Info EDUARD
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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
07/2021
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Vol 20, July 2021Vol 20, July 2021ISSUE 137INFOINFOPage 2
INFOEDUARDEDUARDISSUE 137© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2021FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other media formor otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.Page 3
eduardeduardEDITORIALJULY 2021KITSHISTORYBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSBIGEDRELEASEBUILTON APPROACHJuly 2021August 2021WILDE SAU Episode two: Saudämmerung Limited edition 1/48ADLERANGRIFF Limited edition 1/72Fw 190A-8/R2 Weekend edition 1/48MiG-21bis Weekend edition 1/48Bf 109F-4 ProPACK 1/48Spitre Mk.IXc ProPACK 1/48Bf 109G-6/AS Weekend edition 1/48Spitre Story: Tally Ho! 1/48Tempest Mk.V Series 2 1/48Bf 109G-6 early version 1/48CONTENTSGELBE EINSWILDE SAU: a Short historyWILDE SAU: StoriesHOW I MET ZDENEK SEKYRKATAIL END CHARLIEPublished by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.com4748228760858690113Page 4
Dear Friends and Modellers,The news from the front, as you know, isever changing. The same holds true forus here. The moment I wrote in the lastissue of our monthly newsletter the da-tes for E-day, damned if it didn’t change.The new date of the show is October1st and 2nd, 2021. Write it down…may-be if enough of us do, it won’t changeagain. The original date had a monkeywrench thrown in, in the form of ano-ther traditionally fall event, an agri-cultural one, that coincided with E-day.Somehoworother, it got mixed into thedates of our show, so the change wasnecessary. The management of the ve-nue decided to allow the other showto keep the dates, and I take that as abusiness decision that is possibly fedby a level of sentiment towards a tradi-tional agricultural show as opposed toa modelling event. I guess, honest-ly, that I can understand it. There havebeen problems with that show rightfrom the beginning when we changedthe venue to Lyse. It always has some-thing to do with horses. The year beforelast, the show I mentioned above was aweek before ours, and there was ano-ther horse show, something to do withshow jumping, I believe, the week after.The venue people were trying to get usto change E-day to after the secondhorse show, because they didn’t want togo through the process of cleaning outthe sand that is used to give the horsesa natural ground to move in while in-side the hall, only to bring it all back ina week later. Fortunately, we were ableto convince them to do just that. Perha-ps some of you that attended the showwill recall the mysterious piles of sandin the parking lot next to the hall. I havethe sneaking suspicion that it will bethe same again this year. After June’snewsletter, we received a lot of questi-ons, and so for that reason, I am repe-ating all of the information and addingsome new bits, too.One Day or Two Day Format?Really, this years’ E-day will be a day--and-a-half affair. Just as we did in2019, it will begin on the Friday after-noon. Our table will be open for busi-ness, as I am sure will many others.The concession stands will also beopen. We are planning two, and perha-ps even three, lectures for the evening.In hindsight, the first lecture in 2019was a little weak, and the question re-mains whether or not this was due tothe subject matter, or if it as too earlyin the schedule. The lecture lineup hasnot yet been finalized, but the certainthing about them is that the last, lateevening one, will be hosted by JiriSilhanek. I highly recommend atten-ding! You’ll experience what you havenot yet experienced, and you’ll learnthings you wouldn’t have thought possi-ble. The rest of these lectures shouldcentre around new kits that will havetheir premiere at E-day. This will inclu-de the Trener in 1:48th scale, a LimitedEdition kit dedicated to different versi-ons of the Z-126 and Z-226 , and a 1:48thscale Mi-24D Hind, also a limited Editi-on release based around the Zvezda kit.This will include conversion bits of ourown production for the D version. Then,there will be a 1:72nd scale Limited Edi-tion kit dubbed ‘Hurristory’, dedicatedto the Hurricane Mk.I, this time basedaround the Arma Hobby plastic. The-re should be no shortage of speakersto provide insight into these themes.A Hurricane was recently flown to theCzech Republic, the pilots of which weknow personally, and there should benice flying displays put on by the Mi-24and Trener aircraft….One Hall or Two Halls?Two. This year’s E-day will be held in twohalls. Traditionally, we occupied Hall D,which we all know and love so well, andto that we add Hall A. We were prepa-red to go into two halls last year, whichcould not go forward, and so we pickit up this year. This will spread us outa bit, and it won’t seem quite so crow-ded around any of the displays. We willuse the scheme of club displays in HallA, with the main displays and vendorsin Hall D. It’s possible, even very like-ly, that the Kettle Q and A, and awardsannouncements, will be held in Hall A.One Contest or Two?For the first time in a long time, therewill be one contest this year. Our wor-king name for it is the Czech Model Ma-sters. The English format of the namesuggests that it will be a multi-nationalaffair. And that’s how it is. It is intendedto be a multi-national event. But to whatextent this will hold true this year is asyet uncertain, because the times are un-certain, leading to questions regardingwhat measures and restrictions will bein place in the fall regarding such showsand of travel. We will do all that we canto make sure that the show is a successto the greatest extent possible. I thinkthat if we can ensure the success of theshow, word of mouth will take it fromthere. On the Czech Republic Nationals,I have already written much, and I willjust take this opportunity to remind allthat this MR SMCzR will take place onSeptember 11th at the Hotel Olympic inPrague, and as of this year, we’ll traveldown our own road.Point System, Comparative System orLike/Not Like?Good question that I’ve been askedcountless times over the past month.How will the entries in the Czech Mo-del masters be judged? The answer isthat the judging system will follow inthe tracks of the system used for thelast E-day in 2019. This didn’t employthe classic point system in the Czechsense, where each aspect of a model isgraded in a complex judging procedu-re. This won’t even be possible with theamount of time available and the anti-cipated number of entries. Our systemis a collection of judging criteria whichshould assess the quality of the workon a given model, eliminating certainmodels with specific faults in terms ofthe build, assess its compliance to theaccepted standard and compare rela-ted models in terms of these aspects,execution, and level of detail. The co-llection of judges will be, of course,ÚVODNÍKeduard4INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 5
very important. Here, too, we will fallback on our experience from 2019, wewill again consult co-operating clubs,and the lineup will be complementedwith other modeling personalities. Mostimportantly, we will try to assemble thecommittees of the various categories insuch a way as to avoid as much of thepolitical infighting amongst individualmodelers and clubs as possible. I knowthat all of this sounds a bit complica-ted, I rather suspect that we all knowto what I am referring to. In short, whatwe would like to achieve is a show thatis fair and in the right spirit of the event.Awards and ResultsThe main awards will be in the formof glass trophies, and there will be six.Five will be for sub-categories…aircraft,armor, ships, civil and figures, while thesixth will be for the overall ‘best of’. Wi-nning and placing entries in individualcategories, such as 1:72nd scale aircraft,will receive smaller awards. What formthese will take, I cannot say right now.But it will not look like an afterthought.Don’t worry about that. The awards an-nouncements will in all likelihood takeplace in Hall A, if only because the po-dium is already there. We’d also like toinject a little something in this processas well, that will take it away from the‘here’s your award, now get lost’ feel.Anti-Pandemic MeasuresAnti pandemic measures are, naturally,the biggest and most important fac-tor in all this, because we don’t knowwhat conditions will persist or arise inthe fall. Currently, the prevailing feel isone of cautious optimism with a sloweasing of restrictions, and most areexpecting that the fall will see a returnto the conditions that prevailed in thespring. Although there is a certain levelof skepticism among modellers, I feelthat there won’t be a return to thoseconditions, and that society as a wholehas taken the lessons of the past and isfully aware of its potential return, and isacting accordingly. As the saying goes,Generals prepare extremely well forthe previous war. But the new war is al-ways different, and as far as I am con-cerned, it will not be without covid-19. Ifit does make a return in the fall, it willbe in some modified form, and the re-strictions to contain it may well be di-fferent in the fall than they were in thespring.We don’t anticipate the worst case sce-nario, which would involve the shuttingdown of such events and the cancella-tion of E-day. We do have a contingencyplan in place that assumes the possi-bility of a limit on the number of peopleallowed to attend such an event. Actu-ally, we think that the number of peo-ple allowed will rise as we approachour dates, and that any limits will besatisfied by a typical attendance of be-tween 3,500 and 4,000 people. For now,we are not concerned with any mask orrespirator requirements, because it’sbasically a small detail. Social distan-cing requirements should be made po-ssible by the addition of the second hall.Of course, there may some problemswith localized concentrations of people.This could be a problem where there isa self-serve type of vendors’ table,which our table and Special Hobby’stoo, are. Those of you who have beenat an E-day and have visited our tablewill know. I am not confident that thisyear will be any different, and I do hopethat sales that will be in place on Fridayafternoon and evening will help to alle-viate this situation.We are working with other contingen-cies, too, in an effort to be as preparedas possible for any potential restric-tions. As one example, and perhapsthe most relevant, at least to my mind,is the possibility of such events beingopen only for ‘related participants’ asopposed to the general public….ie, mo-delers. In that case, we would publicizethe event through industry circles, wewould have a limited number of ticketsavailable, and these would be sold sole-ly on pre-order. The pre-order of ticketsand pre-registration for contest partici-pants is on the table also for the possi-bility of some 1500 limit, which wouldmake it pretty easy to avoid any peopleconcentration issues.99 New Items for JulyYes, you read right. It’s no typo, and wereally do have 99 new items which arebeing shown for the first time in thisnewsletter. It’s not the first time we’vehit this number, and we’ve even hada hundred and more new items, but it’sjust nice to say….’99 new items’. Whoelse do you know can claim that theyhave 99 new items in a month. Andhave no fear, I won’t go into any detailabout each and every one of them, but Iwill just touch up on the highlights andyou can glean the rest throughout thisnewsletter.Kits and Re-EditionsThere are even a lot of kits. If we includere-editions, there are seven kits beingreleased. Considering that currently,re-editions are items that are con-stantly being tweaked, instructions areimproved, different marking optionsare included and boxart is ever evol-ving, then these can in most respects,be considered among new items. Forus, these re-editions are a necessi-ty, and they are one of three roads bywhich older kits are kept in the ro-tation. In this case, it’s manifested ininnovation of the look of the kit, andthey are otherwise finished items. Thatmeans that they are relatively low onthe scale of labor intensity. If you takea closer look at how we do things, youwill note that typically within a month(either before or after) the release ofa re-edition, we release a similar kit,usually in the form of a Weekend Edi-tion item. As an example, today the re--edition is that of the Spitfire LF Mk.IXcin the ProfiPACK line, and next month,this will be followed by the WeekendEdition of the Spitfire F Mk.IX. This isa version that has also been calledSpitfire Mk.IX Early, and I recommenda good look at the Weekend kit becauseit has some very noteworthy markingoptions to offer. In September, we willsee another re-edition, this time of theProfiPACK Spitfire Mk.VIII, and whenI add that in August, we will also havethe new Mk Vs in American service asthe Limited Edition Eagle’s Call, thenI can only look forward to the asserti-ons that all we do is Spitfires and no-thing else. It’s a similar story with theMiG-21s in 1:48th. This month, we havethe new Weekend kit of the MiG-21bis,to be followed by the MiG-21MF in theProfiPACK line, and then a new Wee-kend MiG-21MF in September.Besides the 48th scale ProfiPACK Spit-fire Mk.IXc, we have dusted off the Bf109F-4, also in the ProfiPACK family.This is another nice Eduard morselwith nice markings that really needsno tweaking at all. The six options cen-tre around Hans-Joachim Marseille,with schemes that go from the desertto the classic to winter type. It’s a sightto behold. With the second re-edition,the aforementioned Spitfire Mk.IXc, it issimilar, although someone at the timewas bellyaching over the options notbeing striking enough, because theywere all grey-green. But that’s how it,more or less, was with Spitfires. Therewere also complaints, likely from En-gland, that the marking options werecomposed of a band of foreigners…noBrits. Which was true….we had a Pole, aCzech and a Canadian , which left onlya silver bird of No.601 Squadron, thepilot of which is unknown. But I wouldstake anything that an Englishmaneduard5INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 6
