk by the time they landed in Syracuse (!)’.

In an earlier incident, from the same source, Föhles was again lucky to survive, when his aircraft loaded with fuel and bombs, broke up on take-off from Comiso, Sicily. With the aircraft’s undercarriage torn away and the bombs scraping along the runway, Föhles was fortunate to walk away from the wreck suffering only from shock.

Returning to flying duty in February 1944, his last flight recorded in his log book was made on 13 May 1944. In July 1944 he is recorded as undergoing an examination at the Pilot School at Quadlinburg, due to ‘nervous disturbance and unsureness’. Sold with a photograph purportedly of the Föhles, a flying school examination form, dated 1 July 1944, copied extracts from a publication and translations.