Strana 48
WNr. 223, Hptm. Hans Hahn, CO of III./JG 2, Beaumont le Roger, France, June 1942
WNr. 216, Oblt. Karl Borris, CO of 8./JG 26, Wevelghem, Belgium, July 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.
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.
KITS 02/2025
INFO Eduard48
February 2025