Markings for AFRIKA 1/72
Bf 109F-4/Trop, Hptm. Eduard Neumann, CO of I./JG 27, Martuba, Libya, December 1941
Eduard “Edu” Neumann was born on July 5, 1911, in Molodia in then Austria-Hungary. In 1934, he joined Luftwaffe and went through fighter pilot training. As a fighter pilot he became member of the Legion Condor in the Spanish Civil war, where he achieved two victories. Upon his return to Germany, he was appointed commander of 4./JG 134, which was later renamed 4./JG 26. On July 21, 1940, he was appointed commander of I./JG 27 and flew with this Gruppe during the Battle of Britain and also briefly took part in the crusade against Yugoslavia. From April 1941, the I./JG 27 fought under his command in North Africa. On June 8, 1942, he was appointed as commander of the whole of JG 27. Neumann led this Geschwader until April 22, 1943, and then he handed over the duty to Gustav Rödel as he himself was assigned a staff post. At the end of WWII he was serving as Jagdfliegerführer Oberitalien (Commander of the fighter units in the North Italian area of combat). After the war he established an engineering company and continued flying as a private pilot. He died on August 9, 2004. Neumann’s aircraft was painted RLM 79 on the upper sides, the undersides were painted RLM 78. The yellow color of the rudder bore symbols of his aerial victories. White band ahead of the tail marked the Luftwaffe aircraft flown in the Mediterranean region. The yellow engine cover sported the emblem of the I./JG 27.
Bf 109F-4/Trop, W.Nr. 8693, Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille, 3./JG 27, Martuba, Libya, February 1942
This aircraft was flown by Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille, a fighter ace with 158 kills to his credit. Marseille was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds as the recognition of his remarkable success. He kept a rapid rate of enemy aircraft shot down with many multiple victories combat sorties. The German propaganda used it to make Marseille a war-hero star. The tale ended with Marseille’s death. He was killed in a bailing accident on September 30, 1942. The camouflage of his aircraft consisted of RLM 79 Sandgelb on the upper surfaces and RLM 78 Himmelblau on the lower ones. The rudder was adorned with fifty kill marks (Abschussmarken) and appears to be oversprayed with a red-brown primer. Marseille achieved his 49th and 50th kills on February 21, 1942. His victims were two Kittyhawks. The white-painted wingtips and fuselage band were Luftwaffe markings used on the aircraft flown in the Mediterranean theatre.
Bf 109F-4/Trop, Obfw. Karl-Heinz Bendert, Stab II./JG 27, Derna, Libya, December 1941
Karl-Heinz Bendert was born on September 9, 1914, in Schwiebus, Brandenburg, now western Poland. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. After completing his fighter pilot training in 1940, he was assigned to 4./JG 27. He achieved his first kill on May 12, 1940, north of Rotterdam and scored six kills in the Battle of Britain. The II. Gruppe also operated in the campaign to Greece and was briefly deployed to the USSR. On July 24, 1941, it was withdrawn to Döberitz and rearmed with Bf 109F-4.
The unit was subsequently sent to North Africa in September 1941, at the Ain el Gazala airfield. Here Bendert became involved with several other pilots in falsely inflating kills in combat reports. In September 1942, however, he achieved his 40th kill. In November 1942, he was transferred to a training unit at Salon-de-Provence as an instructor for combat against USAAF bombers. On December 1, 1943, he was appointed Staffelkapitänem of 5./JG 27. By the end of the war, he was fighting in the defense of the Reich against USAAF pilots. He survived the war with a total of 50 kills. He died on July 16, 1983, in Oldenburg.
