Four P.108Cs and five P.108Ts were handed over to the Luftwaffe and used on the Eastern Front, notably during the 1944 evacuation of Axis troops following the Crimean Offensive. The P.108C (civil airliner, with 32 seats) and T (military transport) were more reliable than the bomber variants, and their capability of carrying heavy loads (such as two dismantled fighters) was important, as the Luftwaffe did not have many heavy transport aircraft, relying mainly on the smaller Ju 52s. These aircraft also had four 13 mm MG 131 machine guns as defensive armament, with one in a dorsal turret, one in a ventral position, and two waist positions.
One example, known as "Die General", was destroyed on Salonicco airfield. Transportfliegerstaffel 5 operated most of these aircraft and used them until the end of the war, with one assigned to the links between Italy and Germany and the other on the Eastern front. On 10 August 1944, an air raid destroyed six of them. Another four were destroyed or captured in 1945.
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Registration |
History |
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MM.24318 |
German forces took control of the P.108A and painted it in their insignia, but it was damaged soon afterwards by Allied bombing. Repaired by 7 April 1944, it finally flew to Rechlin where it was probably destroyed in one of the many Allied bombing raids. |
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MM 24670, J4+EH |
Crahed 1944-04-05 at Kreusen, Linz, collided with a mountain (Bad weather). All on board was killed |
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