Original Items: One-of-a-kind. The Messerschmitt Bf 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft that was the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War (1939) and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II (1945). It was one of the most advanced fighters of the era, including such features as all-metal monocoque design with the rudder being covered with cloth, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine. From the end of 1941, the Bf 109 was steadily being supplemented by the superior Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

It was commonly called the Me 109 most often by Allied aircrew and even among the German aces themselves even though this was not the official German designation. The "Bf 109" designation was issued by the German ministry of aviation and represents the developing company Bayerische Flugzeugwerke and is a rather arbitrary figure.

It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt (hence Me 109) and Robert Lusser, who worked at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, during the early to mid-1930s.

Originally conceived as an interceptor, later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to and operated by several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring German fighter aces of World War II, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front. The highest scoring fighter ace of all time, Erich Hartmann, flew the Bf 109 and was credited with 352 aerial victories. The aircraft was also flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign who achieved 158 aerial victories. It was also flown by several other aces from Germany's allies, notably Finn Ilmari Juutilainen, the highest scoring non-German ace on the type, and pilots from Italy, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary. Through constant development, the Bf 109 remained competitive with the latest Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.

This is an cloth section of the rear covered rudder section of the tail fin. The red cloth appears to be a treated canvas type of material painted red and on it is written:

 Robert Reppert was a Private First Class in the 430th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) which was part of the 30th US Infantry "Old Hickory" Division. He is show in a photo included in this farmed collection. He poses in the middle of his gun crew with their 40mm cannon that was responsible for down the German ME 109 from which PFC Repprt removed this piece of fabric on Christmas Day 1944

Also included inside the frame is a photo of Corporal Larkin sitting on a captured ME 109 in Hozkrichen Germany 1945. The frame measures 24" Wide by 21" Tall, the fabric piece measures 7" x 7".

This is an incredibly rare framed set the likes of which that you will not encounter again anytime soon!