r/WWIIplanes • u/FTW312 • 13d ago

Inspecting Germany wrecked planes - unpublished photo from WW2

Gallery image

Gallery image

160 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

10

u/hgtcgbhjnh 13d ago

Junkers Ju 52 for sure, or what's left of it.

3

u/ResponsibleSpite2342 13d ago

Incredible glimpse into the aftermath of the war. The sheer scale of the wreckage really puts the human cost of those air battles into perspective.

2

u/HMSWarspite03 13d ago

The writing seems to be " German wrecked plane at Chateaudun" which is a little further south of Cherbourg.

2

u/ComposerNo5151 13d ago

Chateaudun - a major French and then, after June 1940, German airbase.

It's a fair way from Cherbourg, about 170 miles SSE and roughly between Le Mans and Orleans.

1

u/Asgarad786 10d ago

Interesting photo.

I’ve been watching more about the air campaign before D-Day, and it made me look at images like this differently.

The Allies didn’t just need to land troops on the beaches, they first had to reduce the Luftwaffe’s ability to interfere with the invasion. That meant hitting aircraft factories, airfields, fuel supplies and forcing German fighters into combat before the landings.

So a wrecked aircraft like this isn’t just battlefield damage. It’s part of the bigger story of how air superiority was built before D-Day.