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BOXART STORY
On the boxart of this March release, Piotr
Forkasiewicz has created a dramatic scene
that takes us back to the summer of 1943
and the battles between the crews of Allied
four-engine bombers and German fighters.
There are a number of fascinating details
in Piotr's painting and I recommend a close
look at it. The bomber belongs to the 303rd
Bomb Group, and the Focke-Wulf belongs
to I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 11. This unit was
formed in April 1943 from parts of JG 1. When
American daylight raids on Europe resumed
in early 1943, the Luftwaffe command needed
to strengthen the defence of the German Bight
area. The Luftwaffe gradually reinforced its
units in Western Europe and built up new ones
as well. After the initial shock of the US raids
that began in the summer of 1942, the Germans
developed air combat tactics and a strategy of
directing their own fighter units against bomber
formations to avoid Allied fighter escorts as far
as possible.
From JG 1, which, until then, was in charge
of the German Bight strategic area defence,
were separated two Gruppen to shape the
basis of the sister unit JG 11. From I./JG 1 with
Messerschmitts Bf 109 G was formed II./JG 11
and from III./JG 1 armed with Focke-Wulfs
Fw 190 A was formed I./JG 11.
The Masters of the Air series shows the
harsh realities of the service of bomber crews,
but the situation of their opponents was not
much easier. It was part of I./JG 11 that was the
only Luftwaffe unit to intervene against the raid
on Norway on July 24, 1943, which was shown
in the second episode of the series. The target
was the submarine base at Trondheim and also
Herøya with its nitrate plant and the aluminium
and magnesium plants, which were still under
construction at the time. The raid took the
German command by complete surprise. It was
so effective that the Germans had to quickly
look for another supplier of metals for aircraft
production.
A small group of Fw 190s under the command
of Staffelkapitän Hptm. Erwin Linkiewicz
attacked the B-17s without success. American
gunners sent into the sea two Fw 190s. Both
pilots were killed, including the formation
leader. As we know, one B-17 damaged by flak
made it back and another Flying Fortress from
another unit took refuge in neutral Sweden
where it was interned. Linkiewicz, a 30-year-old
fighter pilot, was born in Zabrze (Hindenburg)
in Upper Silesia. His body was found washed up
in Denmark on August 12, 1943, and was buried
at Frederikshavn.
The raid was the first part of what was known
as the Blitz Week under the Operation Gomorrah.
It was a series of bomber raids conducted in
a coordinated manner over eight days and seven
nights by RAF Bomber Command and the USAAF
Eighth Air Force. The British later referred to
it as the German Hiroshima. German ports and
manufacturing plants were targeted (some
repeatedly). Approximately forty thousand
residents, soldiers, forced labourers from the
occupied countries and inmates perished.
During this week-long Allied operation, I./JG 11
shot down 16 B-17 bombers, lost five Fw 190s
and two pilots. The I./JG 11 later distinguished
itself during the August raid on Schweinfurt,
in which it scored seven B-17s, the highest
number of victories by a single Jagdgruppe on
that day. Three of unit´s Fw 190s were seriously
damaged. One of its blackest days was
February 10, 1944 and the raid on Braunschweig.
The I./JG 11 lost eight aircraft, four pilots were
killed and two were wounded. Although the
Americans lost 30 bombers in combat in very
difficult weather conditions, the fighter escorts,
who, thanks to the auxiliary tanks, could already
protect their big brothers deep into Germany,
caused together with the bomber gunners the
loss of fifty German fighters, 17% of the German
machines deployed.
From the German point of view, the emblem of
the 2./JG 11 perfectly described the situation of
both warring sides. Pilot Franz Steiner created
the drawing for himself. It shows a man doing
a big job in an American top hat, but his trousers
are pulled up around the hat. Steiner wanted
to express what he thought about fighting
bombers: “First we shit on them, and then we
shit our own pants”. When in the summer of
1943 the commander of the 2nd Staffel, Hptm.
Schnoor announced a best design competition
for his unit's emblem, among the entries was
Steiner's drawing, which his comrades entered
into the competition without his knowledge.
Schnoor chose this drawing with great interest
and Steiner was given a leave of absence as
a reward.
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
With a brick in the pants
INFO Eduard
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March 2024