A Very Rare Third Reich Luftwaffe Schellenbaum, of two-piece tombak and silver plate construction

A Very Rare Third Reich Luftwaffe Schellenbaum, of two-piece tombak and silver plate construction, the 1st pattern eagle above swastika and oakleaf sprigs, the half-round base inscribed `FLG. H. KDTR. HANDORF`, wingspan 39cm, height 23cm Fliegerhorst MŸnster-Handorf. The base became an operational field in September 1939, shortly after the Second World War broke out. Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) arrived in September with Heinkel He 111P medium bombers; and three Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter units, Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3); Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) and Jagdgeschwader 21 (JG 21) arrived during the Phony War period with France and Great Britain. In addition, Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) and Kampfgeschwader 1 (KG 1) were formed at MŸnster-Handorf with Bf 109Es and He 111Hs. After the Battle of France and the war moved west into France and England, MŸnster-Handorf became an airfield for R&R and re-equipping combat units. Various units moved in and out of the airfield for brief periods of time, JG 77, a Bf 109E fighter unit and KG 3, a Junkers Ju 88A multirole bomber (KG) unit spent time at the field. In June 1943, Lehrgeschwader 1, a Ju 88A training unit used the field through most of the year. With the increasing Allied bomber attacks on Germany in 1943, MŸnster-Handorf was assigned to be part of the Defence of the Reich campaign by the Luftwaffe. Nachtjagdgeschwader 7 (NJG 7), a Ju 88G night fighter unit was formed at the base in February 1944 and flew night interceptor missions until September. It was replaced by Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2), also formed at the base which flew missions until November 1944 and Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1), which operated Heinkel He 219 night fighters until April 1945. Day interceptor units were JG 54 with Focke-Wulf Fw 190As and also Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) were assigned to the field in late 1944 and early 1945, KG 76 possibly never being operational due to fuel shortages. Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2) flew Dornier Do 217 aircraft with V-1 flying bombs attached used the base during September 1944, then moved into northern Holland to be closer to the British targets. The Luftwaffe interceptors and the V-1 flying bombs at MŸnster-Handorf drew the attention of the USAAF Eighth Air Force, with no less than ten heavy bomber attacks on the airfield between December 1943 and March 1945. In addition, as the airfield in range of Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt fighter bombers in eastern France, attacks on the airfield by these tactical units with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 calibre machine gun sweeps were frequent. These attacks would take place when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers (B-17s, B-24s) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base, with the attacks being timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers.