There are stories of Allied POW's stealing Axis airplanes to make it back to Allied lines. Are there any stories of Axis pilots doing the same?

by du44

I can think of 2 stories of american pilots flying back home in German planes, was looking for more.

Bigglesworth_

I don't believe there were any successful attempts, no. Franz von Werra, who was featured in German media with his [pet lion cub, Simba] (http://spitfiresite.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/franz-von-werra-press.jpg), before his capture, made it as far as a Hurricane cockpit. Shot down in September 1940 he made several escape attempts, and in December 1940 got as far as RAF Hucknall, posing as a Dutch pilot. Evading a suspicious Squadron Leader, von Werra got to a Hurricane and told a mechanic he was cleared for a test flight, but the Squadron Leader caught up with him before the plane was started. Taken to Canada in January 1941, von Werra escaped again, and eventually returned to Germany via the (then neutral) United States, Brazil, Span and Italy.

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/09/battle-of-britain-1940-franz-von-werra.html
http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/franz_von_werra.htm
http://www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page/the_hucknall_incident

In November 1941, two German pilots managed one step better and got airborne. Heinz Schnabel and Harry Wappler, also posing as Dutch pilots, escaped from the Shap Wells Hotel, and commandeered a Miles Magister training aircraft from Kingstown airfield. Unfortunately for the pair it did not have enough fuel to make it over the Channel, and they were recaptured on landing. (Prisoners of England, Miriam Kochan; http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/nostalgia/8427307.Faces_of_defeat_recall_a_daring_escape_bid/ )

Just to crowbar in one of the more remarkable escapes of the war, a group of Italian prisoners in Africa did manage to get to an altitude of 15,000 feet... but without an aircraft. Felice Benuzzi and two comrades escaped from Camp 354 in January 1943 and made a bid to scale Mount Kenya. With improvised climbing equipment two of the three reached Point Lenana, the third highest peak of the mountain, then all three returned to Camp 354 and broke back in. The camp commander reduced their sentance of 28 days solitary confinement to a week in recognition of their "sporting achievement". Benuzzi later wrote No Picnic on Mount Kenya about the event.

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21678754-mountaineering-classic-deserves-be-read-and-reread-because-it-was-there
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/africa/mount-kenya-simon-calder-tackles-africas-other-summit-395386.html