Hobby Master Archive

Late in 1938 when Hptm. Siebelt Reents became commander of 1./J 88 he had the Holzauge (wooden eye) applied in black and white to some unit Bf-109s. The meaning of the “wooden eye” was a Spanish gesture meaning “look out”. Reents only recorded one victory while in Spain, a Polikarpov I-16 on February 6, 1939. His aircraft was left to the Spanish Air Force where it flew until 1951. Reents was wounded in WWII and became a Luftwaffe flight instructor. Reents lived to an old age of 101.