Markings for Fw 190A-5 light fighter 1/48
Fw 190A-5, WNr. 2700, 2./JG 11, Husum, Germany, August 1943
Fighter unit 2./JG 11 was formed on April 1, 1943, from 8./JG 1. Its first commander was Hptm. Emil Rudolf Schnoor but in May the command was taken over by Oblt. Heinz Grosser. The first base of the unit was Husum airfield in northern Germany. The mission was to defend the cities of Hamburg and Hannover from American bombing raids. Members of the 2./JG 11 were engaged in dogfights with B-17s, which at the time flew without fighter escort. This later changed and the missions were flown under the protection provided by P-47s and P-51s. We have been unable to trace who flew the Fw 190A-5 WNr. 2700. She was 60 % damaged on August 12 during an emergency landing at Friedrichstadt due to a technical failure. The black 8 aircraft in standard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage had the 2./JG 11 emblem on both sides of the nose. On the left side of the fuselage under the front plate it has a red inscription Rübezahl (spirit of Giant Mountains on Czech-Silesian border). It is possible the pilot originated from this region (Krkonoše in Czech, Riesengebirge in German) and this was his way to express the relation to the homeland. In front of the tail surfaces there was a white stripe with red edging, which was the color of 2. Staffel.
Fw 190A-5, WNr. 0152594, Maj. Hermann Graf, CO of JGr. Ost, Toulouse-Blagnac, France, April 1943
Hermann Graf, although flying with the Luftwaffe already from the start of the Second World War, didn’t fly combat missions until operations over Crete. His first victories were achieved over the plains of the Soviet Union with JG 52. He was very successful and in the space of thirteen months he would amass 202 kills over Soviet aircraft. On September 16, 1942, he was awarded Germany’s highest honor, the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. After that, he was withdrawn from combat and made CO of the training unit JGr. Ost. After a short stint with JG 50, he was made CO of JG 1 in October 1943 and on November 11, 1943, took over command of JG 11. He stepped into the same role with his former JG 52 on October 1, 1944, which he would lead up to the end of the war. After the war, the Americans handed him over to the Soviets, who would not release him until December 25, 1949. Hermann Graf died on November 4, 1988, in Engen. Hermann Graf flew two aircraft while serving with JGr. Ost, an Fw 190A-4 and an Fw 190A-5. The aircraft carried a red tulip motif on the yellow engine cowl, with a similar design being carried on the rudder with a scoreboard of his kills. Graf’s personal marking appeared on the rear fuselage on the left side, while the unit badge of an eagle teaching its young to fly appeared on the right side.
Fw 190A-5, WNr. 410004, Oblt. Walter Nowotny, CO of I./JG 54, Orel, the Soviet Union, October 1943
A German fighter pilot of Austrian origin and a native of Gmünd situated near the border with Czechoslovakia, Walter “Nowi” Nowotny was a holder of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, and shot down 258 enemy aircraft over the course of 442 combat sorties. He was killed in an Me 262 Schwalbe in combat with American escort fighters near an airfield at Hesepe on November 8, 1944. “Nowi’s” aircraft got a non-standard camouflage consisting of two shades of dark green, most likely RLM 70 and RLM 71. The yellow wingtips of the undersides and yellow band round the fuselage identified the aircraft flying in the Eastern Front. The JG 54 aircraft bore yellow band on the fuselage, underneath the fuselage crosses, and bottom part of the rudder was painted yellow as well.
Fw 190A-5/U8, WNr. 01501353, Oblt. Kurt Hevler, Stab IV./SKG 10, Cognac, France, June 1943
On June 4, 1943, eighteen Fw 190s from IV./SKG 10 with bombs under their racks headed towards the city of Eastbourne. The aircraft carrying Gruppenadjutant markings was hit by anti-aircraft fire and turned back home. However, the damaged engine could not supply the necessary power and the pilot attempted the emergency landing. That ended in the crash nearby the town of Normans Bay which Oblt. Hevler did not survive. According to the period description of the crashed aircraft yellow rudder and bottom of the engine cowling were oversprayed in the black irregular stripes. Kurt Hevler was born on July 21, 1917, in Prague. The family later apparently lived in Germany, because already in August 1939 he had the rank of Leutnant and from September of the same year he served in the 10./JG 26. In the spring of 1940 he fought in the ranks of the 5.(J)/Tr.Gr. 186 and on May 10 shot down a Dutch Fokker D.XXI near De Kooi. From 1940 to 1943 he flew with 7./JG 77 and JG 27. From February 1943 he was a fighter-bomber instructor with Erg. JGr. Süd. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Hauptmann on July 1, 1943. He is buried at Cannock Chase.