KITS 07/2021

Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 490249, Uffz. Hans Dahmen, 2./JG 300, Borkheide, Germany, December 1944

This aircraft with the Gisela inscription was flown by Uffz. Hanz Dahmen in December 1944 from the airfield in Borkheide,

southwest of Potsdam. The designation was later changed to red 12. In December 1944 the marking of the JG 300 aircraft was

changed to blue-white-blue fuselage band. In the second half of January 1945 was JG 300 deployed on the eastern front to fight

on the Oder River, conducting ground attacks and strafing advancing Soviet troops. By this time, Hans Dahmen had already seen

heavy fights in the fall of 1944, in which he shot down a B-17 on September 13, as well as the bloodbath of JG 300 pilots during

the USAAF raid on Berlin on January 14, 1945.

Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 151965 (not confirmed), I. or III./JG 300, Germany, early 1945

WNr. 151965 is an example of a Bf 109G-10 produced by the Erla factory, series 151. These machines were characterized by

a wing with large bulges over the undercarriage well and camouflage in a dark green overpaint on the upper and side surfaces,

including the lower fuselage except of the center wing. This color would be green version of the RLM 81, or even older RLM 70

or 71 or another green paint. The bottom of the wing including the center section were left in bare metal, but the bottom surfaces

of the ailerons and flaps were painted in light blue RLM 76. The lower surfaces of the wingtips and the horizontal tail were also

painted in the same color. The underwing crosses were painted in form of black angles.

Bf 109G-10 Erla, Jagdgruppe 300, Ainring, Germany, early May 1945

During March 1945 the I./JG 300 was disbanded and between April 1 and April 12, some 15 of the remaining airworthy aircraft

were handed over to the III. and IV./JG 300. Both units were shuttling around various airfields in southern Germany. As American

forces advanced further southwards these aircraft were ordered to move to Ainring near Salzburg and then to Prague. Luftwaffekommando 6 ordered II. and III./JG 300 to be integrated into Jagdgruppe 300 Ainring on May 3, 1945. A short black horizontal

stripe was then added to the blue-white-blue Reichsverteidigung stripes of the Jagdgruppe 300 aircraft. Ainring airfield was

located on German side of German-Austrian border, also known as Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden airport. It was one of two

Salzburg area military airfields during wartime.

INFO Eduard - July 2021

eduard

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