from No.601 Squadron flew the thing atsome point in time! The above-mentio-ned August Weekend kit of the F Mk.IX,we have been more accommodating inthis regard, and have been more ‘co-rrect’ with respect to nationalities. Thethird re-edition this month covers theBf 109G-6/AS, and it’s in the Weekendline. This kit is interesting through thefact that it is the second re-edition ofthe type this year, and it was a newrelease back in January. I must admitthat I am surprised by this fact, andI confess that I underestimated the po-tential of the late Bf 109Gs. I was underthe impression that these were notparticularly interesting aircraft. OK…so they are popular. Very good sellers,and yes, I was wrong.Weekend KitsWithin the Weekend Line we are relea-sing the MiG-21bis in 1:48th scale andthe Fw 190A-8/R2 in the same scale.The MiG is being released along thesame philosophical lines as describedabove. The Fw 190A-8/R2 is a bit of clas-sic for us and is another of a growingline of releases that features boxartdepicting historically relevant events. Inthis case, the event is the type of thingthat it is hard to believe that somethinglike it could have actually occurred. Butoccur it did. If you have your doubts,check out the article in today’s newsle-tter by Jan Zdiarsky, as he vividly de-scribes the events prior, during andafter the depiction. I have little doubt ineither Jan Zdiarsky’s research abilitiesor his passion for the subject in whichto utilize them. They centre around theevents of September 11th, 1944 overthe Ore Mountains, and as far as beinga passion for him, it is a lifelong one.If you begin reading the article, you willalso finish it. It’s that good.Limited EditionJuly sees two Limited Edition kits beingreleased. I’ll start with the smaller one,and it is called Alderangriff 1:72 and isclosely related to an earlier item. Theplastic comes from Special Hobby andis the result of a collaborative effort be-tween our two companies. The designof the item has its genes in Eduard, butis a Special Hobby scaling down of ouroriginal 48th scale kit. The molds ori-ginated with a foreign partner, whichbrought with it certain complicationsin timing. In short, the release had tobe delayed, and we were planning ona March or April release of our LimitedEdition kit based on this plastic. Ulti-mately, the delay did come, but really,that’s a pretty common occurrence inour field. Now, the plastic is in boxesand they arrived in the nick of time, butI have a good feeling about this one. I’vebeen involved with this project from theget go, and I have a tendency, I find, tokeep sticking my nose in it to one de-gree or another. And in this case, myhands as well. Adlerangriff 1:72 has thesame marking options available as the48th and 32nd scale versions did, bea-ring the same name, with the exceptionof one specific option. Thanks to this di-fference, the options now include that ofFranz von Werr, which is probably myfavorite historical figure. I will just addthat this kit covers the bf 109E in severalversions that flew in the Battle of Bri-tain. Today’s kit will be the first of theline, and will be followed in the fall bya ProfiPACK release.The second Limited Edition kit is the se-cond volume in the Wilde Sau line. It’scalled ‘Wilde Sau, Episode Two: Sau-dammerung’. This is a change from thefirst working title, because it was re-alized that it didn’t really fit the themeall that well. Saudammerung’ is a refe-rence to a Wagner opera ‘Twilight of theGods’, and the end result is that maybethe titles should be chalked up to, andtaken as, artistic license and leave it atthat. And if you think that poems andpoets have no place in aviation or mo-deling, then we will have something toget you out of that opinion in August’snewsletter. But, back to the Wild Sows.This one concerns itself with the ti-meframe of the end of 1944 through ’45to the end of the war. This was a timethat for the German pilots was notparticularly pleasant. You can find outmore about this aspect of the war notjust from the kit’s instruction manual,but also from two historical notebooksin today’s newsletter. One is from NeilPage, a recognized authority on the Wil-de Sau concept, and the other is fromme. I am no expert on this theme, but Igave it my best shot. When it comes toaircraft types, there are two in the pac-kage: the Bf 109G-14/AS and the bf 109G-10 Erla. There are two G-10 versions po-ssible, the changes being representedby both small and large landing gearfairings over the wheel wells. The Wil-de Sau theme will round out next yearwith Wilde Sau Episode Three: The FinalCountdown. I won’t guarantee thjat thiswill end up being the release’s title, be-cause, as I said, the situation over thebattlefield changes with every minuteand this is a year away still. But fromwhat I know about this subject, the tit-le fits well, to my mind. It will cover theFw 190A of various versions, and I fore-see this as another winner.AccessoriesThere are 90 accessories out of the 99new releases, and as promised, I won’tdescribe them all in detail. I will touch onthose that I see as the most interesting,and these are more than a few as well.There are three Brassin sets that de-serve notice that are dedicated to the Fw190F-8, and they cover the engine, thefuselage weapons, and the third com-bines the two in one package. AmongBrassin items, there appears anotherone for the P-51D, with a tire pattern thatis suitable for British Mustangs, and the-re are smaller sets for the B-17F fromHKM, including Löök items, and smallersets also for the Tempest Mk.II in 1:48thscale. The kit itself will be a new releasein August as a ProfiPACK kit. There aresix new Space sets, three Löök sets andtwo LööKplus items. Also, there are theusual weapons sets in various scales,including machine guns for the B-17F.In photoetching and masks, there arean incredible ten sets for the trumpeter1:32nd scale F-100C. Furthermore, thereare more sets for the 1:48th B-17F. Takea look at the Wooden Floors and AmmoBoxes in 1:48th, catalog Number 491201.This utilizes a specific methodology inthe application of the wood grain simu-lation. We’ve confirmed that it workswell in previous sets, and it looks ama-zing. We also have masks for the HKM48th scale Lancaster, the Pucara and theF-84F from Kinetic in the same scale.Also, for the F-111F and D in 1:72nd sca-le. Someone kept asking, I would sayceaselessly, for the F-11 sets, so herethey are. I hope you like them. The samething goes for the Ju 87D, demand foraccessories of which rose after the kitwas reboxed by HOBBY 2000. There arealso new releases among decal sheets,with four three of which cover the P-51DMustang in 1:48th and 1:32nd scale, andthe fourth covers Italian ‘Smoke Ring’camouflage. Very poetic title, and theseare in 1:72nd scale.And that’s it from me for now. I am hea-ding of on vacation, during which I willbike around Jutterbog and visit the air-fields that were used by individual com-ponents of JG 300 and other Wilde Sauunits.Happy ModellingVladimir Sulceduard6INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 7
The events of the air battle over the Czech-German frontieron Monday, September 11th, 1944, remained virtually forgo-tten for decades after the war. The rich mosaic of the fatesof those involved began to come together over the course ofover thirty years , which began with research into the fatesof the American and German pilots and crews, that met overthe Ore Mountains on that day, resulting in the loss of oversixty aircraft and more than eighty lives on both sides. Thesewere the fates of family members, friends and fellow yerswho had ended up paying the ultimate price.The fruits of the ongoing research into this event, culmina-ting in the museum dedicated to it, has also been benecialto the modeling community. The rst project on which themuseum and Eduard cooperated on was the nostalgically re-membered Royal Class edition of the Fw 190A-8/R2 in 1:48thscale back in 2007. After that, there was a ProPACK kit,‘Sturmbock’, in the same scale carrying the catalog number8175. This kit, for the rst time, featured boxart by MartinNovotny depicting the battle itself. After several years, thiswas followed by the Fw 190A-8/R2 Royal Class kit in 1:72ndscale, the 1:48th scale Royal Class Bf 109G, and several otherprojects as well.Currently, we see a return by Eduard to the subject of the AirBattle Over the Ore Mountains in the form of theme specicboxart by Piotr Forkasiewicz and one of the marking optionssupplied with the kit. The centre of attention of the boxart isa Sturmbock aircraft coded Yellow ‘1’, own by Obgefr. KarlKleemann, attacking one of the elements of the 100th BombGroup shortly after noon on September 11th, 1944. That,which is depicted in the boxart, tries to stay faithful and ac-curate to as many details as possible, but it still needs to besaid that due to the monumental nature of the intercept byII.(Sturm)/JG 4, it is impossible to ascertain whether or notKleemann and his 7. Stael actually attacked this specicelement of B-17s of the 349th Bomb Squadron. At some point,despite all eorts, some artistic license must be allowed for.The ‘feel’ of the battle, and the fates of individual aircraft,is depicted in the painting extremely well. Given the severelosses suered by both sides, it should come as no surprisethat none of the ve aircraft depicted on the box ever madeit home again. And this accounts for less than a tenth of thetotal losses suered. So, this painting of Piotr’s has beenchristened ‘No Way Back’. Let’s take a look at the individualNOW AN´THENBesides Kleemann’s aircraft, the artwork is also dominated bythe burning B-17G, dubbed ‘Now an’ Then’. This was an aircraftcarrying the serial number 42-97806 and was coded XR-D. Thebomber ew its rst mission for the 100th Bomb Group as a newaddition on May 20th, 1944 in a raid on Brussels. Up to the fate-ful mission to Ruhland, the aircraft completed 37 combat ights,most own by the crew commanded by Lt. Ferdinand J. Herres.His crew ew this aircraft on 17 of their 33 combat missions.It was also them that named the aircraft. After they became theleading crew, aircraft mission assignments were irregular, and itwas impossible to predict which mission they would be assigned.So, as a result, they named the aircraft ‘Now an’ Then’. As fatewould have it, or maybe it was a squadron bureaucrat, Herres’screw ying their last mission on the current tour of duty on Sep-tember 11th, 1944, wasn’t in ‘Now An’ Then’, but rather a newerfates of the aircraft that are shown in closer detail. Althoughthe centre of focus is Kleemann’s aircraft, we’ll leave thatstory for the end of this article. In order to save space, I willleave out the history of the battle, which can be referencedin Eduard Newsletters from the years 2010 - 2018 here :07/2010 – STURMBOCK: Panzerglass, Panzerplatteand the Whites of the Tail Gunner’s Eyeswww.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2010/info-eduard-2010-07EN.pdf05/2012 – The Aircraft in the Backgroundwww.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2012/info-eduard-2012-05EN.pdf07/2014 – Black Fourwww.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2014/info-eduard-2014-07EN.pdf04/2015 – Pauke! Pauke!www.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2015/info-eduard-2015-04EN.pdf09/2018 – Lone Adlerwww.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2018/info-eduard-2018-09en.pdfMain Picture: Painting by Piotr Forkasiewicz ‘No Way Back’,depicting the scene of the attack by 7.(Sturm)/JG 4 on a for-mation of 100th BG aircraft on noon on September 11th, 1944.It is the boxart of the Eduard Model Accessorieskit No. 84114, Fw 190A-8/R2.eduard7INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 8
aircraft serialled 43-37823, coded XR-V, and was, importantly, notdesignated to be in the lower section of the combat box, whichwas later decimated. But even so, this mission for Ferdinand He-rres and his crew would prove quite fateful, as even they wouldneed to bail out of their burning aircraft. Luckily for them, thiswas not until they were back over England, and all would be ableto return to their base relatively unscathed and able to celebratethe end of their tour of duty. It turned out dierently for thecrew that ended up ying Herres’s B-17 on September 11th, 1944.That crew was commanded by Lt. Charles E. Baker. The crew wasgoing on its sixth operational mission, and despite being relativelyyoung, they led a three ship element from the 349th BS. NavigatorLt. Donald Lienemann recalled the beginning of the encounterwith the Germans:‘…our ship was very badly riddled in the waist and tail section,and also had a re in the bomb bay area due to enemy action. Theattacks, as nearly as I could determine, all came from between6 and 9 o’clock and were deadly accurate, however the enemyfared none too well either, for they told Lt Chiles, Co Pilot of thecrew, upon capture, that they lost 82 ships as a result of that li-ttle battle, and that they were highly peeved having to pay sucha high penalty for the days work. As a result of this enemy action,the interphone was shot out, as was the alarm bell, the C-1 andtwo 20´s had gone through the pilots instrument panel. Both theCo-Pilot and I had tried to use the interphone, but neither hadany success, so I know denitely it was out. When the copilot,Lt. Chiles, rst noticed the re in the bomb bay, he immediate-ly notied the pilot, Lt. Baker, of the existing condition of theship and then proceeded to call the crew, which was, as I men-tioned, an impossibility. The Pilot, Lt Baker, then motioned toLt. Chiles and Sgt. Damrel, Engineer, to proceed and bail, whichthey did immediately, however the pilot refused to abandon ship,because he had no way of notifying the remainder of the crew,so remained steadfast in the cockpit, knowing full well that, ina matter of a few minutes, he would pay the supreme price forhis gallantry, which I believe was the case. He must have felt thatperhaps the few extra seconds that he might give for the crew,they in turn might discover the condition of the ship and pro-ceed to bail out on their own, which, of course, did not happen.Of the seven men still in that ship at the time of the nal explo-sion, it seems that I am the only remaining one, and so it falls mylot to tell this gruelsome story, for I was the only eyewitness tothe entire proceedings that is alive today. Had I know the condi-tion of the ship, it is needless to say that I too would have bailed,however I did not know all the afore story until I later met myCo-pilot and Engineer. Shortly before the explosion, I do knowthe left wing was shot o right outside of engine No.1, at whichtime the plane made a mad surge to the left and up, and then theright wing left us too, and almost immediately the plane wentinto a wild dive and blew up. I am convinced that it must havebeen those bombs that went o, for the explosion came fromthe bomb bay area, and it was so terrifying that even thinkingabout it today makes me shudder. We were at 26,000 when allthis occurred and of course were knocked out as result of theexplosion, losing consciousness and all. I regained my senses afterI had fallen some 22,000 feet, or at least that would be my ho-nest estimate, leaving 4,000 feet between me and the ground toright myself, get my wits about me and pull the rip cord, all ofwhich I did pronto and used my chute for a total of 15 secondsbefore nally hitting the forest…’The burning aircraft came down between Oberhals and Schmie-deberg (today’s Horni Halze and Kovarska). The crash of theaircraft was also witnessed by several of the locals.Horst Schmiedl of Medenec: ‘I was a young boy at the time,and was mushroom picking with my grandfather, when a largebattle unfolded above us. My granddad forced me to the groundand wouldn’t allow me to look up. I only heard massive hits andexplosions. I don’t how long it lasted, but when it quieted down,my grandfather told me that a plane came down nearby. We wentto look for it. The area nearby was burning when we reachedthe crash site. I think we were the rst on the scene. There wasa lot of twisted metal around, and nearby, in a tree, there wasthe body of a yer. He was tangled in the ropes of his parachute.I remember my grandfather telling me not to look there, that itwas nothing for a young boy to see…’Donald H. Lienemann during his rst visit to Kovarskaon July 15th, 1995.eduard8INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 9
aircraft serialled 43-37823, coded XR-V, and was, importantly, notdesignated to be in the lower section of the combat box, whichwas later decimated. But even so, this mission for Ferdinand He-rres and his crew would prove quite fateful, as even they wouldneed to bail out of their burning aircraft. Luckily for them, thiswas not until they were back over England, and all would be ableto return to their base relatively unscathed and able to celebratethe end of their tour of duty. It turned out dierently for thecrew that ended up ying Herres’s B-17 on September 11th, 1944.That crew was commanded by Lt. Charles E. Baker. The crew wasgoing on its sixth operational mission, and despite being relativelyyoung, they led a three ship element from the 349th BS. NavigatorLt. Donald Lienemann recalled the beginning of the encounterwith the Germans:‘…our ship was very badly riddled in the waist and tail section,and also had a re in the bomb bay area due to enemy action. Theattacks, as nearly as I could determine, all came from between6 and 9 o’clock and were deadly accurate, however the enemyfared none too well either, for they told Lt Chiles, Co Pilot of thecrew, upon capture, that they lost 82 ships as a result of that li-ttle battle, and that they were highly peeved having to pay sucha high penalty for the days work. As a result of this enemy action,the interphone was shot out, as was the alarm bell, the C-1 andtwo 20´s had gone through the pilots instrument panel. Both theCo-Pilot and I had tried to use the interphone, but neither hadany success, so I know denitely it was out. When the copilot,Lt. Chiles, rst noticed the re in the bomb bay, he immediate-ly notied the pilot, Lt. Baker, of the existing condition of theship and then proceeded to call the crew, which was, as I men-tioned, an impossibility. The Pilot, Lt Baker, then motioned toLt. Chiles and Sgt. Damrel, Engineer, to proceed and bail, whichthey did immediately, however the pilot refused to abandon ship,because he had no way of notifying the remainder of the crew,so remained steadfast in the cockpit, knowing full well that, ina matter of a few minutes, he would pay the supreme price forhis gallantry, which I believe was the case. He must have felt thatperhaps the few extra seconds that he might give for the crew,they in turn might discover the condition of the ship and pro-ceed to bail out on their own, which, of course, did not happen.Of the seven men still in that ship at the time of the nal explo-sion, it seems that I am the only remaining one, and so it falls mylot to tell this gruelsome story, for I was the only eyewitness tothe entire proceedings that is alive today. Had I know the condi-tion of the ship, it is needless to say that I too would have bailed,however I did not know all the afore story until I later met myCo-pilot and Engineer. Shortly before the explosion, I do knowthe left wing was shot o right outside of engine No.1, at whichtime the plane made a mad surge to the left and up, and then theright wing left us too, and almost immediately the plane wentinto a wild dive and blew up. I am convinced that it must havebeen those bombs that went o, for the explosion came fromthe bomb bay area, and it was so terrifying that even thinkingabout it today makes me shudder. We were at 26,000 when allthis occurred and of course were knocked out as result of theexplosion, losing consciousness and all. I regained my senses afterI had fallen some 22,000 feet, or at least that would be my ho-nest estimate, leaving 4,000 feet between me and the ground toright myself, get my wits about me and pull the rip cord, all ofwhich I did pronto and used my chute for a total of 15 secondsbefore nally hitting the forest…’The burning aircraft came down between Oberhals and Schmie-deberg (today’s Horni Halze and Kovarska). The crash of theaircraft was also witnessed by several of the locals.Horst Schmiedl of Medenec: ‘I was a young boy at the time,and was mushroom picking with my grandfather, when a largebattle unfolded above us. My granddad forced me to the groundand wouldn’t allow me to look up. I only heard massive hits andexplosions. I don’t how long it lasted, but when it quieted down,my grandfather told me that a plane came down nearby. We wentto look for it. The area nearby was burning when we reachedthe crash site. I think we were the rst on the scene. There wasa lot of twisted metal around, and nearby, in a tree, there wasthe body of a yer. He was tangled in the ropes of his parachute.I remember my grandfather telling me not to look there, that itwas nothing for a young boy to see…’Donald H. Lienemann during his rst visit to Kovarskaon July 15th, 1995.In July, 1995, navigator Donald H. Lienemann was the rstAmerican vet from the battle, with whom researchers from theevolving museum made contact and who would revisit the placewhere he was shot down. He subsequently came back again fromhis native Nebraska on two occasions, including to attend theopening ceremony for the museum in September, 1997.MUD IN YER EYEA similar fate to Baker’s ‘Now an’ Then’ befell the aircraftying o its left wing, B-17G 42-97834 ‘Mud in yer Eye’, own byLt. Orville C. Everitt. Over almost fty missions own by thisB-17G, eight were manned by Everitt’s crew (who were yingtheir 20th combat mission on September 11th, 1944). One of thethree of nine crew to survive the mission was Lt. Warren L. Soden,and in 1997 he recounted for us: ’ After several passes by the190’s 20mm re knocked out our tail controls, both rudder andelevator. We started down and I could see the pilot’s feet (Eve-ritt) on the rudders trying to get control. The co-pilot was gone.(I could see the cockpit from the nose due to the fabric panelbeing absent in this plane.) I bailed out and on the way downI saw our plane almost directly below me on a ight path thatwas consistently left-right, left-right, with descent signicant-ly slowed. This ight pattern indicated to me that Everitt wasstill ying the plane. I can only conclude that he had not bailedout and was trying to get below cloud cover before bailing out.However the plane exploded shortly before reaching cloud coverand I saw only pieces of aluminum oating down. I landed ina forest and was picked up by German soldiers‘.Tail Gunner Sgt. Kenney died in 1963 as a result of the injurieshe suerred in the battle. On his return from captivity in 1945,he reported in his debrief:‘We were ying a mission to Ruhland, Germany on September11´1944. At about 12:10 English time, were hit by F.W.´s 190.Due to oxygen system which was shot away and also serious lungwounds I was unconscious and don´t remember how I get outand have no knowledge on what happened at all except heresay.I heard in Germany from a fellow yer that the ship blew up…’Of the nine man crew, three lived to see the end of the war.OOMBREE AGOSignicantly better luck was experienced by the crew to theright of Baker. Serialed 43-38161, it was the most recently builtairplane of the three, and had thirteen combat missions underits belt. Most of these were own by a crew commanded byLt. Raymond L. Hieronimus. Both of the aforementioned crewsalso ew a mission each in this aircraft. The bomber carried thename ‘Oombree Ago’. Raymond Hieronimus was at the controlsof this airplane on this occasion, and his crew accounted for fourdestroyed and one damaged enemy aircraft. Tail gunner S/Sgt.Marvin D. Cooper: ‘Six e/a were attacked up at 6 o´clock low.They came straight in and at 600 yards I began ring at the leadE/A. It was a straight shot with no deection and smoke beganto come from his left wing. He came in to 300 yards withoutwavering where the plane suddenly exploded and disintegratedin mid air.’Top turret gunner Sgt. Carlyle E. Miller caught a dierentFw 190: ‘A single E/A came in at 7 o’clock as I was trying to getanother E/A on our right wing. I swung around to 7 o’clock andstarted ring at a range of 200 yards. I saw smoke come from theengine and the E/A fell o to 8 o’clock low and exploded…’Pilot Raymond L. Heironimus recounted several days after thebattle: ‘Diving out of the sun the Germans attacked... our leadFortress fell, its wing tips burning... the bomber to the right dida wing-over, falling up to pieces... another blew up under us...those boys were old friends of mine... we saw only half dozenparachutes... then we got it, hit in the tail we went straight up,stalled, went down in a tight spiral, losing 6000 feet.’During the falling spin, the injured radio operator, T/Sgt.William G. Terry bailed out of the stricken aircraft. He was sub-sequently taken prisoner at Jachymov. Navigator Lt. George H.Geis added to the pilot’s account in 2000:’„…when Raymond and Glenn got us out of a at spin at 15,000we were all alone. Cannon re around the tail wheel nacel-le dropped the tail section – jamming the rudder and elevator.We stayed aloft with the control yoke full forward and one aile-ron for lateral steering.Ray Carl was severely wounded – one arm with a double com-pound fracture – both kneecaps and upper leg bones visible andmassive puncture wounds of the face. We packed the wounds,used sulfa and morphine – wrapping him in ak vests and fashi-oned a hammock with control cables to cushion him from thesevere vibration.The radio room door was shattered and Terry’s boots were onthe bloody oor. He somehow managed to bail out during thespin. We were losing altitude so we jettisoned the ball turret,radios, guns, etc., and Cooper and I dropped four 500# by ope-ning the toggles with a screwdriver. We couldn’t reach the othertwo on the lower outside racks.‘Oombree Ago’ after its emergency landing in France(Museum of Air Battle Over the Ore Mountainson September 11th, 1944 Archives, Stephane Muret).eduard9INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 10
By this time we were maintaining altitude but only a few thou-sand feet. The plane was “skidding” about 30% o course (due tothe rudder), but fortunately the one thing that still worked werethe engines. Avoiding populated areas was a tough job for Rayand Glenn – we got small arms re around the Rhine.’The pilots ultimately managed to set the damaged aircraft down,running on fumes, in a eld near the town of Joigny, southeast ofParis, just beyond the front line. They were welcomed with horsemeat and wine by the locals. They returned to their base severaldays later at Thorpe Abbotts, and picked up their tour of dutywhere they had left o. That ended in February, 1945. In 2002 and2004, navigator George Geise visited the museum at Kovarska andalso the spot where his bomber set down near Paris.YELLOW ‘6’The Fw 190 ying under the stricken B-17 ‘Oombree Ago’ isYellow ‘6’, W.Nr. 681337, own by 25-year-old Uz. HeinrichHörner. The moments immediately after his attack on the bom-ber formation were described by Oblt. Othmar Zehart, 7. StaelCommanding Ocer, in a letter to Hörner’s father:‘…11.9.1944, at about 1215h, we entered into combat with six-teen four-engined bombers over Saxony. Even before we condu-cted our rst attack against them, over half were shot down inames. Unfortunately, my Stael also suered losses. Your son,ying on my left, was hit, forcing him to disengage and lose al-titude. His aircraft was bellowing smoke, but was not on re.I had also suered serious hits to my aircraft, and could not mo-nitor your son’s situation much further. Because we did not seehim crash, and his aircraft appeared under control during hisdescent, we all believed that he was able to bail out and take tohis parachute. Unfortunately, two days ago, I received word thatHeinrich died during the battle…’Uz. Horner died while trying to belly in on a school eld atDorf Chemnitz. Walter Burkart, eleven at the time, recalled ye-ars later: ‘…I was in an air raid shelter in the cellar. After theall-clear, we came out. It was said that a ghter came down ne-arby. We ran to the spot where that had happened, but it wasalready cordoned o and not accessible. It was said that the pilothad survived the landing, but died shortly thereafter. I found outfrom which direction the aircraft came in, and that it was yingvery low. He ew past the church and landed in a eld behindthe school. After the pilot’s body had been taken away and theammunition and armament was removed, we could get closer. Myfriends and I collected various items. I had a piece of plexiglassand a cartridge, but my mother threw it all away. The aircraftengine lay about six meters from the airframe. People thoughthe was trying to land in the eld, but that he was unsuccessful.’The plane, just short of open elds beyond the town, ewthrough some treetops between the school building and the chu-rch, and impacted, among other things, a memorial to soldiersof the First World War which was destroyed, after a hard landing.The pilot was buried at a local cemetery just a few dozen metersfrom where the tragedy occurred.eduard10INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 11
By this time we were maintaining altitude but only a few thou-sand feet. The plane was “skidding” about 30% o course (due tothe rudder), but fortunately the one thing that still worked werethe engines. Avoiding populated areas was a tough job for Rayand Glenn – we got small arms re around the Rhine.’The pilots ultimately managed to set the damaged aircraft down,running on fumes, in a eld near the town of Joigny, southeast ofParis, just beyond the front line. They were welcomed with horsemeat and wine by the locals. They returned to their base severaldays later at Thorpe Abbotts, and picked up their tour of dutywhere they had left o. That ended in February, 1945. In 2002 and2004, navigator George Geise visited the museum at Kovarska andalso the spot where his bomber set down near Paris.YELLOW ‘6’The Fw 190 ying under the stricken B-17 ‘Oombree Ago’ isYellow ‘6’, W.Nr. 681337, own by 25-year-old Uz. HeinrichHörner. The moments immediately after his attack on the bom-ber formation were described by Oblt. Othmar Zehart, 7. StaelCommanding Ocer, in a letter to Hörner’s father:‘…11.9.1944, at about 1215h, we entered into combat with six-teen four-engined bombers over Saxony. Even before we condu-cted our rst attack against them, over half were shot down inames. Unfortunately, my Stael also suered losses. Your son,ying on my left, was hit, forcing him to disengage and lose al-titude. His aircraft was bellowing smoke, but was not on re.I had also suered serious hits to my aircraft, and could not mo-nitor your son’s situation much further. Because we did not seehim crash, and his aircraft appeared under control during hisdescent, we all believed that he was able to bail out and take tohis parachute. Unfortunately, two days ago, I received word thatHeinrich died during the battle…’Uz. Horner died while trying to belly in on a school eld atDorf Chemnitz. Walter Burkart, eleven at the time, recalled ye-ars later: ‘…I was in an air raid shelter in the cellar. After theall-clear, we came out. It was said that a ghter came down ne-arby. We ran to the spot where that had happened, but it wasalready cordoned o and not accessible. It was said that the pilothad survived the landing, but died shortly thereafter. I found outfrom which direction the aircraft came in, and that it was yingvery low. He ew past the church and landed in a eld behindthe school. After the pilot’s body had been taken away and theammunition and armament was removed, we could get closer. Myfriends and I collected various items. I had a piece of plexiglassand a cartridge, but my mother threw it all away. The aircraftengine lay about six meters from the airframe. People thoughthe was trying to land in the eld, but that he was unsuccessful.’The plane, just short of open elds beyond the town, ewthrough some treetops between the school building and the chu-rch, and impacted, among other things, a memorial to soldiersof the First World War which was destroyed, after a hard landing.The pilot was buried at a local cemetery just a few dozen metersfrom where the tragedy occurred.YELLOW ‘1’The last aircraft that is within the realm of this article, and isan integral part of the boxart in question, is Yellow ‘1’, own byOgefr. Karl Kleemann. This Fw 190 had the W.Nr. 681343 assignedto it, and along with the other Sturmbocks own by II.(Sturm)/JG 4 at this time, it was manufactured by Fiesler at Kassel.The use of the tactical number ‘1’ by a regular pilot within a unitwas unorthodox. It was usually reserved for the Stael CO, but itwas not a rule.Just after the Sturmbock aircraft attacked the 100th BG forma-tion, 339th Fighter Group P-51s appeared, and immediately tookon their German opponents. The R2 modication to the Fw 190A-8made it a lethal weapon against the formations of four-enginedheavy bombers. Notably, the 30mm Mk 108 cannon with explosiveammunition, was capable of cutting apart the ‘dump trucks’ or‘fat cars’, as the German ghter pilots nicknamed the Americanbombers. The other side of the coin was that the heavy weaponryand, as the case may have been, extra armor, made the Fw 190ssomewhat less capable dogghters, in cases where these situati-ons arose with the escorting ghters. This was the main reasonfor most of the Fw 190s diving out of the picture after completingtheir rst attack, head for the cover of clouds, and make theirway back to their base. Fights typically took place from 26,000feet down to near ground level and from the Czech-German bor-der northward in line with the town of Chemnitz. It was in thisarea that II.(Sturm)/JG 4 lost at least six of its Sturmbock ghtersto the Mustangs. One of these was the plane own by Karl Klee-mann. The burning aircraft appeared low over the centre of Thum,chased by a pair of P-51s. With a sharp turn, he bypassed a churchsteeple, and crashed in a eld immediately behind the fence ofthe city’s hospital garden. Annemarie Kraus was a witness, andrecalled later: ‘I was standing in the garden with my grandmo-ther, when a low-ying aircraft overew Thum from the direc-tion of Annaberg. Then, another one ew over, lower than therst, and it was trailing smoke. It avoided the church bell tower,and headed in our direction. We lived to the left of the hospital.And then we heard a massive explosion. We ran to the location ofthe impact, as did our neighbors. They didn’t allow us kids nearthe actual crashsite. The dead pilot was still in the seat…’The nal moments of Karl Kleemann’s ight was observed fromanother angle by a student named Dieter Hertzsch: ‘…suddenly,a burning German ghter appeared only several meters abovethe houses on the west side of Neumarkt headed in our direction.He was able to coax it back up one more time, and got directlyover the brewery. That was followed by a horrible noise comingfrom the direction of the hospital. We ran to the impact point be-side the hospital in a eld, but there was no help we could oer.There was a large crater clearly visible, a piece of the airplanesome distance away, and a little beyond that, the pilot. Imme-diately before us was the wreckage of the plane, completelydeformed. The twenty-three-year-old pilot from Bad Cannstadt,Obgefr. Karl Klee-mann, could notbe helped…’The ocialreport that wasreleased by thepolice gives a so-mewhat more pre-cise accounting ofthe details. Thetypically policeexpressionism isworthy of note,same as the al-most obligatorydistortion of thefact that Klee-mann was shotdown by Americanghters. Accor-ding to the report,and to the con-trary, it was Klee-mann who was theantagonist, andhis death was anaerial mishap:The church tower in Thum around which Karl Kleemann banked immediately prior to the crash.(Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains September 11th, 1944 Archives)Karl-Martin Kleemann, born November 10th, 1923(via the Kleemann family)eduard11INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 12
The current painting forthe Eduard kit is not therst that Piotr Forka-siewicz did, dedicatedto Karl Kleemann. On theoccasion of the monu-ment unveiling in 2018,there was a painting ofthe low ypast over thetown of Thum, called‘Der letzte atemzug’(The Last Breath)The eld behind theThum hospital thatbecame the crash site.(Air Battle Over the OreMountains September11th, 1944 Archives).eduard12INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 13
The current painting forthe Eduard kit is not therst that Piotr Forka-siewicz did, dedicatedto Karl Kleemann. On theoccasion of the monu-ment unveiling in 2018,there was a painting ofthe low ypast over thetown of Thum, called‘Der letzte atemzug’(The Last Breath)The eld behind theThum hospital thatbecame the crash site.(Air Battle Over the OreMountains September11th, 1944 Archives)‘On September 11th, 1944, between 1150h and 1230h, severalenemy formations ew over Thum. At approximately 1210h, se-veral low ying enemy aircraft appeared, which were chased andshot at by German ghters. One German ghter ew from thesoutheast and went into an easterly turn over the square in Thumat a height of some 50m. He took on a direction towards the hos-pital in Thum, and at around 20m from the building he was onlyabout 10m above the ground and dropping, ying between twotrees in the hospital garden. It is likely that the aircraft clippedthe fence of the hospital, forcing the propeller into a potatoeld about six meters past the fence, ipping the aircraft ontoits back. After the crash, a plume of smoke could be seen andan explosion heard. With that, the aircraft disintegrated. Theengine lay 30m to the right of the wreck. The remaining piecesof the plane, including ammunition, lay strewn about. As a resultof the impact or the explosion, the pilot was found 110m behindthe impact site. He was still belted to his seat. The parachutelay unopened beside the pilot. His logbook and other documents,along with his pistol and eld cap, were nearby. The fuselageof the airplane was a burned out wreck. The pilot’s body wasalso burned. The ames on him were put out with a portableextinguisher, but there were no vital signs anymore. There wereobvious signs of trauma to the legs, the right shoulder, and face.The pilot had an identication stamp on his person. It carried thenumber 542 64817, and from his logbook, it was apparent that hewas Obergefreiter Karl Kleemann, born on November 10th, 1923,in Bad Cannstadt.It was also possible to determine that he belonged to 7.Sturm/Jagdgeschwader 4. This incident has been reported to Air Controlat Chemnitz. According to the information supplied by Kassenin-spektor Finenkel in Thum, it was requested that the body betaken to the mortuary in Thum. The crash site will be guardeduntil the wreckage is cleared.’Karl Kleemann was buried on September 16th, 1944 at 1530h inthe ‘hero section’ of the cemetery in Thum. Annemarie Kraus alsorecalls those days: ‘The pilot’s picture was displayed for a longtime in the window of the Gensel bookstore. He was buried withfull honors in the cemetery in Thum. Us kids were present, andwe observed the ceremony from the cemetery wall…’ The cere-mony was also attended by a delegation from the non-com ocerschool in Annaberg, and according to the town of Thum records,two members of Kleemann’s Stael were also present.THE STORY DOESN’T END THEREThe crash of the young pilot in Thum, same as countless otherpilots, was forgotten over time and the memory faded in theminds of the witnesses to the event and most young people nevereven learned about the event. Ocial communist doctrine in EastGermany dictated that when it came to a Second World War Ge-rman pilot dying on German territory, it was too uncomfortableThe report of the losses of II.(Sturm)/JG 4. (Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains September 11th, 1944 Archives)Death notication entry in the Thum archives (Via Frank Retzla).eduard13INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 14
to not have it swept under the rug or alibistically have the factsmassaged to t the needs of the government. It is possible tonot use the death of the young pilot for propaganda purposes tothe fulllment of an ideological agenda and the turning aroundof horrors that Germany and her Nazism brought to the world.On the contrary – it can be used as a reminder of the types ofhorrors that that regime and its insanity brought the world, inc-luding to her own civilian population and members of her armedforces as well. However, such themes are extremely dicult tocontemplate for many people in Germany to this day and are verymuch a taboo, and it is, unfortunately, much easier for them tosimply close their eyes to the reality of the past than it is touse the past as a learning experience from which much can, andshould, be taken.Under the conditions imposed by a society that hides from itspast, it seems unbelievable that there would be an attempt toerect a memorial to Karl Kleemann, who died in Thum on Septem-ber 11th, 1944. The idea was brought forth by two locals, fromour view, two cross-border fellow collaborators of the Museum ofthe Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains, Frank Retzla and RonnyGehra. These two have co-operated with us on other occasions.They have been the main driving force behind the idea of erectingthe monument to Karl Kleemann and all victims of the air battleover the Ore Mountains. The memorial came to fruition thanksto the understanding and support of the Thum City Council andmany local elements. The unveiling of the memorial, as a tributeto a World War Two German pilot who lost his life on German soiland a reminder of the vicious horrors and senseless loss causedby war, occurred on September 8th, 2018. It was unveiled by twochildren from both former enemies, a German girl and a Czechboy, in a symbolic gesture of the need to reconcile. The ags ofboth sides of the conict swayed over the monument – Americanand German, and along with them, thanks to German – Czechco-operation on the project and the involvement of the museumthat also pays tribute to Obgefr. Kleemann who died in combatover the region, the Czech ag. The site where the monumentis located, has been named ‘Kleemann Eck’ (Kleemann’s Corner)Frank and Ronny managed a pretty much unimaginable feat –unveil a monument toa Second World War Ge-rman pilot in Germany,and in the process con-vince the local powersthat be of the idea andbring them on board, andall this under anti-warand anti-Nazi sentimentwith no political motiveseither way. Last, but notleast, they also were ableto track down Kleeman’sfamily and co-ordinatetheir eorts with them.And with that, they wereable to add another pie-ce to the mosaic of theAir Battle Over the OreMountains of September11th, 1944, which shouldnot be so easily forgotten.The author during theunveiling ceremony.Actual view of thechurch tower fromthe accident area.eduard14INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 15
to not have it swept under the rug or alibistically have the factsmassaged to t the needs of the government. It is possible tonot use the death of the young pilot for propaganda purposes tothe fulllment of an ideological agenda and the turning aroundof horrors that Germany and her Nazism brought to the world.On the contrary – it can be used as a reminder of the types ofhorrors that that regime and its insanity brought the world, inc-luding to her own civilian population and members of her armedforces as well. However, such themes are extremely dicult tocontemplate for many people in Germany to this day and are verymuch a taboo, and it is, unfortunately, much easier for them tosimply close their eyes to the reality of the past than it is touse the past as a learning experience from which much can, andshould, be taken.Under the conditions imposed by a society that hides from itspast, it seems unbelievable that there would be an attempt toerect a memorial to Karl Kleemann, who died in Thum on Septem-ber 11th, 1944. The idea was brought forth by two locals, fromour view, two cross-border fellow collaborators of the Museum ofthe Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains, Frank Retzla and RonnyGehra. These two have co-operated with us on other occasions.They have been the main driving force behind the idea of erectingthe monument to Karl Kleemann and all victims of the air battleover the Ore Mountains. The memorial came to fruition thanksto the understanding and support of the Thum City Council andmany local elements. The unveiling of the memorial, as a tributeto a World War Two German pilot who lost his life on German soiland a reminder of the vicious horrors and senseless loss causedby war, occurred on September 8th, 2018. It was unveiled by twochildren from both former enemies, a German girl and a Czechboy, in a symbolic gesture of the need to reconcile. The ags ofboth sides of the conict swayed over the monument – Americanand German, and along with them, thanks to German – Czechco-operation on the project and the involvement of the museumthat also pays tribute to Obgefr. Kleemann who died in combatover the region, the Czech ag. The site where the monumentis located, has been named ‘Kleemann Eck’ (Kleemann’s Corner)Frank and Ronny managed a pretty much unimaginable feat –unveil a monument toa Second World War Ge-rman pilot in Germany,and in the process con-vince the local powersthat be of the idea andbring them on board, andall this under anti-warand anti-Nazi sentimentwith no political motiveseither way. Last, but notleast, they also were ableto track down Kleeman’sfamily and co-ordinatetheir eorts with them.And with that, they wereable to add another pie-ce to the mosaic of theAir Battle Over the OreMountains of September11th, 1944, which shouldnot be so easily forgotten.The author during theunveiling ceremony.Actual view of thechurch tower fromthe accident area.The main proponents of the erec-ting of the memorial, FrankRetzla and Ronny Gehra.A close-up of the memorial withthe Jagdgeschwader 4 emblem.The text reads:In this vicinity in air combat, Ober-gefraiter Karl Kleemann lost his life.7.(Sturm)/Jagdgeschwader 4. Born No-vember 10th, 1923, Died September11th, 1944.In memory, and as a warning.In the air combat over the Ore Moun-tains on September 11th, 1944, 56 Ame-rican and 21 German pilots and aircrewslost their lives.The author of this article is also the cura-tor of the Museum of the Air Battle Overthe Ore Mountains September 11th, 1944in Kovarska.Gratitude and thanks in help with thisarticle go out to Frank Retzla, RonnyGehra, Piotr Forkasiewitz, the family ofKarl Kleemann, Thum City Hall, and Hei-demarie Klein of the Thum Town Archives.Sources:Archives of the Museum of Air Battleover the Ore Mountains on September11th, 1944 in Kovarska, Czech RepublicCity Archives ThumArtworks: Piotr Forkasiewiczeduard15INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 16
HISTORYBy the late summer of 1944 wilde Sau operationswere a distant memory for the majority of pilots inJG 300. All night-fighter actvities in the Geschwaderhad been concentrated in a ‘specialised’ Moskito--hunting Staffel designated 10. (N)/ JG 300. This wasthe so-called ‘Kometen’ or Comet Staffel, establishedto combat the almost nightly incursions over Berlinby DH Mosquito bombers of the RAF's LNSF (LightNight Striking Force.). Operating out of Jüterbog,south of Berlin, under Staffelkapitän Leutnant KarlMitterdorfer, 10. Staffel flew a 'modified' Wilde Sausystem— guided by two vertical searchlight beamsand a ground controller, the unit’s high performan-ce G-14/AS fighters loitered at high altitude (10,000meters) above the 'corridors' used by the Mosqui-toes flying into Berlin. Karl Mitterdorfer was initiallya flight instructor and did not join 10. / JG 300 untilAugust 1944. He quickly made a name for himselfwith a spirited sortie on the night of 13/14 September1944, his first 'sharp' sortie.Just two pilots, Mitterdorfer and an unknownFeldwebel, were assigned to cockpit readiness thatnight. Mosquitoes were reported approaching Berlinand so the alarm was raised. However, the unknownsergeant turned back because of an engine failure,leaving Ltn. Mitterdorfer to fly this mission alone.Over the course of his sortie he was vectored ontotwo Mosquitoes, and after closing on one of the RAFtwins, pursued the enemy down to 4,000 metres be-fore realising that it was spinning down out of con-trol. After landing, Ltn. Mitterdorfer filed two claims(although contrary to what can be read elsewherethe second Mosquito loss was not credited to Mi-tterdorfer). He was immediately awarded the EKIIin the field for his exploit - shooting down the fastMosquito with a Me 109G-14/AS, an encounter wherecircumstances really had to favor the fighter in orderto record any success.Jorg Czypionka was a flight instructor with FFS A/B115 in Austria, prior to being posted to 10./JG 300;"..[We flew ] a modification of the earlier Wilde Sausystem—single seat Messerschmitt 109s without ra-dar, using ground-based navigation and communi-cation. The Mosquitoes came in very loosely and veryfast. They flew in singly and were thus widely spreadout. Our Bf 109s had only a small speed advantageover the Mosquito, and the enemy aircraft came inand flew out at top speed from the target area. Sowe had to be at a higher altitude to have a chance ofknocking them down. We waited for them mostly atabout 10,000 meters (25,000 feet), often higher. It wasa very difficult task..."Czypionka recalled being vectored onto a Mosqui-to that was captured in the glare of as many as 30searchlights. He approached the speeding bomberfrom behind, and as he was lining up his shot, thesearchlights went out. Czypionka opened up none-theless but had no way of knowing if he ever hit theaircraft. Not that Czypionka was unduly concerned- flying was most important to Czypionka, not com-bat - his mother had told him not to kill anybody. As itwas he found it challenging and risky enough simplyflying at night—alone in the cockpit with the roar of a2,000 horsepower engine, the sky at 30,000 feet, cold,huge and pitch-black.Czypionka described an added problem – engine re-liability. With the throttle at full power for too long, itWILDE SAU - STORIESNEIL PAGEWILDE SAU - STORIESBf 109G-14/AS, Lt. Karl Mitterdorfer, CO of 10./JG 300,Jüterbog, Germany, September 1944eduard16INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 17
