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Bf 109G-2, Fw. Anton Hafner, 4./JG 51, El Aouina, Tunis, December 1942
Bf 109G-2/R6, WNr. 13949, Maj. Hans Hahn, CO of II./JG 54,
Rjelbicy, the Soviet Union, January 1943
Anton Hafner was born on June 2, 1918, in Erbach
near Ulm. In 1940 he successfully completed his
fighter pilot training. After the training he joined
JG 51 and remained with this unit for the rest
of his fighter pilot career. On August 22, 1942,
he shot down his 60th enemy, which brought him
the Knight’s Cross – he received it the next day.
At the beginning of November 1942, the II. Gruppe
JG 51 moved from the Eastern Front to Africa.
On January 2, 1943, Anton Hafner was shot down.
He survived and upon his return from hospital
he joined the Stabstaffel JG 51. On May 15, 1944,
he overtook the command of 8./JG 51. On October
17, 1944, Oblt. Anton Hafner, the bearer of the
Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, shot down his
204th enemy, the Soviet Yak-7 aircraft. During
the battle, while performing a low flight with
his Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, he hit a tree and
died in the crash. The aircraft of the II. Gruppe
JG 51 moved to Africa from the Eastern Front and
were camouflaged with RLM 74/75/76 colors.
The yellow identification elements marking the
aircraft operating in the Eastern Front were
repainted and substituted by white complements
on the wingtips and on the tail of the fuselage.
The rudder was adorned with the sign
representing the number of Anton Hafner’s
victories. Ahead of the fuselage number there
was an irregularity – a white horizontal band
marking the aircraft of the II. Gruppe.
Hans Hahn, a fighter ace and a holder of the
Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, held a list of
command positions throughout his career. From
December 1939 he commanded 4./JG 2 and
from October 29, 1940, he led III./JG 2. Starting
on November 1, 1942, he took over command of
II./JG 54, and led this Gruppe until February 21,
1943, when he was shot down and taken prisoner
by the Soviets. He wasn’t freed until 1950. At the
time of his capture, he had attained 108 kills,
66 of them were achieved on the Western Front.
According to Russian sources, “Assi” Hahn was
shot down by Soviet ace Lt. P. Grazhdaninov.
Hahn himself noted that after shooting down
a La-5, he was hit in the port wing and suffering an
overheated engine, he was forced to land behind
Soviet lines, where he was captured. His aircraft
was oversprayed in white on the upper and side
surfaces to better suit the winter conditions.
Double chevron and the horizontal bar on the
rear fuselage was the CO marking of II. Gruppe,
and this Group’s unit emblem appeared below the
windscreen. The JG 54’s Green Heart (Grünherz)
marking is also present. The spinner and the lower
sides of the engine cowl were lightly sprayed over
in white. Hahn’s aircraft was part of an exhibition
of captured machines in Moscow.
KITS 03/2024
INFO Eduard
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March 2024