Lieutenant Franz Xaver Baron von Werra from II./JG 3 Luftwaffe squadrons and Simba the lion cub in the cockpit of the Messerschmitt Bf.109E fighter. Simba the lion cub was for some time a living mascot of II./JG 3.
September 5, 1940 in an aerial battle against Spitfire fighters over England, Franz von Werra was shot down. He twice unsuccessfully tried to escape from English captivity. After that, Franz von Werra and other prisoners of war Luftwaffe pilots were sent to a prison camp in Canada. On February 21, 1941, he made the third successful escape.
Having reached the United States, Franz von Werra managed to contact the German embassy and then arrived on April 18, 1941 through Mexico, South America and Spain to Germany.
July 1, 1941 in the rank of Hauptmann, he was appointed commander of the I./JG53 squadron, operating on the Eastern Front against the Air Force of the Red Army. In August 1941, the Franz von Werra group was recalled to Germany for recreation and rearmament, and then sent to the Netherlands at the end of September.
During a training flight over the North Sea on October 25, 1941, the engine of the Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4 Franz von Werra fighter stopped, the aircraft crashed into the water and sank, the pilot went missing.
Before his death, Franz von Werra won 21 air victories.
Location: France
Photo Time: June 1940