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The Lashenden Air Warfare Museum's Fieseler Fi103R-4 Reichenberg will be on display at the Combined Ops show at Headcorn Aerodrome on Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th August. Subject to the weather the Reichenberg will be displayed outside the museum. This will be the only time the Reichenberg will be displayed outside before being placed in the new museum building. http://www.combinedops.co.uk/

Tony, By all means pm me. Trevor

Despite what Phil Butler says in his book War Prizes the fate of the Fieseler Fi103R-4 Reichenberg displayed at Farnborough in 1945 is not unknown. Because the Reichenberg did not enter the “Air Min” system its fate appeared a mystery. Whilst the Air Ministry had no record of its fate, with a little bit of work it was fully traceable through Bomb Disposal! The Lashenden Air Warfare Museum has spent many years tracing the full history of the Reichenberg (both photographic & documentary) & can trace its history from Farnborough in 1945 to the present day. The brief history is as follows:- The Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg is believed to have been captured at the Danneburg V1 factory by the 5th Armoured Division US Army & was returned to the UK in 1945. It was displayed at the German Aircraft Exhibition at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough from the 29thOctober to the 9th November 1945. Fitted with a standard Fi103 nose cone as there was no nose cone with the Fi 103R-4 when captured. At the end of the Enemy Aircraft Exhibition the Fieseler Fi103R-4 Reichenberg was passed to the Bomb Disposal service & unlike all the other aircraft at the exhibition was not issued with an Air Min number. The Reichenberg had now “disappeared” from official records & was presumed scrapped by some people. It had in fact been sent to the Joint Services Bomb Disposal School at Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham, Surrey. Initially it was displayed inside, but was moved outside when the buildings were required for other uses. In 1966 the Joint Services Bomb Disposal School at Horsham closed & the Reichenberg was transferred to the new Joint Services Bomb Disposal School at Chattenden near Rochester Kent where it was kept outside,(by this time the canopy was missing). In 1967 it was transferred to a Territorial Bomb Disposal Unit at Fort Clarence Rochester Kent where it was covered in thick black paint, fitted with a mocked up canopy of sheet Perspex (with no top) & left outside mounted on a section of “Bailey Bridge” fitted with 4 small solid wheels. It was from here that the museum acquired the Reichenberg in 1970. Before the decision was taken by the museum trustees to spend a lot of hard earned money & have the Reichenberg restored, we undertook a very detailed audit of the airframe to confirm or deny its provenance. The evidence overwhelmingly confirmed that the airframe was a genuine Reichenberg & as only one was brought to the UK it was the one displayed at Farnborough. Based on the evidence from this audit the Reichenberg was given “Benchmark” status in the British Historic Aircraft Register by theBritish Aviation Preservation Council. In the 43 years the museum have been custodians of the Reichenberg at no time has Phil Butler viewed the Reichenberg or contacted the museum with any evidence to support his views as to the originality of the Reichenberg. The Reichenberg will be the star of the show at Combined Ops 2013 organised by IMPS on the 17th & 18thAugust at Headcorn Aerodrome. Trevor, Trustee & Administrator Lashenden Air Warfare Museum www.lashendenairwarfaremuseum.co.uk

Hi I'm Trevor & I am a trustee of the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent