Strana 42
Lt. Horst Potreck, Stab III./JG 53, Kreuzstrasse near Holzkirchen, Germany, April 1945
WNr. 330177, Uffz. Alfred Nitsch, 12./JG 77, Neuruppin, Germany, November 1944
Twenty-year-old Horst Potreck served in the
11./JG 53 in 1944 and later was assigned to Stab
III./JG 53. The CO of III./JG 53 at that time was
Hptm. Siegfried Luckenbach. In the summer of
1943, at the age of thirty-one, he began serving
with Stab III./JG 1 in the Netherlands and
scored three victories. A year later, he briefly
commanded I./JG 27 on the Western Front.
In September 1944 he was reassigned to Stab
III./JG 53 and took over 12. Staffel. During
Operation Bodenplatte he was shot down by
an American fighter but escaped. At the end
of January 1945 he became commander of
III./JG 53 and scored several more victories.
In February he was again shot down in combat
with the Americans. In April his career endedto
an accident, when Luckenbach unexpectedly
stopped after landing and climbed out onto
his wing. Potreck apparently did not see him,
rammed his aircraft and Luckenbach was
severely wounded. The wreckage of the machine
Chevron 4, probably Potreck’s, was found by
Allied soldiers after the fighting ended. Fuselage
was probably painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with
greenish version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was
painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the
RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted
with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.
In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the first
Luftwaffe fighter unit to be completely re-
equipped with the Bf 109K-4. They received
68 of these aircraft. Its commander was the
experienced JG 77 veteran Major Armin Köhler
(40 victories, KC). Uffz. Alfred Nitsch was
photographed with the “Blue 3” in November
1944. It is highly likely that the aircraft was
serial number 330177. Fw. Hans Rössner
(12 victories) was lost in this plane during
a dogfight with Thunderbolts on December
23, 1944, near Münstereifel. Although the
Germans claimed three P-47s as shot down,
13 Bf 109K-4s were destroyed or damaged.
Two pilots were killed and four were wounded.
During December 1944, III./JG 77 lost about half
of its aircraft. So, during Operation Bodenplatte,
in which III./JG 77 lost a further 11 machines
and pilots,part of its armament comprised
again various versions of the Bf 109G. From
mid-January 1945, the unit was deployed on the
Eastern Front. At the end of the war it fought in
Upper Silesia, based at Beneschau in the Hlučín
region (today Dolní Benešov, Czech Republic).
Fuselage was probably painted in RLM 74 and
RLM 75 with greenish version of RLM 76. Vertical
tail was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and
75, the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was
painted with lighter shade of colors RLM 74,
75 and 76
KITS 03/2026
INFO Eduard42
March 2026