Strana 44
#82167BOXART STORY
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.”
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Sorry, I´m German
INFO Eduard44
February 2026