Markings for Fw 190A-3 1/48
WNr. 223, Hptm. Hans Hahn, CO of III./JG 2, Beaumont le Roger, France, June 1942
Hans “Assi” Hahn, a fighter ace and recipient of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, led the 4./JG 2 from December 1939 and the III./JG 2 from October 29, 1940. “Assi's“ rudder was adorned with 61 victory marks reflecting his activities on the Western Front. During a British raid on the power plant in Caen on May 6, 1942, as part of Operation Circus 159, Hahn achieved his 60th and 61st victories by shooting down two Spitfires. During May, his unit was re-equipped from Bf 109Fs to Fw 190As. It is likely that with the aircraft depicted, Hahn achieved three more victories over Spitfires on June 6, 1942. Beginning on November 1, 1942, he took command of II./JG 54 and led this Gruppe until February 21, 1943, when he was shot down and captured by Soviet forces. Hahn was not released from captivity until 1950, during which he wrote a book about his experiences in prison titled Ich spreche die Wahrheit! (I speak the truth!). Before his capture, he had achieved 108 victories, 66 of which were on the Western Front. The rooster’s head painted on his aircraft symbolized the III. Gruppe JG 2’s HQ planes and was derived from Hahn’s surname, as “Hahn” means rooster in German. Hans Hahn passed away in 1982, and his wife later remarried the night fighter pilot Wolfgang Falck.
WNr. 216, Oblt. Karl Borris, CO of 8./JG 26, Wevelghem, Belgium, July 1942
Karl Borris was the only pre-war pilot who flew with JG 26 until the end of the war. He was born on March 3, 1916, in Heinsdorf. He joined the Luftwaffe in November 1935 and underwent command training at LKS 1 Dresden. Before the war, he served with I./JG 130 in Jesau and from September 1939 until the end of the year he was assigned to JFS 1 in Schleissheim. In December 1939, he was transferred to II./JG 26. As part of this unit, he participated in the French campaign but was shot down in combat with the RAF on May 13, 1940. However he managed to return to his unit four days later. He achieved his first victory on June 1, 1940, and by the end of the war, he had achieved 42 more victories. In September 1940, he assumed the position of Technical Officer for II./JG 26 and participated in operational testing of the Fw 190A. In November 1941, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 26 and from June 1943 until the end of the war he commanded I./JG 26. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross on November 25, 1944, after achieving his 41st victory. He passed away on August 18, 1981, in Bornum. Borris’s aircraft, featuring RLM 74, 75, and 76 camouflage with yellow quick-identification elements for the Western Front, had 20 victories marked on its rudder.
Oblt. Wolfgang Kosse, 1./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, October 1942
Wolfgang Kosse was born on September 27, 1918, in Berlin. In May 1940, he was assigned to 6./JG 26 and was appointed as the CO of 5./JG 26 in August of the same year. Within the ranks of JG 26, he achieved a total of 11 victories, including a Spitfire from the Tangmere Wing, which might have been piloted by Douglas Bader. From May 1942, Kosse served as the CO of 1./JG 5 in Norway. At the end of 1943, he was stripped of his command due to an aerial indiscipline and aircraft damage and was demoted from the rank of Hauptmann to Flieger. In early 1944, he volunteered for Sturmstaffel 1 flying Fw 190As. In June 1944, holding the rank of Oberleutnant, he became the CO of 5./JG 5 flying Bf 109s in France. In August, he was transferred to IV.(Sturm)/JG 3, equipped with heavily armored Fw 190As. He was assigned to its 14 Staffel, which was formed from Sturmstaffel 1. In October, he was appointed CO of 13.(Sturm)/JG 3 and regained the rank of Hauptmann. Kosse was killed in action on December 24, 1944, during a dogfight with RAF fighters near Liège, Belgium. Some sources state he scored 28 victories. His personal aircraft, featuring camouflage in RLM 74, 75, and 76 with yellow quick-identification elements for the Western Front, bore an emblem on its nose depicting a monkey sitting on a circular saw, holding a top hat with a British flag.
WNr. 2259, Oblt. Günther Josten, 1./JG 51, Lyuban, the Soviet Union, autumn 1942
Eighteen-year-old Günther Josten joined the ranks of the Luftwaffe in January 1940 and began fighter pilot training with JGr. Drontheim in Norway in November 1941. At the end of August 1942, he was transferred to 3./JG 51 on the Eastern Front, achieving his first victory on February 23, 1943. A year later, after achieving 84 victories, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross. He became the commander of 3./JG 51 on July 18, 1944, and two days later scored his 100th victory. After achieving 161 aerial victories, out of a total of 178, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross on March 28, 1945. During the last two weeks of the war, he led IV./JG 51. He joined the Bundesluftwaffe on April 4, 1956, and in 1962 was appointed commander of JG 71. Josten retired on March 31, 1981, with the rank of Oberst as deputy commander of the 4 Luftwaffe Division. He passed away on July 7, 2004. His brother, Reinhard, serving with I./JG 51, was killed in action on April 21, 1942. Günther Josten’s aircraft was painted with non-standard camouflage consisting of two shades of dark green, complemented by yellow markings, i.e., yellow tips on the lower half of the wing and a yellow fuselage band, both quick-identification elements for the Eastern Front. The engine cowling displayed the emblem of JG 51, while the windshield frame bore the emblem of I./JG 51.