Dornier Do 200
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Take a close look at the drawing above if you have not already done so.
Notice anything strange or familiar? Does the Dornier Do 200 look like
a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress? If you think so, you are right. The
Dornier Do 200 was a B-17 Flying Fortress. The story of the
strange conversion of American bombers to German secret transports is
told below. Beginning from 1943 the daylight bombing of Germany was gradually increasing in both number of bombers and frequency. Inevitably some of the Fortresses were shot down by interceptors or by anti-aircraft guns. But the B-17's were so sturdy that the crews sometimes were able to crash-land without doing much damage to the bombers. Eventually the Luftwaffe captured enough of these American bombers that they formed a special unit, the I/KG200, which flew captured Fortresses in German markings to drop secret agents by parachute and keep them supplied while they performed tasks like the construction of a chain of clandestine airstrips and fuel dumps in the Western Desert. As part of the cloak and dagger act, these aircraft were known as Dornier Do 200. |
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This is not exactly a Do 200, but it is a Flying Fortress captured by the Germans and was photographed at Orly Airport, Paris. This B-17 was placed into the hands of the ZS-1, Zerstörer Schule I (Destroyer School I) to be used to train German figher pilots in how to attack the B-17. Fortresses without swastikas or other German markings were also used to join bomber formations and radio information to attacking German fighters. |