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Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 08:16:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Tomblin <ptomblin@xcski.com>
Subject: [allhats] Who Was Rudi? (forwarded from rec.aviation.military)

I seem to recall some discussion on the group once about German planes that were found to have been sabotauged by slave labourers. The Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa will have you believe that one of the two Me-163B rocket planes in their collection was found to have a pebble wedged under a fuel line (in order to make it break in flight or upon landing) and something like "We do the best we can" in French.

• start of forwarded message ------- Braving copyright breach, the following article appeared in "Australian Aviation" in September, 1989. I didn't think it had appeared in this newsgroup before, so I thought it worthwhile posting.

Who Was Rudi?
That is the question now being asked at the Moorabbin Air Museum following the commencement fo a restoration to display standard of a WWII German Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engine.

The museum has had the engine in store for some years but with the opening of its new display hangar, the time was right tot restore and display the early jet engine. During the strip down an inspection plate that would not have been removed during normal maintenance was found to have a pencilled message on it. The plate had the phrase "We're going (unreadable) freedom, Rudi".

The Junkers Jumo engine was the type used to power both the Me262 and Ar 234. It is understood that slave labour of concentration camp inmates was used late in the war in an effort to boost the output of German a/c and engines. Given this situation, and the word "freedom" on the plate, it is possible to believe that the hidden message was a morale boosting effort by a forced labour worker. On the other hand, it could have been a message from a German keen to see a victorious end to the war.

When the restoration of the engine is completed, a display board will be mounted next to the engine highlighting the phrase on the engine plate. However, ...it is doubtful that the old message will be fully understood or the question answered, who was Rudi?
------- end of forwarded message -------