Strana 38
Bf 109G-2/Trop, Obfw. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert, 4./JG 77, Castell Benito, Libya, January 1943
Bf 109G-4/R6/Trop, Fw. Arno Fischer, 1./JG 53, Bizerta, Tunisia, February 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.
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.
KITS 06/2025
INFO Eduard38
June 2025