Corgi AA35702 Messerschmitt Me 262-1a Luftwaffe Yellow5 Unteroffizier Anton Schoppler, III/JG 7, Saaz, May 1945

Decertificated by Corgi, no Limited Edition certificate

The Third Reich's last ditch efforts to sweep the massed Allied bomber formations from the skies of Germany centred around the new crop of jet 'wonder weapons' that were issued from mid-1944 onwards. Far in advance of anything the Allies had developed, it was probably the Me 262 that rose above any of these as the most effective of its kind and the first true fighter jet. A member of Oberleutenant Hans Waldmann's staffel, Anton Schoppler had previously served with JG 5, where he had claimed six victories. Some sources credit him with at least the same number again - all US four - engined bombers - during his time with JG 7. Unlike his erstwhile Staffelkapitan, Schoppler survived the war, flying his 'Yellow 5' from Saaz (Zatec) to western Bohemia, to Fassberg on the evening of 8th May 1945 to surrender to British forces. His aircraft was later exhibited at Farnborough.