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Julius Meimberg Died : 17 / 1 / 2012

Major Julius Meimberg (deceased) Julius Meimberg joined JG2 Richthofen in December 1939 and during the Battle of France flew as wingman to Assi Hahn. An Ace during the Battle of Britain, Meimberg flew with Wick on the day that he was fatally shot down over the Isle of Wight. In 1944 Meimburg was appointed Gruppenkommandeur II./JG53. He was awarded the Knight's Cross and achieved 53 victories in 600 combat missions. Memories from Julius Meimberg of the day that Helmut Wick was shot down : Late in the afternoon of 28th November 1940, we took off for southern England from Beaumont le Roger for our second mission of the day. Climbing towards the Isle of Wight in bright sunshine, I was leading the 4th Staffel and directly ahead of us was the Staff Schwarm of JG2 Richthofen led by Kommodore Major Helmut Wick, at that time the leading fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe. With him were his wingman Oberleutnant Rudi Pflanz, Oberleutnant Leie and Oberfeldwebel Rudorffer. At about 23,000 ft, we were almost above the Isle of Wight when we spotted vapour trails caused by Spitfires above us at a much greater height. Major Wick led his Staff Schwarm towards them at full throttle, with the result that the Schwarm aircraft pulled apart from each other. Climbing with my Staffel to one side, we were soon drawn into the main battle and the Staffel separated. A single Spitfire turned in front of me and disappeared behing my engine cowling as I fired off my weapons. Apparently undamaged, the aircraft went into a spin and I followed it down, expecting the aircraft to pull out at any time, but it never did. The red glow in the cockpit indicated a possible oxygen tank hit. When we landed, Rudi Pflanz reported that Major Wick had shot down a Spitfire, was then in turn shot down by a second Spitfire, which in turn had been shot down by Pflanz. We were all told that no-one had seen what had happened to Wicks aircraft, which left us hoping for the safety of our Kommodore. We returned later next day, and again the following day, but there was no sign of him. What we had not been told was that Rudorffer had witnessed him go down, a large bullet hole passing through the starboard wing trailing edge, straight through the cockpit and engine block. He felt that Wick was already dead as his aircraft corkscrewed downwards, finally plunging into the sea. After the war, I learned that his conqueror had been Flight Lieutenant John Dundas DFC, himself only seconds later shot down by Pflanz and killed. Julius Meimberg passed away on 17th January 2012.

Items Signed by Major Julius Meimberg (deceased)

	Clipped Signature - Julius Meimberg. Price : £70.00	Flying the Me109 with JG2 Richthofen, he was wingman to Assi Hahn during the Battle of France and flew with top Ace Helmut Wick on the day he was shot down and killed. He scored 53 victories in 600 missions and was awarded the Knight's Cross. ......
	Achtung - Indianer, Rechts by Iain Wyllie. (C) Price : £145.00	Leutnant Julius Maimberg in Messerschmitt Me109E white 11 and his Katschmarek Unteroffixzier Rudolf Miese of 4 Staffel, JG2 Richthofen turn towards a distant squadron of RAF fighters during the Battle of Britain. ......

Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Major Julius Meimberg (deceased)

Major Julius Meimberg (deceased)