American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffeâ??s Secrets

21. The Arado 234 Caper

[ 291 ] THE ARADO 234 CAPER Although Watson was pleased to obtain one of the few TA 152Hs for his growing collection of German aircraft, what he really wanted from the British were several Arado 234 jets, the German twin-jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. None were found in flyable condition on the many GAF airfields occupied by American forces. The British, however, came across seven flyable Arados at Grove and one at Schleswig. While usually forthcoming and ready to share their booty with their American ally, on this occasion the British appeared reluctant . In later years Watson expressed understanding for their behavior, saying, “The British were perfectly correct in not assigning to us any of the Arados . . .until they had discovered what they really had.” Eventually, two Arado jets were set aside for the Army Air Forces, designated USA 5 and USA 6. As soon as Watson got word that the British had allocated to him two of the coveted Arados, he hustled his crew back to Grove and set to work inspecting the two aircraft and getting them ready for flight. In the process both Arados acquired new names—Jane I and Snafu I. The first Arado was ready to fly on June 20. Karl Baur took it up on a test flight the same day. He test-flew the other Arado three days later, on June 23. On the twenty-fourth of June, 21 Watson and Baur departed for Melun with an en route refueling stop at Le Culot—Watson flying USA 5 (Jane I) and Baur flying USA 6 (Snafu I). The British made it a practice to give a USA number to each aircraft allocated to the AAF. USA 1 through 4 were Me-262 fighters of which Watson chose to accept USA 2, the night fighter named Ole Fruit Cake, and USA 3, a two-seat trainer named What Was It? Those two aircraft had already been flown from Schleswig to Melun by Bob Strobell and Willie Hoffmann. Both Arado 234 jet bombers and the Me-262B night fighter were new additions to Watson’s German aircraft collection, and featured in the show-and-tell he put on for General Spaatz on June 27. USA 8 through 10 were the three Heinkel 219 Uhu night fighters, which had also been accepted, and USA 11 was the prized TA 152H fighter.1 The“Arado 234B was the world’s first jet bomber and the world’s first high altitude jet reconnaissance aircraft,” Watson wrote. “When I first heard about this aircraft in October 1944, while at General Spaatz’ headquarters , I looked forward with great anticipation to seeing one. But never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought we’d capture one intact and be able to fly it.”At Grove,Watson came face to face with the Arado 234B jet, and he fell in love with it just the way he had with the Me-262. “My first view of this airplane was—simply put—breathtaking !”2 Watson was more than right to feel that way; there was nothing quite like it anywhere else in existence. Wrote Captain Eric Brown, who flew the Arado many times in 1945, “It was a magnificent aeroplane of which no real equivalent existed in the Allied order of battle, so it may be said without fear of contradiction that the Blitz was truly in a class of its own.” It “seared across the skies above Normandy and British East Coast harbors like greased lightning, performing its reconnaissance missions with complete impunity. The Ar 234 appeared truly blitzschnell to Allied fighter pilots assigned the impossible task of intercepting this turbojet-driven interloper; they had about as much The Arado 234 Caper [ 292 ] chance of bringing their guns to bear on the elusive German newcomer to the air war arena as they had of knocking it from the sky with a volley of profane oaths. At the speeds and altitudes at which it normally performed its reconnoitering [450⫹ mph and 30,000 feet] only mechanical malfunction could bring it down.”3 “I knew,” Watson wrote, “there was nothing planned, or on the drawing board at Wright Field, or, as far as I knew, in the mind of anyone that resembled this airplane, which had already performed several operational missions. . . . I fully appreciated that at last I was looking at something that justified my view that the...