Writing off of potentially repairable aircraft

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Klaus Schiffler
OP BODENPLATTE: EINDHOVEN
Sun Aug 1, 2026 02:04
198.81.26.102

"Bodenplatte" by John Manrho and the late Ron Pütz is well written and researched and should be in every Luftwaffe enthusiast's library. The attack on Eindhoven air base by JG 3 is especially interesting. I would like to ask John if he ever read and used as a source Francis K. Mason's "The Hawker Typhoon and Tempest." The latter source states that 141 Typhoons were written off at Eindhoven. The Typhoons which were originally listed as damaged were never repaired due to the lack of repair facilities or too time consuming and it was easier to order a new aircraft from the factory than to repair the damaged aircraft. The British statistics, according to Manrho, were around 44 destroyed and 60 damaged. German recon photos indicated that approximately 90 fighters were destroyed. Did John Manrho find any evidence that, either at Eindhoven or any of the other airfields attacked, the damaged fighters were never repaired?

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

John Manrho
Losses at Eindhoven
Sun Aug 1, 2026 14:11
81.205.242.244

Dear Klaus, thanks for your nice words on our Bodenplatte book. Always good to hear that!. First let me explain that Ron Pütz did most of the work on Appendix 9, the list of Allied a/c losses on the ground. Luckily I have now his files too, but most of that is not properly filed yet. However, I have several notes/files on Eindhoven and discussed this with Ron. Also there is more info on Eindhoven Typhoon losses in other books. And no, we did not use Francis K. Mason's book as a source, for good reasons I think.

On the losses at Eindhoven and especially on the Typhoons detailed info was given in Appendix K of Norman Franks 50th Anniversary Edition of "Battle of the Airfields". According to the detailed research of Chris Thomas some 26 Typhoons were destroyed and 34 damaged. The 26 included those that were initially reported damaged but never repaired and also included the losses in aerial combat.

These numbers are almost identical with the numbers in Appendix 9 of our book. We can add the additional losses at Eindhoven and then you will find the number of around 44 destroyed and 60 damaged (these numbers do not include the aerial losses). I believe these numbers are very accurate. A number of 141 Typhoons destroyed is out of the question, there weren't so many Tiffies at Eindhoven at all!

There is only one source that list the numbers of the German claims from the German side. This is the well known document from Lw.Kdo. West of 25/2/1945 (BA/MA Freiburg doc. RL2-II/855).

According to this report the claims by the pilots were;
Eindhoven 53+11+0 destr, 5+0+1 damaged (1-mot,2-mot,4-mot)
Volkel 33+6+0 destr, 10+0+0 damaged

As JG 6 attacked Eindhoven too, their numbers should be added to the total;

86+17+0 destr, 15+0+1 dam.

From aerial pictures it was noted that 90 could be verified, I believe now this number is for destroyed and damaged in total. Actually this matches well with the total losses we found at Eindhoven. I believe the total losses at Eindhoven were in the area of 44 destroyed and 60 damaged. I don't think many of the 60 were written off later. I believe the number of 44 to be very accurate.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Franek Grabowski
OP BODENPLATTE: EINDHOVEN
Sun Aug 1, 2026 15:57
213.25.54.73

>The Typhoons which were originally listed as damaged were never repaired due to the lack of repair facilities or too time consuming and it was easier to order a new aircraft from the factory than to repair the damaged aircraft.

I cannot say if it was due to easy access to new built aircraft or demand of spares for frequently flak-damaged aircraft but indeed moderately damaged aircraft were often written off in the period.
Franek