By Pierre Kosmidis

The Junkers Ju 88 was a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft.

According to respected researcher Byron Tesapsides, claimed that if the diver found it in Barbati:  Aufklärungsgruppe 1. (F) 122 FF. Fhnr.Fw. Friedrich Glatzel, Ju 88 D1 (F6+AH, W.Nr. 430076) 100%  with BO. Uffz. Rudolf Kainzbauer, BF. Uffz. Franz Hagemann, BS. Ogfr. Herbert Beier, all kiled by Barbati-Korfu 10.02.44

Italian historian Andrea Babuin corrected the above mentioned assumption and stated that since this JU88 has underwing bomb racks, it probably does not belong to a reconnaissance unit (Aufklärungsgruppe 1 in this case).

Byron Tesapsides offered another probability: FF. Ltn. Horst Drognitz (+), Ju 88 A5 (W.Nr. 5277) 100% m. BO. Uffz. Hans Brömel (vw.), BF. Uffz. Herbert Puchert (+), BS. Uffz. Erich Wrusch (+), Notlandung infolge Motorschaden 26.07.41 Kerkyra of 6./Lehrgeschwader 1.

Designed by Junkers Flugzeug – und Motorenwerke (JFM) in the mid-1930s to be a so-called Schnellbomber (“fast bomber”) which would be too fast for any of the fighters of its era to intercept, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war.

Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and even, during the closing stages of the conflict in Europe, as a flying bomb.

Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffe’s most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period.

Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged.