Luftwaffe, had to make do without JG 300 and JG 301 as they faced
their own challenges. It did not mean these units were spared of heavy losses though. In January 1945 the losses mounted, for example on
January 14 JG 300 lost half of its combat aircraft. The total losses of
JG 300 and JG 301 on that day were 57 aircraft and 32 pilots killed.
Final countdown
To top it off, the Soviet offensive began at the same time, on January
12, with the Vistula-Oder operation, during which Soviet forces advanced quickly through Silesia, on the right banks of the Oder. By the
January 27, the Oder was crossed at Küstrin (today Kostrzyn, Poland),
and a bridge was established to the left bank. In an effort to halt the
Soviet advance, elements of JG 300 and JG 301 were committed to
the area, engaging ground attack aircraft and fighters of the VVS from
the end of January and into February. They performed ground attack
missions against the Soviet units, a mission much different from the
one Wilde Sau units were originally formed for. In March, heavy losses
caused the disbandment of I. Gruppe JG 300, which at the time was
down to fifteen combat-capable aircraft.
Some pilots of the unit were invited by the founder of Wilde Sau, Hajo
Herrmann, to join Sonderkommando Elbe, that was developing taran
tactics that were nothing short of suicide, involving the ramming of
incoming heavy bombers. The only operation Sonderkommando Elbe
conducted took place on April 7, 1945. It also yielded an insignificant
success - 3rd Air Division of the 8th AF lost 9 bombers. Herrmann´s
task force sent to combat 213 fighters, 45 of them were shot down,
24 killed, 8 remained missing and 13 survived with injuries.
A portion of the pilots were converted onto the jet powered Me 262
Schwalbe and were later integrated into units flying the type, such as
JG 7. The rest of the pilots and aircraft were integrated into III. and
IV./JG 300, that were transferred to the Western Front in the area
of southern Germany and from where they were gradually retreating
eastwards. By the beginning of May, they found themselves on their
former home field of Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden in Ainring, on the
German side of the German-Austrian border, some three kilometers
west of Salzburg. Here, they received an order on May 3 to form
an operational unit designated Jagdgruppe 300 Ainring, and to move
through České Budějovice (Budweis) to Prague. At least a section of
Jagdgruppe 300 managed to reach Prague immediately prior to the
Prague Uprising, and with that, somewhat paradoxically, went from
the relative safe of Ainring and the American area of operations to
the extremely dangerous trap of the insurgent Prague and the Soviet
sphere of influence. Some of the pilots attempted to evade capture
by the Soviets by fleeing to the west, but a large number perished in
the trap. Mass of aircraft wrecks of Jagdgruppe 300 have been documented in photographs obtained after the end of the war scattered
around Prague airfields. Photographs taken around the same time on
west German airfields show wrecks of JG 301 aircraft.
The last JGr. 300 base was the new airport in Žatec (Saatz) west
of Prague where all remaining combat-ready aircraft flew over on
May 7. Me 262A from JG 7 took off from Žatec for an ground attack on
the Soviet columns advancing from Dresden to Most (Brüx). The last
kill and apparently the very last JGr. 300, respectively JG 300, sortie
out of Žatec is attributed to Uffz. Eugen Mayer. On May 8 at 10am he
was scrambled against the solitary Soviet Pe-2 bomber which he duly
shot down in the vicinity of Žatec airport. In the early afternoon the
remaining aircraft were destroyed and pilots and ground personnel
set on the march to Cheb where the unit‘s torso surrendered to the
Americans.
Sources:
CALDWELL D.: Luftwaffe Over Germany: Defense of the Reich
CALDWELL D.: Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich: A War Diary, 1942–45
LORANT J.-Y., GOYAT R.: Jagdgeschwader 300 Wilde Sau, A Chronicle of
a Fighter Geschwader in the Battle for Germany, Vol 1 & 2
OBERMAIER E.: DIE RITTERKREUZTRÃGER DER LUFTWAFFE 1939 – 1945, BAND 2, JAGDFLIEGER
www.ww2.dk
www.ww2.dk/lwairfields.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin_(RAF_campaign)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointblank_directive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_campaign_of_World_War_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinfurt%E2%80%93Regensburg_mission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Raid_on_Schweinfurt
Archiv Muzea letecké bitvy nad Krušnohořím 11. 9.1944 v Kovářské
Photo taken after the war at Bad Aibling airfield in Bavaria. The Fw 190A-8 „White 5“ probably belonged to 7./JG 300. On the right is
a Bf 110G-4 (W.Nr. 180 837), the „2Z+NU“ of 10./NJG 6. The Fw 190A-8 with light blue paint carries the Stammkennzeichen VS+BX and
the fuselage designation „yellow 10“. Photo: Fold3
INFO Eduard - July 2021
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