HISTORYwas easy to ask too much of the DB 605."..On the way back home the engine blew and starteda fire. Oil came out and so there was no chance to doanything. I just kept my cool and talked to my controlofficer, who said he knew where I was, and I bailedout..."Another 10./JG 300 pilot was Kurt Welter, a contro-versial figure who went on to lead his own Me 262Kommando against the Mosquitoes of the LSNF af-ter his successes with 10./ JG 300. In one account heclaimed to have brought down a Mosquito after colli-ding with it, an event apparently corroborated by theMosquito crew who filed a combat report for almostexactly the same place and time - they reported thata Bf 109 rammed them and took off parts of theirwing so they lost control temporarily before beingable to fly home…While the wilde Sau had been relegated to no morethan a night-time sideshow on the fringes of theactivities of JG 300, by day the Geschwader faced upto the huge numbers of American aircraft that domi-nated the skies of the Reich..Robert Jung was an enthusiastic 17-year old youngglider pilot when he was accepted for fighter pilottraining in the Luftwaffe during 1942. After attendingthe Luftkriegsschule (War College) and then beingaccepted for Jagdfliegerausbildung (fighter pilottraining) he was posted in August 1944 as a youthfulFahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (officer candidate) to theleading 'all-weather' Reich Defence Geschwader JG300 and as he put it,‘.. eager to arrive at the frontbefore it was too late.’.(‘inständig hoffend nicht zuspät zu kommen’). Just twenty hours after his arri-val at JG 300, Jung’s youthful illusions about life ina front-line fighter unit had been shattered - everysortie was a fight for survival against hopeless odds.Jung later recalled that the JG 300 pilots invariably‘..prayed for clouds..’September 13, 1944 was one of those days. Therewas huge American aerial activity over Germany -well over 1,000 US bombers and hundreds of figh-ters were launched at various targets. It was 10h35when the green flare signalling the order to take offrose into the sky over the airfield at Esperstedt. TheMesserschmitt 109s of I./JG 300 took off behind theBf 109 G-14/AS “double chevron” of RitterkreuzträgerHptm. Gerd Stamp. The Gruppe could barely assem-ble twenty combat-ready aircraft, the last of Stamp’smachines. This small formation was vectored overthe Halle-Leipzig sector, briefly clashed with 357thFG Mustangs and then closed on several boxes ofB-17s between Eisenach and Coburg at around 12h15.Opening up on a B-17 Oblt. Manfred Dieterle, Kapitänof 2. Staffel, at the controls of ‘Red 7’ looked on as histarget veered out of formation trailing a thick plumeof black smoke in its wake. After Gfr. Hans Dahmen(2. Staffel) and Fhr. Otto Leisner (1. Staffel) had eachclaimed a Boeing destroyed, the German pilots onceagain clashed with Mustangs of the 357th FG, nowjoined by P-51s of the 55th FG. After his 3. StaffelSchwarm had been scattered, Jung's G-14 was cha-sed by four Mustangs. In the dogfight that followed,one of the P 51s flew in front of him - a short burstfrom his three guns resulted only in the jamming ofthe engine-mounted cannon. Managing to get intoa good position for a second time, Robert Jung un-leashed a burst from his cowl machine guns andsaw his rounds explode against a P-51’s wing, whichappeared to catch fire. The Mustang rolled slowlyinverted and went down vertically. Despite the proxi-mity of the ground, Jung did not have time to observehis victim crash. He himself had taken hits firedby one of his pursuers and had to attempt a deadstick landing, putting his “Yellow 3” down gear up ina field. The Bf 109 G 14/AS flipped over as it struckthe ground. The concussed pilot was pulled clear ofthe aircraft and transported to the nearest hospital.If a victory claim was filed, then it was not confirmed.A few weeks later I./JG 300 moved to Borkheide, anisolated village some thirty miles or so south of Ber-lin comprising a handful of houses and a large openexpanse of "heath-land" of sandy soil, grassy tuftsand felled pine fir stumps. The pilots and groundcrews 'lived' in underground log bunkers - a "fore-taste of the coffin" according to one pilot- and spentmost of their days at cockpit readiness. The fieldwas surrounded by pines on three sides, in theo-ry difficult to spot from the air - and by maraudingP-51s. On November 2 the order to go to cockpit rea-diness had already come through and a deathly si-lence had descended over the field. The pilots foundthemselves alone with their thoughts, seated at thecontrols of their Messerschmitts. Mechanics stoodon the wings, ready to wind up the heavy inertiastarters of the Daimler-Benz engines. Suddenly thesilence was broken by the sound of a DB 605 engine,throttled back, flying a landing approach. A Me 109hove into view and touched down.Moments later, slipstream screaming across theopen ports of their wing machine guns, around fif-teen P-51s of the 355th FG - the 'Steeple MordenStrafers' – fell on the 'airfield' at Borkheide, TheP-51s had ‘discovered’ the airfield having followedin the new arrival – a JG 3 machine attempting toput down after combat. Unleashing a series of firingpasses that lasted some ten minutes, the ‘Strafers’attack sent columns of thick black smoke billowingup into the air. In the chaos and confusion some ofthe Messerschmitts attempted to taxi away underthe cover of the trees, while crews scrambled forsafety. As the Mustangs departed the scene the re-sults were spectacular -virtually half the entire air-craft complement of I./ JG 300 had gone up in flames.At least nineteen Bf 109 G-14/AS fighters with fueltanks and magazines recently replenished for a sor-tie had been destroyed. At Jagddivsion HQ there wasconsternation. Generalleutnant Beppo Schmid, COof I. Jagdkorps, accompanied by Kommodore Dahl,arrived at Borkheide to inspect the damage. TheKommandeur I./ JG 300 Hptm. Stamp only narrowlyavoided disciplinary sanctions. In fact he would soondepart the Gruppe.These JG 300 losses were soon replaced as the firstBf 109 G-10s arrived at I./ JG 300 during November1944. Production of the latest DB 605-powered Bf 109sub-type the G-10 had started in October 1944 and byFebruary 1945 Erla had produced over 1500 exam-ples. The G-10 had been conceived as a light fast fi-ghter, perhaps the fastest of all the Gustavs, capableof 700 km/h at 7,000 metres. In the fuselage, behindthe 400 litre main fuel tank was a 115 litre MW in-stallation for boosted takeoff and emergency power.The cowl MGs featured a new aerodynamic cover,dispensing with the ugly Beulen and both the tall tailand the tall tail-wheel could be fitted for better stabi-lity and visibility on the ground.Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 490249, Uffz. Hans Dahmen,2./JG 300, Borkheide, Německo, prosinec 1944eduard17INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 18
But not even the arrival of the Bf 109 G-10s could haltthe massacre of JG 300’s pilots. On January 14, 1945during another huge raid over Berlin, Jagdgeschwa-der 300 and 301 lost at least 90 fighters and 68 pilots,either dead, wounded or missing in the space of thir-ty minutes! For Jagdgeschwader 300, aircraft losses,amounting to at least sixty machines, approached50% of those committed during the course of the day.The Staffelführer of 9./ JG 300 Klaus Grothues wasshot down and killed flying Bf 109 G 14/AS “Yellow 2”north of Rathenow. Credited with 17 victories he wasthe last ace of III. Gruppe. His disappearance, comingas it did one month after the loss of Lt. Otto Köhler -along with the huge losses in combat that day - hada profound impact on his comrades.In late January 1945 I./JG 300 along with the otherGruppen of JG 300 were rushed to the Eastern Front.With the Russians within striking distance of Berlinthere were more pressing concerns than intercep-ting bombers and dog-fighting P-51s as Lt. Fried-rich-Wilhelm ‘Timo’ Schenk, Staffelführer of 2./JG300 recalled ;" Liegnitz - February 1945. The Russians had crossedthe Oder near Steinau. (..) When the weather allo-wed, we flew uninterrupted sorties, up to eight a dayfor some of us. The fields and roads between thevillages were teeming with thousands of people, wo-men, children, the elderly, all attempting to flee theSoviet invasion in the bitter cold. Most of the columnsof refugees were heading for Dresden. Viewed fromthe sky these columns of civilians clogging the roadspainted a picture of terrible suffering. The Russianswere everywhere. We flew strafing attacks with va-riable results - low level firing passes against tanks,vehicles and infantrymen was no easy task.. "In March 1945 with just a handful of serviceable air-craft and pilots remaining, I./ JG 300 was disbanded.The young and inexperienced pilots in its ranks wereencouraged by ‘Hajo’ Herrmann – the creator of thewilde Sau - to ‘volunteer’ for the ramming mission tobe flown by the Sonderkommando Elbe. The moreexperienced pilots had already been posted for jettraining - Eberhard Gzik had gone to 9./EJG 2 in No-vember 1944 and flew with the former Kommandeurof I./ JG 300 Gerhard Stamp in the Me 262 Komman-do Stamp. The remaining pilots went to III. and IV./ JG300. Both these units were shuttling around variousairfields in southern Germany. Their aircraft – essen-tially Erla built G-10s and Bf 109 K-4s - all featuredthe blue-white-blue JG 300 fuselage bands introdu-ced at the turn of the year 1944-45. Brought togetherunder the banner of Jagdgruppe 300, a short blackGruppe bar was painted over the fuselage bands.Ultimately little is known about Jagdgruppe 300 - itwas 'officially' established through the amalgamati-on of II. and III./JG 300 in April 1945 and is mentionedin a Luftflottenkommando 6 ORB dated May 3, 1945.Ordered to Ainring and from there on to Prague withstated diversionary airfields in Czech territory, theirpilots flew some of the last – and perhaps most ho-peless - Luftwaffe sorties of the war.HISTORYBf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 151965 (not confirmed),I. or III./JG 300, Germany, early 1945eduard18INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 19
Area Bombing DirectiveOver the rst half of 1942, the RAF conducted three large raids,dubbed ‘Thousand-bomber raids’ against German industrial cities du-ring Operation Arabian Nights. The rst raid, coded Operation Millen-nium, was conducted by 1,047 bombers over a ninety-minute span onthe night of the May 30 and 31, 1942. They carried some 1,480 tons ofbombs, with about a third of them being incendiaries. Losses incurredby the RAF amounted to 41 bombers, which was to just under 4 % ofthe force, which is a value that Bomber Command would consider ac-ceptable given the amount of damage inicted. The latter aspect wassignicant, leaving behind the destruction of 3,330 structures, 2090heavily damaged, with 7,420 lightly damaged. Loss of life was high,with 486 casualties and 5,027 injuries.The second ‘Thousand-bomber raid’ was conducted by RAF BomberCommand two days later, on the night of the June 1 and 2, 1942,when 960 bombers attacked Essen. The results of this raid were muchless favorable due to inclement weather conditions. Losses were putat 31 aircraft (3.24 %). The third raid under Operation Arabian Nightssaw Bremen being targeted on the night of the June 25 and 26 byanother 960-bomber force, with 5 % of them being lost in the process,corresponding to 48 aircraft. This raid saw the use of heavy, two-tonbombs, one of which literally dismantled one of the assembly halls ofFocke-Wulf. Although only some 700 of the bombers managed to getover the primary target, this raid was deemed relatively successful.Within the scope of this oensive campaign, which fell under Bri-tish Air Ministry Directive No. 5 from February 14, 1942, RAF BomberCommand conducted several smaller raids. They were own prior toand after the described thousand plane raids and included a well--known raid against Pilsen on the night of the April 23 and 24, 1942.Raids with such a high concentration of force as were seen duringOperation Arabian Nights, could not be sustained by the RAF, becauseTitle photo: Frankfurt am Main shortly after the war.Photo: Museum of Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains ArchivesPhoto on right: Oblique aerial view of ruined residential andcommercial buildings south of the Stadtpark (seen at upper right)in the Eilbek district of Hamburg, Germany. These were amongthe 16,000 multi-storeyed apartment buildings destroyed by therestorm which developed during the raid by Bomber Commandon the night of 27/28 July 1943 (Operation GOMORRAH). The roadrunning diagonally from upper left to lower right is Eilbeker Weg.Photo: IWMthey required the services of virtually every available aircraft, in-cluding those of Coastal Command and training units. Notably, thetraining units that were pressed into service were ineective and suf-fered high losses. For example, No. 91 (OTU) Group lost 23 of its 198aircraft in the raid on Bremen, close to 12 %. In any case, BomberCommand diligently embarked on a mission to form new squadronsequipped with the most modern assets, namely the Stirling, Halifaxand especially the Lancaster, and to develop new tactical protocols.In the spring of 1943, Bomber Command had around 65 squadronsequipped with heavy bombers, ready to ply their trade against Ge-rmany in a continuation of the night bombing campaign against her.Operation GomorrahNight ghter units of the Luftwae under these new conditions wereinadequate in terms of their numbers and also their eectiveness.This became abundantly clear over the course of the week that sawraids against Hamburg under Operation Gomorrah, initiated on thenight of July 24, 1943, with 791 bombes. This raid was conductedchiey by Lancaster bombers that dropped 2,400 tons of bombs forthe loss of only twelve aircraft. Smaller USAAF raids followed oneduard19INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 20