Bf 109F-4/Trop, W.Nr. 8596, Obfw. Erwin Sawallisch, 4./JG 27, Martuba, Libya, August 1942
Erwin Sawallisch participated in Spanish Civil War where he shot down three Republican aircraft. At the beginning of World War II, he was member of the Jagdgeschwader 77 but was transferred to JG 27 mid 1941. Firstly he flew as a staff pilot within the unit and then he was transferred to 4./JG 27, where he was taken for an expert, along with Ofw. Bendert, Ofw. Stiegler and Oblt. Vögl (“die Experten“). These four pilots supposedly achieved a large number of aerial victories during the course of August, though their achievements are debatable at least, and there were objections coming from pilots of other Staffeln (squadrons). The commander of the II. Gruppe (4./JG 27 belonged to this Gruppe) then transferred these four pilots to several different Staffeln. On August 19, 1942, the aircraft of Ofw. Sawallisch did not return from a test flight above the Mediterranean …
This aircraft had the entire sides up to the lower edge of the fuselage sprayed with RLM 79. The lower surfaces were camouflaged with RLM 78. The camouflage was complemented by the markings of the aircraft from the Southern Front – white wingtips, white spinner and a same color band on the aft fuselage. The engine cowling bore the II. Gruppe JG 27 emblem on both sides.
Bf 109G-2/Trop, Fw. Anton Hafner, 4./JG 51, Bizerta, Tunisia, November 1942
Anton Hafner was born on June 2, 1918, in Erbach near Ulm. In 1940 he successfully completed his fighter pilot training and joined JG 51, where he remained for the rest of his fighter pilot career. On August 22, 1942, he shot down his 60th enemy and was honored with the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on the next day. At the beginning of November 1942, the II. Gruppe JG 51 moved from the Eastern Front to Africa. There Hafner was shot down on January 2, 1943. He survived and upon his return from a 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, now holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, shot down his 204th enemy, a Soviet Yak-7. During the same battle, while performing a low flight with his Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, he hit a tree and did not survive the subsequent crash. The aircraft of the II. Gruppe JG 51 moved to Africa from the Eastern Front painted in the RLM 74/75/76 colors camouflage. 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 sported symbols representing Anton Hafner’s aerial victories. The location of the white horizontal band marking an aircraft of the II. Gruppe in front of the fuselage number was an oddity.
Bf 109G-2/Trop, Hptm. Heinz Bär, CO of I./JG 77, Bir Dufan, Libya, December 1942 – January 1943
Heinz “Pritzl” Bär was one of the Luftwaffe pilots who fought in all major theaters of operations of WWII. He conducted more than a thousand operational flights and had a record of 220 aerial victories. On the other hand, he was shot down eighteen times himself. For his achievements in combat, he was awarded Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. After WWII he continued flying as a test pilot on sports aircraft and died on April 28, 1957, while performing a common flight on an LF-1 Zaunkönig. Heinz Bär’s aircraft, which was found by the Allied forces in Africa, had a camouflage on upper sides and both sides of the fuselage in RLM 79. Over that color there were irregular swirls painted in RLM 80. The undersides were painted in RLM 78. The camouflage was complemented by white wingtips, white propeller spinner and white band on the aft fuselage – the marking of the aircraft operating in the Southern Front.
Bf 109G-2/Trop, Obfw. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert, 4./JG 77, Castell Benito, Libya, January 1943
Ernst-Wilhem Reinert was born on February 2, 1919, in Cologne and joined the Luftwaffe in 1938. After his flying training he joined JG 77 and began his flying career on the Eastern Front where achieved his first kill on August 8, 1941. He was wounded in an aerial combat with Soviet Pe-2s on July 23, 1942. In November 1942, JG 77 moved to North Africa and Reinert achieved his first victory in this area of operations by shooting down a P-40 on January 2, 1943. This began a string of victories in which he scored 49 kills from January 11, 1943, to April of the same year. In August 1943, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 77. In 1945 he took command of IV./JG 27. Towards the end of the war, he flew Me 262s with JG 7. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert made more than 700 combat flights from June 1941 to May 1945. He scored a total of 174 kills, 103 of which were achieved on the Eastern Front. He also destroyed 16 aircraft and ten tanks on the ground. Reinert joined the West German Air Force in 1956 and retired in 1972. He died on September 5, 2007, in Bad Pyrmont.
