Strana 37
WNr. 335xxx, Lt. Ernst-Dieter Bernhard, Stab III./JG 53, Kaufbeuren,
Germany, April 1945
WNr. 330230, Uffz. Heinrich Munninger, 10./JG 77, Neuruppin, Germany, November 1944
JG 53 was established in 1937 and was one of
the oldest German fighter units of the Second
World War. Its III. Gruppe participated in the
early months of fighting in the USSR after the
campaign in the West and was deployed in the
Mediterranean from late 1941. After relocating
from Italy in June 1944, it was stationed at Bad
Lippspringe, operating against Allied air raids
on the Reich. In September 1944, it contributed
to repelling Operation Market Garden. From
late 1944, the unit gradually retreated under
pressure from Allied forces to the southern
part of Germany. The pilot of this aircraft
was Lt. Ernst-Dieter Bernhard, who joined
12./JG 53 in December 1944. In mid-March,
he was appointed Adjutant to the CO of III./JG 53,
who at the time was Hptm. Siegfried Luckenbach.
After Luckenbach’s collision during landing
in April 1945, Hptm. Wolfgang Ernst, who had
36 victories to his credit, replaced him.
Lt. Bernhard crashed with the depicted aircraft
on April 19, 1945, due to a landing gear failure
while landing in Kaufbeuren after combat
with a formation of Marauders escorted by
Thunderbolts. Bernhard was earlier credited
with heavily damaging one Mustang.
In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the first
Luftwaffe fighter unit to be fully reequipped
with the Bf 109K-4s, possessing 68 aircraft.
Its commander was the experienced veteran of
JG 77, Major Armin Köhler (40 kills, KC). After
test flights and familiarization with the new type,
it was combat-deployed on December 2, 1944.
Aerial combat peaked during the Battle of the
Bulge. Uffz. Heinrich Munninger, born on June 30,
1923, flew on January 1, 1945, during Operation
Bodenplatte with White 17 as the wingman
of Uffz. Johann Twietmeyer. During an attack
on the RAF airfield in Antwerp-Deurne (B.70),
he was hit by flak and attempted an emergency
landing near Tilburg in the Netherlands.
He crashed and was killed. His body was buried
in Lommel. In this operation, III./JG 77 lost
11 aircraft and pilots. From mid-January 1945,
it was deployed on the Eastern Front. At the end
of the war, it fought in Upper Silesia, based in
Dolní Benešov (Beneschau) in the Hlučín region
(Hultschiner Ländchen) in Silesia. White 17 was
from production batch 330xxx, with a high
demarcation of camouflage colors RLM 74/75
on the sides of the fuselage. On both sides of
the nose, there was the emblem of III./JG 77,
a red heart.
KITS 01/2025
INFO Eduard
37
January 2025