Warbird Information Exchange

The first German aircraft flown and evaluated by the British was a Messerschmitt Bf 109E that made a forced landing in France in November 1939. The aircraft was studied and flown by the French and then given to the British in May 1940. It was promptly ferried to England and assigned to Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough where it was flown and tested extensively. In 1942 it was transferred to the US Army Air Forces and was shipped to the United States.

RAE Farnborough had been involved in aircraft development and testing since before the First World War. With the commencement of the Second World War, Farnborough became increasingly concerned with investigation of crashed and captured enemy aircraft and equipment. Other elements of the Royal Air Force (RAF) engaged in ATI were the RAF Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU), located initially at the RAF airfields at Northolt and later at Duxford and then Wittering; and No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight, which was formed at Duxford in 1941. These elements were responsible for operating enemy aircraft in mock combat against Allied aircraft and devising suitable Allied tactics. Also, Farnborough's Wireless and Electrical Flight (W&EF) was engaged in testing enemy radar-equipped aircraft later in the war. One of the duties of No. 1426 Flight was to demonstrate enemy aircraft at RAF and USAAF airfields to provide recognition training for aircrews.

Other Luftwaffe aircraft that came into the possession of the British and were flown and tested were a Heinkel He111 that made a forced landing in an open field in England in February 1940, a Messerschmitt Bf110 that was shot down near an RAF base in July 1940 (it was damaged but repaired using parts from another Bf110 shot down a few days earlier), a Junkers Ju88 that made a forced landing on a farm in July 1940, an Italian-made Fiat CR 42 that made a forced landing in England in November 1940, another Bf109 (an F model) that was shot down in July 1941 and belly-landed near Dover with little damage, and a Focke Wulf Fw190 that landed by mistake at an RAF airfield in South Wales in June 1942. The Fw190 was the first of that type to fall into Allied hands; and after its capture it was flown extensively in comparative trials with Allied fighters. A speed trial against three leading British fighters was held; the winner was a Spitfire.with a Griffon engine. Afterwards the RAF ordered a large number of Griffon-engined Spitfires.

Later in the war Farnborough acquired and tested three additional Fw190s, a Bf109G, three Ju88s, an Me410, a Gotha trainer, and a Heinkel He177 long range bomber. British ATI units elsewhere, in North Africa, the Middle East, Greece, and Yugoslavia, obtained and tested (and utilized in various ways) a number of German and Italian aircraft. These included Junkers Ju52s, Dornier Do17s, Do22s, Savoia Marchetti SM79s, Capronis of various types, Fiesler Fi 156 Storches, Messerschmitt Bf 108s, 109s, and 110s, and other captured aircraft.