Bf 109G-4/R6/Trop, Fw. Arno Fischer, 1./JG 53, Bizerta, Tunisia, February 1943
Arno Fischer was born on March 13, 1918, in Berlin. After completing his flying training he was assigned to I./JG 53. He was shot down in a Bf 109G-4 White 9 during an aerial dogfight with eight Spitfires near Beja, Tunisia on February 28, 1943, later he destroyed a Bf 109G-4 White 8 during an emergency landing, after a dogfight with a Spitfire south-west of Tebourba, Tunisia, on April 16, 1943. He was shot down several more times during the war. For example, he was hit by friendly flak fire in a Bf 109G-6 White 17 over Italy and landed unharmed on December 9, 1943. He was also shot down on April 20, 1944, during an aerial combat with a B-24 west of Udine, Italy, he again belly-landed without injury. Despite his numerous emergency landings, Fischer achieved 16 aerial victories and survived the war. Fw. Arno Fischer together with Fw. Richard Göbel became famous for forcing a B-24 to land at Piešťany Airport on March 25, 1945. The bomber was involved in a raid on Prague and was attempting to reach Soviet-held territory with two engines damaged.
Bf 109G-4/R6/Trop, Obfw. Stephan Litjens, 4./JG 53, La Marsa, Tunisia, April 1943
Stephan “Steff” Litjens was born on October 13, 1913, in Hasselt-Kleve. In August 1937 he completed his fighter pilot training and joined 4./JG 53 in October 1939. He scored two kills during the French campaign and four more in the Battle of Britain. On the Eastern Front he managed to achieve five kills in one day on August 25, 1941. On September 11, 1941, he was forced to bail out after a dogfight with VVS fighters. Although he achieved his 23rd kill during this engagement, he suffered a serious injury to his right eye, which he eventually lost. Despite this, he returned to 4./JG 53 in October 1942, the unit was then stationed in Italy and flew missions over Malta. In November 1942, 4./JG 53 moved to Tunisia, where Litjens scored eight victories over Allied pilots by April 1943. He then went on a long leave and did not return to flying with 4./JG 53 until November. At the time, the unit was a part of the defense of the Reich system. On March 23, 1944, Litjens shot down two B-17s but was himself hit by return fire and made an emergency landing. He was wounded in his left eye, which meant the end of flying for him. He flew a total of 444 combat sorties and scored 38 kills, 17 in the east and 21 in the west. In five cases, his victims were four-engine bombers. Stephan Litjens died on February 25, 2002, in Kalkar-Hasselt.
Bf 109G-4/R3/Trop, Oblt. Jürgen Harder, 7./JG 53, Bizerta, Tunisia, February 1943
Jürgen Harder was born on June 13, 1918, in Swinemünde (currently the town of Świnoujście in Poland). He joined Luftwaffe in 1939 and served in III./JG 53 after his fighter pilot training. With this unit he went through the initial phase of the invasion of the Soviet Union. In May 1942 the III. Gruppe moved from south of Italy to North Africa. From February 5, 1943, Oblt. Harder was the commander of 7./JG 53 and on February 15, 1944, he was in command of the whole III. Gruppe of JG 53. On February 1, 1945, as commander of JG 11, he was awarded Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. On February 17, 1945, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14, he crashed near the town of Strausberg due to a damaged engine. During the WWII operations he achieved 64 victories. The aircraft of Jürgen Harder from the time he was operating in the Southern Front were painted in a standard camouflage of RLM 78/79 and spots of RLM 80. The additional markings were white wingtips, white propeller spinner and white band on the aft fuselage. The rudder bore symbols of aerial victories, under the cockpit there was a HARRO inscription to commemorate Harder’s brother, who was shot down above the English Channel on August 12, 1940. The resources state that he was shot down by P/O David Crook of No. 609 Squadron RAF.