Strana 36
Bf 109F-4/Trop, Obfw. Karl-Heinz Bendert, Stab II./JG 27, Derna, Libya, December 1941
Bf 109F-4/Trop, W.Nr. 8596, Obfw. Erwin Sawallisch, 4./JG 27, Martuba, Libya, August 1942
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On July 24, 1941, it was withdrawn to Döberitz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.
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.
KITS 06/2025
INFO Eduard36
June 2025