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WNr. 0125228, Ofw. Erwin Leibold, Stab I./JG 26, St. Omer-Arques,
France, July 1942
WNr. 0125281, Oblt. Siegfried Schnell, CO of 9./JG 2,
Théville, France, June 1942
German Jagdgeschwader 26 ace Erwin Leibold
achieved his 11th and final kill in the afternoon
of July 12, 1942, when he shot down a reconnai-
ssance Mosquito PR Mk.II over Licques in France,
which was on a mission to photograph Stras-
bourg and Ingolstadt. Both British crewmen died.
The fate of their conqueror was sealed only two
weeks later when Ofw. Leibold took part in I./JG
26 attacks against the Biggin Hill Wing, operating
over France. The aircraft flown by Leibold, flying
as wingman of the Gruppe CO Hptm. Seifert, ex-
ploded after being intercepted by a Spitfire. The
pilot was spotted on parachute, but a search for
him turned up nothing. The aircraft assigned to
Staff I. Gruppe sported standard camouflage, but
they were marked in a non-standard way, with
letters or initials of their pilots. The letter “L” (Le-
ibold) was complemented with the designation
of the aircraft within the Staffel in the form of
a chevron and carried eleven kill marks on the
yellow rudder.
Siegfried “Wumm” Schnell, a native of today’s
Polish Sulecin (then Zeilenzig in Brandenburg)
joined the ranks of the Luftwaffe in 1936 and at
the beginning of the Second World War he served
with JG 2. He achieved his first kill over France
on May 14, 1940, others followed over Britain
and against English and American pilots over
Western Europe. After being assigned to JG 54,
he first served with its III. Gruppe, before being
promoted as CO of IV. Gruppe on February 1, 1944.
While serving as Commanding Officer he was shot
down on February 25, 1944, over Narva by a Soviet
fighter. This proved to be a fateful encounter for
him. For his combat results, he was awarded the
Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves on July 9, 1941.
During Second World War he downed 93 enemy
aircraft. The Fw 190A-2 flown by Oblt. Schnell
carried the standard camouflage scheme applied
to Luftwaffe fighters consisting of RLM 74/75/76.
The yellow rudder carried 64 kill markings.
The sides of the fuselage and engine cowl carried
the so-called “Adlerflügel”.
KITS 06/2024
INFO Eduard
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