Eduard 1/48 Bf-109G-6 Erla Weekend Edition by
Floyd S. Werner, Jr.THE SUBJECT
F
ollowing the surrender of
Rumania to the Allies, the
POWs in Rumania were
seeking a way to be repatriated. Lt.
Col James Gunn was the highest
ranking POW in Rumania and he
was attempting to get them back.
According to Air Force
Magazine: “Gunn was approached
by Capt. Constantine Cantacuzino,
who offered to fly him to Italy
in the belly of a Bf-109. Captain
Cantacuzino was commander of a
Romanian fighter group that had
been flying for the Luftwaffe. He
also was Romania’s leading ace and
a member of the royal family. The
risk of this venture was not slight.
If they were downed by Germanor American fighters or by flak,
or had an engine failure, it would
be curtains for Gunn, locked in
the aft fuselage of the Bf-109.
There were no maps of Italy
available, so Gunn drew from
memory a map of the southeast
coast of the country and an
approach chart for his
home base at San
Giovanni Airfield.
He wanted Captain
Cantacuzino to fly on
the deck to avoid German radar,
but the Romanian, who did not
have complete confidence in his
engine, held out for 19,000 feet,
which would test Gunn’s tolerance
to cold and lack of oxygen.
As an added precaution, theyA MESSERSCHMITT
Built For Two?
12 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
BY SACCO DE VRIES
BF-109G-6 ERLA
BY FLOYD S. WERNER, JR.
1/012-17-FEAT-Bf109-0418.indd 12 09/03/2018 15: