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Experten 109G ditched off Milazzo Italy

Posted by Tony on Thu Feb 07, 2002 08:39:29 AM

On the 12th, it was the turn of a Spitfire. The next day, after a fight in which he claimed four more P-40s, Reinert had to land his Bf 109G-6 in the sea near Milazzo.

According to his report, ?The plane went under right away. I remained in the cockpit. When the plane was 10 meters down I was able to get out and return to the surface. I made desperate efforts to get my parachute off . By turning onto my back I succeeded. Thanks to my life jacket, which inflated, I stayed on the surface for 3/4 of an hour and swam to the nearby coast. Shortly before I reached the coast I came under Italian fire. On the beach I was surrounded by 20 or 30 Italian soldiers with fixed bayonets. I yelled to them, 'Nix Inglesi, nix American, Kamerad Tedesco!' I showed my aviator?s card to prove that I was a German pilot, but I couldn?t convince them.?

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