A variation on the rabbit- from-a-hat trick. A ground crewman passes a Heinkel He 111 pilot his mascot before taking off on yet another mission, in 1941.

Germany's famous woman aviator Hanna Reitsch during a visit to KG55 in France the background.

The wreckage of a Henschel Hs 126 that crash landed in Holland. The Hs 126, powered by a 870 h.p. BMW engine, was initially a tactical reconnaissance and army co-operation aircraft. It was slow and vulnerable, and when production ceased in January 1941 the type was already relegated to second-line duties away front aerial opposition.

Oslo Fornebu airfield choc-a-bloc with Luftwaffe aircraft in April 1940. The Ju 52 in the foreground lost its tail in a landing incident, but has already been put into use as a line office by the crews of 5./KG4, whose aircraft are lined up immediately behind.

A Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, with British roundels just visible under the wings, on the recently liberated Dutch airfield of Soesterberg.

He 46c C2-KL of an unknown spotter unit was photographed at Weimar-Nora in 1940.

Just who carried the can for for this glorious mishap we'll probably never know. The aircraft involved at this German flying school include the Ju-W 34, with four-blade propeller in the foreground, a Ju-34/hi, and the Fw 58c in the distance.