Sorry, I´m German
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Cat. No. 82167
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 with the painting of a little figure in a boat and the inscription Seemann is, for some reason, one of the most popular decal options among modelers. During the summer of 1943, this aircraft served with 7./JG 53 “Pik As” in Sicily, and its pilot was twenty-three-year-old Uffz. Georg Amon. More details about him can be found in the historical text included in the model kit instructions, and I also recommend the article “Where does Pik-As Mann hail from?” in INFO magazine, August 2016.
In early July, due to rather absurd circumstances, Georg Amon was in prison, but his comrades continued flying his aircraft. One of them, Uffz. Walter Reinicke, was photographed in its cockpit on 3 July 1943 before a combat mission, which may have brought him bad luck. At 15:57, the 7. and 8. Staffel received a scramble order against low-level attackers. The encounter with the enemy “Jabos” (fighter-bombers) took place off the southeastern coast of Sicily.
Six Spitbombers from No. 126 Squadron RAF were to attack the Biscari base, with close escort provided by Spits from No. 111 Squadron, while high cover was assigned to a trio of Spit IXs led by the commander of No. 324 Wing RAF, the legendary Wg. Cdr. H. S. L. Dundas DSO DFC. Biscari was attacked around 16:15 without serious opposition. However, on withdrawal Spitfires were engaged by approximately twenty 109s and Macchi C.202s. Firstly, about half of the German formation attacked the escort, then immediately continued downward and attacked the fighter-bombers. Then, the second half of the German formation attacked the escort and engaged it. The commander of No. 111 Squadron, George Hill, reported one Bf 109 shot down, and Sgt. Hall was credited with another, while two more Bf 109s were claimed damaged. On the German side, however, only one aircraft and its pilot were missing - Uffz. Reinicke in Amon’s “White 9.”
Uffz. Jens Bahnsen of 8./JG 53 claimed two Spitfires, and Uffz. Kurt Zielke of the same Staffel reported one. However, no Spitfire was shot down during the engagement.
The only loss was EN259 of No. 111 Squadron RAF, piloted by Flt. Sgt. Frank Mellor. On the return flight to Malta, his engine temperature began to rise and the Spitfire trailed a streak of white smoke. It is difficult to say whether this was a mechanical failure, the result of fighter gunfire, or flak damage. The problem manifested at 16,000 feet, and Mellor was escorted back toward Malta by his leader, Wg. Cdr. Dundas. When they were about halfway to Malta, George Hill reported by radio that he was circling a dinghy with a man in it about two or three miles south of Cape Passero (southeastern Sicily) and requested support, as Bf 109s had appeared in the vicinity. By that time, Dundas was only 15 miles from the Maltese coast and requested a rescue boat to be dispatched. He told his wingman to bail out if the engine temperature rose above 125 degrees.
When Dundas returned toward Sicily, he observed that six Germans were attacking a lone Spitfire circling low over the sea. They attacked from above in a coordinated sequence, one after another. Dundas flew through the circle of Messerschmitts and fired several unaimed bursts. He hoped to scare the enemy, and to his astonishment, the Bf 109s broke off and flew north.
When Dundas and Hill landed on Malta, practically on empty tanks, they discovered that Mellor had not returned. Four Spitfire squadrons were committed to the search for their missing comrade, but instead of Mellor, the rescue vessel HSL107 brought back someone completely different. The British had rescued Reinicke. It is quite likely that he was the pilot over whom Hill had been circling, and the six Bf 109s may have been trying to protect Reinicke rather than shoot down Hill.
Reinicke bailed out due to engine failure at an altitude of 5,000 meters. In the sea, he attached his parachute to the dinghy as an improvised anchor and released signal dye into the water. After the air battle ended, Spitfires began flying over his dinghy. Reinicke repeatedly jumped into the water in fear, but then noticed that they were waving their wings at him in a friendly manner. After several hours, he was picked up by a British rescue boat. Reinicke later recalled: “I still clearly remember the eight life rings with swastikas hanging on the railing, each symbolizing a German airman rescued by this vessel. They gave me blue, oversized RAF trousers and equally oversized canvas shoes. And then the reason for such extraordinary conduct by the Royal Air Force became clear: in the same air battle, a wingman of British Squadron Leader - a man with 11½ victories (sic) - had been shot down and had apparently bailed out. British assumed that I was the missing pilot and took every conceivable measure to protect me from German attacks. With my school English, I could only reply: Sorry, I’m German.”