Own a piece of Germany's desperate last stand of the Second World War:
RARE WWII German Luftwaffe Arado Ar 234 'Blitz' Authentic Crash Relic — KG 76 Remagen Bridge Mission!
On 7 March 1945, American troops captured the Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen, securing a vital crossing over the Rhine. The Luftwaffe immediately began a determined but unsuccessful campaign to destroy it, employing conventional aircraft and the revolutionary Arado Ar 234 B-2 “Blitz,” the world’s first operational jet bomber.
On 9 March 1945, Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Bruchlos of 8./Kampfgeschwader 76 attacked the bridge in Ar 234 B-2 F1+AS. His aircraft was struck by American antiaircraft fire from the 634th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion near Erpel. Bruchlos attempted to escape across the Westerwald, but the damaged jet crashed in the Fockenbach valley near Niederbreitbach. The aircraft buried itself approximately four to five meters into the soft forest floor.
The wreck remained forgotten until fragments discovered by a hiker led to a major excavation on 18 October 1975. Investigators recovered portions of the aircraft—including its braking parachute—and identified it through wreckage carrying the F1 unit code. Subsequent research and more recent documentation have preserved the history of the site; several recovered components are displayed in the Dorfmuseum Niederbreitbach, while a memorial at the crash location is still maintained by local German reservists.
The Ar 234 relic included in this 8.5x11-inch (size of artwork) display has been carefully cut from a larger panel (see photo) that was recovered in 1975 during this jet bomber's initial excavation and was a cockpit component based upon its original dark gray matte paint and markings. While amateur excavators have visited the crash site over the years, their finds are not nearly as well preserved as this component.
Each of these displays have been signed & numbered and are limited to 75.
Handmade in Zanesville, Ohio!
