KITS 03/2021

WNr. 1230, Obstlt. Walter Oesau, CO of JG 2, Beaumont le Roger, France, June 1943

Aircraft was manufactured by Focke-Wulf in Marienburgu in first half of 1943. Camouflage consists of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76 with spinner in RLM 70. Rudder shows five Oesau´s victories (Nr. 101 - 105) against four-engined bombers. Walter “Gulle” Oesau (1913) joined JG

“Richthofen” before the war and in April 1938 was transferred to Legion Condor in Spain. In August 1940 as CO of 7./JG 51 he was awarded

with Knight´s Cross after gaining 20 victories in WWII. He briefly led III./JG 51 and in November was appointed CO of III./JG 3. On July 15th,

1941 his victory tally had reached 80 and he was awarded with Swords. At the end of July 1941 he took command of JG 2 in France. Oesau

recorded his 100th victory on October 26th, 1941. In November 1943 Oberst Oesau was appointed Kommodore of JG 1 following the death

of Oberst Hans Philipp. On May 11th, 1944, Oesau was killed by P-38s in Bf 109G-6/AS (W.Nr. 20 601) “Green 13” near St Vith. “Gulle” Oesau

scored 127 victories in over 300 combat missions. 9 in Spain, 74 in the West and 44 over the Eastern front.

WNr. 1197, Oblt. Otto Stammberger, CO of 4./JG 26, Abbéville-Drucat, France, May 1943

Aircraft was manufactured by Focke-Wulf in Marienburgu in first half of 1943. Camouflage consists of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76 with spinner

in RLM 70. Otto “Stotto” Stammberger (1920 - 2001) joined the Luftwaffe on September 1st, 1939, and in February 1941 was assigned to

9./JG 26. He scored first victory, a Spitfire over Dieppe, on August 19th, 1942. In February 1943, Stammberger was appointed Staffelkapitän

of 4./JG 26. On May 13th, he was shot down and wounded by Spitfires of No.331 Squadron near St Omer. Stammberger returned to JG 26

in October but was not permitted to fly in combat. He was transferred to 2./JGr West based at Biaritz in France. On December 31st, 1943,

he claimed a B-17 near Bergerac. This was Stammberger’s seventh, and last, victory. On January 24th, 1944, he was injured during take-off accident. He spent the remainder of the war serving in staff roles with JG 26. Post war, Stammberger became the manager of a large

department store.

Oblt. Maximilian Stotz, CO of 5./JG 54, Siverskaya, Soviet Union, May 1943

Aircraft is probably WNr. 5888 manufactured by Arado in Warnemünde at beginning of 1943. Camouflage consists of brown and green colors on upper surfaces, RLM 76 on undersides with spinner in RLM 70. Stotz was born in Austria in 1912 and in 1933 entered Austrian Army.

From 1938 he belonged to Austrian aerobatic team. In Luftwaffe, Stotz was assigned to 1./JG 76 (later 4./JG 54 "Grünherz") and scored first

victory in November 1939. He scored 12 victories during French campaign but suffered injury during Battle of Britain. After Balkan campaign

he fought on Eastern Front and in June 1942 received Knight´s Cross after 53 victories. Oak Leaves followed soon after he scored his 100th

victory in October. From April 1943 he led 5./JG 54 but was missing "Black 7" after brief head-on encounter with enemy fighters on August

19th, 1943. His original "Black 5" was probably flown by his wingman Uffz. Herbert Koller (50 v.) who made belly landing. "Black 5" (WNr.

5888) was finally lost on October 7th, 1943 with Lt. Karl-Heinz Lüchau (12 v.) wounded. Final score of Stotz was 182 victories. He was promoted to Hauptmann posthumously.

22 eduard

INFO Eduard - March 2021