Adolf Hitler decided to visit Finland on 4 June 1942, ostensibly to congratulate Field Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim (Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces) on his 75th birthday. The meeting took place in Immola near Imatra and was arranged in secrecy. Photo from: Johannes Haapamäki / Finnish Heritage Agency

Photo from: Finnish Heritage Agency

This aircraft has been reconstructed, using some parts from a crashed Luftwaffe Condor bomber, coded F8+BR, which ditched in a fjord near Trondheim on 22 February 1942. The wreckage was brought to the surface in May 1999 but was so corroded that it largely disintegrated when lifted from the water. Nonetheless it provided much information that could then be used to reverse-engineer a Condor, a type for which technical drawings were no longer available. The wreck of a second Condor, F8+AK (Werknr. 0140) was the source of the port wing and several smaller parts for the project.

One of three Fw 200s ordered in early 1939 by Dai Nippon Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan - Manchuria Aviation Company). Not delivered and used 'briefly' by Lufthansa, then to KG 40 of the Luftwaffe. Destroyed by the RAF at Bordeaux - Mérignac on 13 April 1941, so the 1940 dating of this photo is probably accurate. Photo from: Fortepan

Delivered to Kastrup by DDL captain Bramsen and Kurt Tank on 14 July 1938. Photo by: Anders Beer Wilse / Nasjonalbiblioteket (Norway)

Third production Fw 200 attending opening of Fornebu. Photo from: Nasjonalbiblioteket (Norway)

Adolf Hitler decided to visit Finland on 4 June 1942, ostensibly to congratulate Field Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim (Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces) on his 75th birthday. But Mannerheim did not want to meet Hitler in his headquarters or in Helsinki, as it would have seemed like an official state visit. The meeting took place in Immola near Imatra and was arranged in secrecy. SA-kuva (Finnish Armed Forces photograph, Wartime Photograph Archive).

Joachim von Ribbentrop, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany in Helsinki. The construction number and serial is unconfirmed. Photo: SA-kuva (Finnish Armed Forces photograph, Wartime Photograph Archive). Photographer Eino Nurmi.

As D-ACVH, this Fw 200 took foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to Moscow on 22 August 1939 for the Hitler-Stalin Pact. It also carried Hitler to victory parades in Danzig and Warsaw on 29 September and 5 October 1939. It is seen here at Fornebu in 1940, probably on a regular transport flight during the invasion of Norway. NK-NM crashed at Oryol, Russia, on 23 December 1941, bringing Christmas presents for the Führer's soldiers. Photo from: Levanger Fotomuseum

The first prototype Fw 200 Condor flew from Berlin - Staaken to New York in almost 25 hours. The aircraft does not carry its name Brandenburg nor any Lufthansa markings.

Presumably the roll-out of the second Fw 200 Condor in October 1937, but we are not sure. Westfalen saw Lufthansa service but was requisitioned for long-range reconnaissance work in the summer of 1939. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

Grounded about 1943 due to a lack of spares. Photo from: Civil Aviation Historical Society, Melbourne, Australia

Don't shoot please, we are small neutrals! In addition to the large country titles, some neutral airliners received an all-orange paint job after the outbreak of WWII, including OY-DAM which was seized by the British at Shoreham on 9 April 1940, the day the Germans occupied Denmark. It became G-AGAY and DX117, crashing on 12 July 1941. OO-AGZ is a Savoia-Marchetti S.73 of Sabena. DC-3 PH-ALU Uil of KLM was damaged beyond repair here by German bombs on 10 May 1940. Photo from: Amsterdam City Archives