High above the front

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Marek Ryś

Cat. No. 70156

In Eduard INFO magazine we have already written twice about Hannes Trautloft and his Jagdgeschwader 54 “Grünherz”. The first time was in August 2010, and the article described the beginning of the combat career of this legendary aviator. The second article was published in July 2023, focusing on JG 54 first winter campaign  in Russia.  In March 1942, JG 54 received the first Bf 109s of the F-4 version, but this rearmament did not require significant organizational measures. Night fighter flights became a new task for JG 54 from May 1942, during which it achieved sixty victories. For this purpose the Bf 109s were fitted with a drop tank under the fuselage.

However, the transition to the G-2 version was more complicated. First to rearm to the new Gustavs was I./JG 54 in June, followed by II./JG 54 in July and III./JG 54 was the last to switch to the G-2 version in late July/August. The rearmament took place one Staffel at a time at Jesau airfield in East Prussia. This placed Trautloft in a difficult situation. JG 54 during this period supported ground troops facing Soviet attempts to break through the front from Leningrad, through Demyansk, Dugino and down to Orel. This was a stretch of over 800 kilometres and parts of JG 54 acted literally as a fire brigade, assisting ground troops in the most critical parts of the battlefield. There was even a situation when at Leningrad the only German fighter unit was a single Staffel from JG 54.

Under the command of Trautloft´s Stab was also I./JG 51 and briefly in the second half of August 1942 also I./JG 52. Trautloft's priority during this hectic period was probably not to obtain a new version of the 109s for his Stab. During July, Stab/JG 54 had only one Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 still in service. Trautloft did not take delivery of six brand new Bf 109s for his Stab flight until early August. These were G-2s, and three of them are listed in the loss reports with serial numbers from production block 10,000 of the Erla plant. Black and white as colour photographs of Trautloft's machine in three-colour camouflage on the upper surfaces are known from this period. This aircraft is interesting in that it is fitted with a canopy that matches the G-1 version with a pressurized cockpit.

After a two-month scoring break, Hannes Trautloft scored his first victory on Gustav on August 5, 1942, when he shot down a Pe-2 bomber southeast of Shimsk near Lake Ilmen at 18:35 German time. What is remarkable about this aerial combat is the altitude at which Trautloft hit the enemy. The report states that the Pe-2 was hit at 6,500 metres, which is highly unusual for air combat at this time on the Eastern Front. There were no other aerial engagements in this area on that day. With the help of researchers Nick Hector and Danny Case, it was possible to identify the crew involved. They belonged to the 6th ODRAE, which was a separate long-range reconnaissance unit subordinated to the 6th Air Army.

The crew consisted of st. lt. Viktor Gavrilovich Podkolodnov, ml. serzh. Fedor Fedorovich Lopatochkin and st. lt. Gavril Georgievich Goncharov. During the preparation of the boxart by Marek Ryś, we managed to find photos of Podkolodnov's aircraft. It had the identification number 2 and the patriotic inscription “Osoaviakhim Chuvashii”. The Pe-2 was purchased from a fundraiser of the workers of the Ishley district of the Chuvash ASSR, which raised a total of 2.3 million rubles for various military equipment during July and August 1942. Osoviakhim was an association for aiding defense, aviation and chemical construction industry and was involved in the training of hundreds of thousands of military specialists during World War II. It is not entirely certain that the machine with the number two was shot down by Trautloft, but it cannot be ruled out. Its photograph was published in the Soviet press in the autumn of 1942.

Although the Pe-2 was shot down over territory occupied by the Germans, Podkolodnov managed to avoid capture and returned to his unit. For his service he was twice awarded the Order of Lenin and twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner. St. lt. Goncharov, who had previously served with the 514th PBAP, did not survive. The last crewman, ml. serhz. Lopatochkin was also a former member of the 514th PBAP. He is listed as missing, but one source says he was captured. The reconnaissance flight of the 6th ODRAE was rather an exception in the summer of 1942. After heavy casualties, this unit participated minimally in combat activities from July to mid-September. At the end of the year it was disbanded and its personnel and equipment taken over by the 72nd ORAP.