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Bf 109G-6, WNr. 19456, Oberst Hannes Trautloft, Stab General der Jagdflieger,
the Soviet Union, August 1943
Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163627, ylikersantti Leo Ahokas, 3/HLeLv 24,
Lappeenranta, Finland, June 1944
This aircraft was originally manufactured as the
Bf 109G-4 with the factory code CL+OQ and was
assigned to 6./JG 27 in the Mediterranean. After
being severely damaged at Trapani on May 10,
1943, it was converted to the G-6 version during
an overhaul and accepted by the Stab of General
der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. In the summer and
autumn of 1943, the plane was used by Oberst
Trautloft, the inspector for fighter units on the
Eastern Front. The aircraft bore a markings
that tied it to JG 54, the unit he was previously
commanding. However, Günther Lützow, then
inspector for fighter units in the West and MTO,
was also photographed in its cockpit. Hannes
Trautloft began his fighting career in the Spanish
Civil War. There he flew the Bf 109 and was
instrumental in developing the tactics for the
deployment of this type. He also flew in the Polish
campaign and the French campaign. During each
conflict he scored at least one victory. On August
25, 1940, he became commander of the newly
formed JG 54. Trautloft’s overall record totals
58 victories, and he was able to pin the Knight’s
Cross on July 27, 1941. The aircraft bears the
standard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme, with
splotches of what was probably RLM 70 green
paint on the fuselage
Leo Ahokas was born on April 25, 1915, in Jaakkima,
Karelia, a town annexed by the then Soviet Union
in 1940. He received pilot training from 1936–1937,
and after mobilization at the start of the Winter
War was sent to training unit T
-
LentoR 2, then in
February 1940 to LLv 24, armed with Hurricanes
and Brewsters. He was demobilized after the end
of the Winter War. He joined LLv 32 for further
military service on June 3, 1941, later LLv 24
armed with American Brewsters. In 1943, this unit
received Messerschmitts Bf 109G. Ylikersantti
Ahokas demobilized on November 10, 1944, and
worked as a driver in civilian life. He died on
October 25, 1988. During the Continuation War he
flew a total of 189 combat sorties and shot down
12 enemy aircraft. The standard-camouflaged
Bf 109G-6 from the Messerschmitt factory in
Regensburg was supplemented with the yellow
recognition markings of the machines from the
Eastern Front after being assigned to the Finnish
Air Force. On the rudder it bore the new emblem
HLeLv 24, the head of a lynx.
KITS 01/2024
INFO Eduard46
January 2024