the July 25 and 26, and just before midnight on July 27, there wasa raid by 729 Lancaster and Halifax bombers of the RAF. This raidalso dropped some 2,400 tons of bombs on the city, a large number ofwhich were M69 incendiary bombs that turned the centre of the cityinto a ery hell. Further raids with fewer losses were conducted onthe night of the July 29 and 30 and the August 2 and 3. The loss of lifewas monumental, and reportedly some 42,500 people lost their lives,the majority of them civilians. The event produced the rst knownrestorm, with ames reaching into the air several kilometers. Theeectiveness of countering this raid was woefully inadequate part-ly because of, among other factors, the use of Window metal stripswhich severely limited the functionality of both ground and airborneradar systems. The result of the eect of the raid and the resultingineectiveness in countering it, as well as the restorm, was that thedoor was opened to implementing new concepts of night ghting. Thisinvolved the use of traditional day ghters in free-roaming intercepts.The driving force behind this concept was the very successful andhighly decorated bomber pilot, Col. Hans-Joachim Herrmann, nickna-med Hajo Herrmann. He had proposed trying out this concept as earlyas the end of 1942. He also personally tested this concept in practicalterms in the spring of 1943 and received the go-ahead to form anevaluation unit.Jagdgruppe HerrmannStab/Versuchskommando Herrmann was ocially activated on June26, 1943 at Deelen, the Netherlands. The unit was composed of ex-perienced pilots, largely of former transport and bomber pilots withexpertise in blind ying techniques. The aircraft were borrowed fromJG 1 and JG 11. Herrmann’s unit was based at Bonn-Hangelar and re-ceived its baptism of re during a raid on Cologne on the night of theJuly 3 and 4, 1943. Herrmann’s pilots brought down ten British aircraftfor the loss of one of their own. Herrmann himself was credited withone kill. After the use of Window over Hamburg, they began to beconsidered the only eective combat element at the disposal of theLuftwae. The tactic, that involved interception without the use ofground control or airborne radar, where the ghters roamed at willand wreaked havoc among enemy bombers in any given operationalarea, much like wild boars, was dubbed ‘Wilde Sau’ (Wild Boar).The evaluation unit’s designation was changed to Jagdgruppe Herr-mann in July 1943, and it was integrated into II./JG 1. I./JG 300 wasactivated in August 1943. In the rst phase of its existence, the unitshared aircraft with day ghter units II./JG 11 and III./JG 11. Anothertwo units, JG 301 and JG 302, were established later, during the fallof 1943, but the shortage of new aircraft dictated that only one Grup-pe of each of these Jagdgeschwader units had their own equipment.The remaining groups (Gruppen), dubbed ‘Aufsitzer’, or, less atterin-gly, ‘Boar’s Ass’, were forced to continue to rely on borrowed aircraftfrom day ghter units. All three Wilde Sau units, JG 300, 301 and 302,were, under Hermann’s leadership, integrated into the Jagddivision30 and were subordinate to Luftwaebefehlshaber Mitte.Wilde Sau conceptBf 109G-5 and G-6 ghters that were tasked with Wilde Sau missionscarried minimal modications for night ying. Pilots had to be spe-cialized in blind ying and in ring at targets at night. To preventbeing blinded by exhaust ames at night, the aircraft had visor plates,called Blendschutzleiste, mounted over the exhaust stubs on both si-des of the engine cowl. In the vicinity of the bomber targets, typi-cally a burning agglomeration, silhouettes of the attacking bomberswere discernible, but the high level of contrast above these areas,the exploding shells of the anti-aircraft guns, searchlight beams, theglare of the res below reecting o clouds, smoke, and other eects,easily led to pilot disorientation. Important ight instruments weredoubled and placed on a blind ying panel, ensuring important ightdata in case of damage to the aircraft. Navigation and landing lightswere usually left o, as were landing strip lights. Take-os and lan-dings were usually carried out in total darkness, and only in cases ofemergency , there would be a light placed at the end of the runway,pointing straight up, that would indicate to a pilot the axis of therunway. The aircraft carried standard radio equipment, augmentedby a FuG 16ZY navigation system, using directional beams to aid innavigating, and the FuG 25a IFF system. For acoustic identication offriendly aircraft, rst and foremost among localized counter-air de-fensive units, exhaust mounted sirens were installed, called Eberspä-cher. This emitted a distinctive and easily identiable tone. As an aidto visual identication, an infrared light was installed on the bottomsurface of the wing, and in cases of emergency, a are could be redout from the cockpit.Fuel carried by the Bf 109G-6, under normal conditions, allowed foraround eighty minutes of ight time, fteen of which were generallyHans-Joachim „Hajo“ Herrmann(1913 – 2010)Hans-Joachim „Hajo“ Herrmann (1913 - 2010) originally worked asa policeman, then joined the army and in August 1935 was recruitedto the Luftwae with the rank of Leutnant. He rst served withFliegergruppe Nordhausen and in 1936 was assigned as a bomberpilot to 9./KG 253. In August of that year he was deployed in theSpanish Civil War. He ew with the Legion Condor in that theatreuntil April 1937 and was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold withSwords. Later in the ranks of his Geschwader, renamed KG 4, hetook part as commander of the 7th Stael in the attack against Po-land, Norway and France. At the end of May 1940 he was shot downover Dunkirk. In September 1940 he received the Honor Goblet „ForSpecial Achievement in the Air War“ and in October he was awardedthe Knight‘s Cross. In 1941 he also served briey with KG 54 andIX. Fliegerkorps, but in September he became commander of III./KG 30 and joined the ght against Allied convoys on the routes tothe Soviet Union. In the summer of 1942 he was transferred to theStab of General der Kampieger and was in charge of technical andtactical changes in the deployment of bomber units. From May 1943,he experimented with the „Wilde Sau“ tactic and achieved his rstnight victory on the night of July 3-4. In the same month he foundedJG 300, and in August he was awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster andsimultaneously appointed to command the Jagddivision 30 and in-spector of night ghters. In January 1944 he was awarded with theSwords to the Knight‘s Cross and two months later became comman-der of the Jagddivision 1. From November 1944 he served with theStab of the II Fliegerkorps and in January 1945 became commanderof the 9. Fliegerdivision. He was the initiator of the formation ofa ghter unit which was to crash its machines into Allied bombers(Rammkommando Elbe), and at the end of the war he organized anair operation for sabotage in the rear of the enemy (UnternehmenBienenstock), whose activities ended at the base Salzburg-Ainring.Here he got into a dispute with the commander of JV 44 Heinz Bärand threatened him with personal liquidation. After the war he wasa Soviet prisoner of war until 1955. He was one of the inuentialand fanatical military commanders who lost track of the realities ofthe war situation and whose decisions led to unnecessary casualties.After returning to West Germany, he became a lawyer and was anactive neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier.eduard20INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 21
the July 25 and 26, and just before midnight on July 27, there wasa raid by 729 Lancaster and Halifax bombers of the RAF. This raidalso dropped some 2,400 tons of bombs on the city, a large number ofwhich were M69 incendiary bombs that turned the centre of the cityinto a ery hell. Further raids with fewer losses were conducted onthe night of the July 29 and 30 and the August 2 and 3. The loss of lifewas monumental, and reportedly some 42,500 people lost their lives,the majority of them civilians. The event produced the rst knownrestorm, with ames reaching into the air several kilometers. Theeectiveness of countering this raid was woefully inadequate part-ly because of, among other factors, the use of Window metal stripswhich severely limited the functionality of both ground and airborneradar systems. The result of the eect of the raid and the resultingineectiveness in countering it, as well as the restorm, was that thedoor was opened to implementing new concepts of night ghting. Thisinvolved the use of traditional day ghters in free-roaming intercepts.The driving force behind this concept was the very successful andhighly decorated bomber pilot, Col. Hans-Joachim Herrmann, nickna-med Hajo Herrmann. He had proposed trying out this concept as earlyas the end of 1942. He also personally tested this concept in practicalterms in the spring of 1943 and received the go-ahead to form anevaluation unit.Jagdgruppe HerrmannStab/Versuchskommando Herrmann was ocially activated on June26, 1943 at Deelen, the Netherlands. The unit was composed of ex-perienced pilots, largely of former transport and bomber pilots withexpertise in blind ying techniques. The aircraft were borrowed fromJG 1 and JG 11. Herrmann’s unit was based at Bonn-Hangelar and re-ceived its baptism of re during a raid on Cologne on the night of theJuly 3 and 4, 1943. Herrmann’s pilots brought down ten British aircraftfor the loss of one of their own. Herrmann himself was credited withone kill. After the use of Window over Hamburg, they began to beconsidered the only eective combat element at the disposal of theLuftwae. The tactic, that involved interception without the use ofground control or airborne radar, where the ghters roamed at willand wreaked havoc among enemy bombers in any given operationalarea, much like wild boars, was dubbed ‘Wilde Sau’ (Wild Boar).The evaluation unit’s designation was changed to Jagdgruppe Herr-mann in July 1943, and it was integrated into II./JG 1. I./JG 300 wasactivated in August 1943. In the rst phase of its existence, the unitshared aircraft with day ghter units II./JG 11 and III./JG 11. Anothertwo units, JG 301 and JG 302, were established later, during the fallof 1943, but the shortage of new aircraft dictated that only one Grup-pe of each of these Jagdgeschwader units had their own equipment.The remaining groups (Gruppen), dubbed ‘Aufsitzer’, or, less atterin-gly, ‘Boar’s Ass’, were forced to continue to rely on borrowed aircraftfrom day ghter units. All three Wilde Sau units, JG 300, 301 and 302,were, under Hermann’s leadership, integrated into the Jagddivision30 and were subordinate to Luftwaebefehlshaber Mitte.Wilde Sau conceptBf 109G-5 and G-6 ghters that were tasked with Wilde Sau missionscarried minimal modications for night ying. Pilots had to be spe-cialized in blind ying and in ring at targets at night. To preventbeing blinded by exhaust ames at night, the aircraft had visor plates,called Blendschutzleiste, mounted over the exhaust stubs on both si-des of the engine cowl. In the vicinity of the bomber targets, typi-cally a burning agglomeration, silhouettes of the attacking bomberswere discernible, but the high level of contrast above these areas,the exploding shells of the anti-aircraft guns, searchlight beams, theglare of the res below reecting o clouds, smoke, and other eects,easily led to pilot disorientation. Important ight instruments weredoubled and placed on a blind ying panel, ensuring important ightdata in case of damage to the aircraft. Navigation and landing lightswere usually left o, as were landing strip lights. Take-os and lan-dings were usually carried out in total darkness, and only in cases ofemergency , there would be a light placed at the end of the runway,pointing straight up, that would indicate to a pilot the axis of therunway. The aircraft carried standard radio equipment, augmentedby a FuG 16ZY navigation system, using directional beams to aid innavigating, and the FuG 25a IFF system. For acoustic identication offriendly aircraft, rst and foremost among localized counter-air de-fensive units, exhaust mounted sirens were installed, called Eberspä-cher. This emitted a distinctive and easily identiable tone. As an aidto visual identication, an infrared light was installed on the bottomsurface of the wing, and in cases of emergency, a are could be redout from the cockpit.Fuel carried by the Bf 109G-6, under normal conditions, allowed foraround eighty minutes of ight time, fteen of which were generallyHans-Joachim „Hajo“ Herrmann(1913 – 2010)Hans-Joachim „Hajo“ Herrmann (1913 - 2010) originally worked asa policeman, then joined the army and in August 1935 was recruitedto the Luftwae with the rank of Leutnant. He rst served withFliegergruppe Nordhausen and in 1936 was assigned as a bomberpilot to 9./KG 253. In August of that year he was deployed in theSpanish Civil War. He ew with the Legion Condor in that theatreuntil April 1937 and was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold withSwords. Later in the ranks of his Geschwader, renamed KG 4, hetook part as commander of the 7th Stael in the attack against Po-land, Norway and France. At the end of May 1940 he was shot downover Dunkirk. In September 1940 he received the Honor Goblet „ForSpecial Achievement in the Air War“ and in October he was awardedthe Knight‘s Cross. In 1941 he also served briey with KG 54 andIX. Fliegerkorps, but in September he became commander of III./KG 30 and joined the ght against Allied convoys on the routes tothe Soviet Union. In the summer of 1942 he was transferred to theStab of General der Kampieger and was in charge of technical andtactical changes in the deployment of bomber units. From May 1943,he experimented with the „Wilde Sau“ tactic and achieved his rstnight victory on the night of July 3-4. In the same month he foundedJG 300, and in August he was awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster andsimultaneously appointed to command the Jagddivision 30 and in-spector of night ghters. In January 1944 he was awarded with theSwords to the Knight‘s Cross and two months later became comman-der of the Jagddivision 1. From November 1944 he served with theStab of the II Fliegerkorps and in January 1945 became commanderof the 9. Fliegerdivision. He was the initiator of the formation ofa ghter unit which was to crash its machines into Allied bombers(Rammkommando Elbe), and at the end of the war he organized anair operation for sabotage in the rear of the enemy (UnternehmenBienenstock), whose activities ended at the base Salzburg-Ainring.Here he got into a dispute with the commander of JV 44 Heinz Bärand threatened him with personal liquidation. After the war he wasa Soviet prisoner of war until 1955. He was one of the inuentialand fanatical military commanders who lost track of the realities ofthe war situation and whose decisions led to unnecessary casualties.After returning to West Germany, he became a lawyer and was anactive neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier.used up in reaching operational alti-tudes. A 300 litre drop tank increa-sed this by an hour at cruising speed.Weapons generally included twoMG 131 13mm machine guns with300 rounds per gun, one MG 151/2020mm cannon ring through the pro-peller hub, and two such weaponsmounted inside of gondolas belowthe wings, each with 200 rounds.Often, the head armor was removedto save weight, as It was conside-red largely useless for night ghting.According to pilot memoirs, defensi-ve re from the bombers was seldomeective, and the gunners rarelywere able to train their weapons onthe attacking ghters under dicultlighting conditions as described ear-lier. In cases of hits to the aircraftor mechanical issues that renderedthe aircraft unyable, the pilots pre-ferred to bail out rather than belly--land, because emergency landingsat night were extremely dicult.Mighty Eight is comingAs it is well known the situation inthe battleeld changes every mi-nute. The air war over Europe wasfundamentally impacted by the arri-val of the Americans. 