33. Oops – Wrong Air Force
When Armin Faber crossed the Bristol Channel into Wales, he thought that he had crossed the English Channel and was back over France. He turned towards the nearest airfield, RAF Pembrey, and performed a victory roll to celebrate his aerial victory. Then he lowered his wheels and made a smooth landing in front of astonished British observers. Grabbing the only weapon at hand, a flare pistol, Pembrey’s duty pilot, a Flight Sergeant Jeffreys, jumped on the Fw 190’s wing as Faber taxied to a stop, and took the German pilot prisoner.
Realizing just how big an oops he had committed, a despondent Faber unsuccessfully tried to kill himself. He ended up in a POW camp in Canada. The RAF took full advantage of the airplane he had gifted them – the only Fw 190 fighter captured intact by the Allies during the war. It was flown by British pilots, and thoroughly evaluated to examine its strengths and weaknesses. The results gave the Allies valuable intelligence on how to best counter the airplane that had bedeviled them for so long.