8th Air ForceUSAAF was established in Savannah,Georgia, in January 1942 by the or-der dated January 8, 1942 to crea-te US Air Forces in the British Isles. The rst USAAF contingent, to-gether with 15th Bombardment Group personnel (without aircraft)arrived in May followed by General Spaatz‘s sta who settled in BushyPark at London’s outskirts. The subordinate commands, VIII. BomberCommand and VIII. Fighter Command, were also established in Janua-ry 1942 followed by VIII. Air Support Command established on April 24.The rst 8th AF ocial operation was conducted on July 4, 1942, butit was a propaganda show performed by RAF aircraft crewed by RAFpersonnel on the day of the American holiday. The rst real missionwas own on August 17, 1942 by 98thBG B-17Es escorted by RAF Spitresto bomb the marshalling yards in So-tteville-les-Rouen, France.The rst ghter group of the VIII. Fi-ghter Command was 4th FG foundedon September 29, 1942 using threeRAF Eagle Squadrons where Ameri-can citizens served as a base. 4th FGoperated the British Spitres Mk.Vuntil it was re-equipped with P-47Thunderbolt. For several months the4th FG was the only unit available to8th AF command. Another FG assig-ned to 8th AF, 78th FG, equippedwith P-38 Lightning, arrived in Bri-tain as late as November 1943 butin February 1943 was transferred toNorth Africa under 12th AF command. The unit returned to Britain inthe end of 1943 and was re-equipped with Thunderbolts. Only in Maythe 56th FG ew its rst mission as well, and with Thunderbolts too.Since the summer the number of 8th AF ghter groups was rapidlygrowing. In the end of 1943 there were eleven out of the ultimatefteen ghter groups, the inventory VIII. Fighter Command managedin the beginning of 1944. On 14 May, 1943 the 8th AF conducted itsrst mission when 200 bombers were dispatched to raid Kiel.Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6/U2 (W.Nr.412951) „White 16“ of 3./JG 301, oneof two aircraft which landed in error atManston on 21 July 1944. Both ghterswere on a night „Wilde Sau“ operationagainst RAF bombers. The pilot of thisaircraft was Leutnant Horst Prenzel,Staelkapitän of 3./JG 301. Photo: IWMAn Avro Lancaster silhouettedagainst ares, smoke and explo-sions during the attack on Ham-burg, Germany on the night of30/31 January 1943. This raid wasthe rst occasion on which H2Scentimetric radar was used by thePathnder aircraft to navigate theforce to the target.Photo: IWMeduard21INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 22
Directive PointblankThis directive, issued by the Combined Chiefs of Sta o n J une 14,1943, determined the German aviation industry as a prime target forthe Allied Combined Bomber Oensive. The German factories werewithin the American bombers‘ range, however the USAAF did not havethe escort ghters with s ucient range available yet. The raids tosuch a distant targets were own partially over the German territoryand over the target without the ghters‘ cover. From May to July the-se bombing missions were concentrated on the Focke-Wulf factoriesin Kassel, Bremen and Oschersleben and even though the attackingunits suered heavy losses the missions were deemed successful.The series of raids on Hamburg, as mentioned earlier, is an example ofthe cooperation between the RAF Bomber Command and 8th AF whenthe RAF night missions were supplemented by the consequent USAAFraids during the day. The example of the mission with catastrophic lo-sses suered by the attacking airplanes is the raid on Regensburg andSchweinfurt conducted on August 17, 1943 and own by 376 B-17Fsfrom 16 bombing groups on the anniversary of the 8th AF rst inde-pendent mission. Even though the raid caused serious damages to theenemy the own losses were 60 airplanes shot down and another 55 to95 damaged, mostly beyond repair. The raids on Wiener Neustadt andLudwigshafen as well as the second raid on Schweinfurt on October 14,1943 inicted heavy losses to the Americans.The Battle for BerlinDuring the night of 18 to 19 November, 1943 the Bomber Commandcommenced the Battle for Berlin by dispatching 440 Lancasters and4 Mosquitos on the raid. The mission was repeated during the nightof 22 to 23 November, however this time 764 bombers were attackingand the raid was repeated the following night by 383 bombers. Till theend of the year RAF performed 8 large scale raids on Berlin, from NewYear 1944 till the end of March 1944 another 8 raids. This sorties weresupplemented by the Mosquito raids on the smaller scale and large ra-ids on the other large German cities such as Leipzig, Essen, Nürnberg,Frankfurt am Oder, Magdeburg, Braunschweig, Stuttgart. Despite theheavy losses suered by the attackers the destruction of Berlin wasdevastating. The waves of the raids were gradually destroying one ne-ighborhood after another until there was nothing left standing. Berlinas a symbol of Germany and Nazi power was a target of 363 bombingraids in total. Nevertheless, 16 large scale raids own by RAF duringve months, from November 1943 to March 1944 brought about a per-fect storm. The gradual destruction of the city as well as its changeof spirit of its population during the endless waves of bombing wasmasterfully described by Jonathan Littell in his novel The Kindly Ones.Reorganization and regrouping of forces8th AF ew its rst day raid on Berlin on March 4, 1944. It was howe-ver preceded by the fundamental restructuring of the USAAF strategicforces command in Europe. In January 1944 the USSTAF-US Strate-gic Air Forces in Europe command, and all the air forces operatingin Europe were put under its command including 8th and 9th AF inGreat Britain and 12th and 15th AF in Italy. Lt.Gen.Carl Spaatz wasappointed to the command, the operational ocer became Maj.Gen.Fred Anderson and Lt.Gen. James Doolittle was given the commandof the 8th AF. This reorganization has caused signicant changes inthe USAAF operations in Europe, change in tactics and the equipmentas well, P-51B Mustang was arriving in the theater. The re-equipmentof the 8th AF ghter groups commenced in February 1944 and till thesummer, 14 out of 15 8th AF ghter groups transitioned to the type.The same development was under way in the 15th AF operating outof Italy. USAAF bombers received the ghter escorts along their routeto Germany and back regardless if they took o from Britain or Italy.The primary tactical aim was the destruction of Luftwae. This missi-on was spelled out by the USAAF Chief of Sta, General Arnold, whoin his New Year’s speech to the personnel said :“Destroy the enemyair force wherever you nd them, in the air, on the ground and in thefactories.“The Luftwae was reorganized as well. On February 5, 1944 theOberkommando der Luftwae, OKL was established. It’s interestingto learn that until then Luftwae, contrary to the Navy and Wehrma-cht, did not possess the supreme command and was directed by theReich‘s Aviation Ministry-RLM. The direction of the units and combatmissions, inspection of the equipment, lodging, communication andanti-aircraft artillery were still under OKL command. RLM continuedto direct the training, administration, protection of the civilians andtechnical development. At the same time the LuftwaenbefehlshaberMitte was replaced by Luftotte Reich which was still responsible forthe Reich’s air defense-Reichsluftverteidigung.Bf 109G-6/R6 „Red 29“, 2./JG 302 operating from Helsinki-Malmi in early 1944 under tactical designation Einsatzkomman-do Helsinki. Note black lower surfaces on the starboard wing and the ame-damping exhaust covers.Photo: SA-Kuvaeduard22INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 23
Directive PointblankThis directive, issued by the Combined Chiefs of Sta o n J une 14,1943, determined the German aviation industry as a prime target forthe Allied Combined Bomber Oensive. The German factories werewithin the American bombers‘ range, however the USAAF did not havethe escort ghters with s ucient range available yet. The raids tosuch a distant targets were own partially over the German territoryand over the target without the ghters‘ cover. From May to July the-se bombing missions were concentrated on the Focke-Wulf factoriesin Kassel, Bremen and Oschersleben and even though the attackingunits suered heavy losses the missions were deemed successful.The series of raids on Hamburg, as mentioned earlier, is an example ofthe cooperation between the RAF Bomber Command and 8th AF whenthe RAF night missions were supplemented by the consequent USAAFraids during the day. The example of the mission with catastrophic lo-sses suered by the attacking airplanes is the raid on Regensburg andSchweinfurt conducted on August 17, 1943 and own by 376 B-17Fsfrom 16 bombing groups on the anniversary of the 8th AF rst inde-pendent mission. Even though the raid caused serious damages to theenemy the own losses were 60 airplanes shot down and another 55 to95 damaged, mostly beyond repair. The raids on Wiener Neustadt andLudwigshafen as well as the second raid on Schweinfurt on October 14,1943 inicted heavy losses to the Americans.The Battle for BerlinDuring the night of 18 to 19 November, 1943 the Bomber Commandcommenced the Battle for Berlin by dispatching 440 Lancasters and4 Mosquitos on the raid. The mission was repeated during the nightof 22 to 23 November, however this time 764 bombers were attackingand the raid was repeated the following night by 383 bombers. Till theend of the year RAF performed 8 large scale raids on Berlin, from NewYear 1944 till the end of March 1944 another 8 raids. This sorties weresupplemented by the Mosquito raids on the smaller scale and large ra-ids on the other large German cities such as Leipzig, Essen, Nürnberg,Frankfurt am Oder, Magdeburg, Braunschweig, Stuttgart. Despite theheavy losses suered by the attackers the destruction of Berlin wasdevastating. The waves of the raids were gradually destroying one ne-ighborhood after another until there was nothing left standing. Berlinas a symbol of Germany and Nazi power was a target of 363 bombingraids in total. Nevertheless, 16 large scale raids own by RAF duringve months, from November 1943 to March 1944 brought about a per-fect storm. The gradual destruction of the city as well as its changeof spirit of its population during the endless waves of bombing wasmasterfully described by Jonathan Littell in his novel The Kindly Ones.Reorganization and regrouping of forces8th AF ew its rst day raid on Berlin on March 4, 1944. It was howe-ver preceded by the fundamental restructuring of the USAAF strategicforces command in Europe. In January 1944 the USSTAF-US Strate-gic Air Forces in Europe command, and all the air forces operatingin Europe were put under its command including 8th and 9th AF inGreat Britain and 12th and 15th AF in Italy. Lt.Gen.Carl Spaatz wasappointed to the command, the operational ocer became Maj.Gen.Fred Anderson and Lt.Gen. James Doolittle was given the commandof the 8th AF. This reorganization has caused signicant changes inthe USAAF operations in Europe, change in tactics and the equipmentas well, P-51B Mustang was arriving in the theater. The re-equipmentof the 8th AF ghter groups commenced in February 1944 and till thesummer, 14 out of 15 8th AF ghter groups transitioned to the type.The same development was under way in the 15th AF operating outof Italy. USAAF bombers received the ghter escorts along their routeto Germany and back regardless if they took o from Britain or Italy.The primary tactical aim was the destruction of Luftwae. This missi-on was spelled out by the USAAF Chief of Sta, General Arnold, whoin his New Year’s speech to the personnel said :“Destroy the enemyair force wherever you nd them, in the air, on the ground and in thefactories.“The Luftwae was reorganized as well. On February 5, 1944 theOberkommando der Luftwae, OKL was established. It’s interestingto learn that until then Luftwae, contrary to the Navy and Wehrma-cht, did not possess the supreme command and was directed by theReich‘s Aviation Ministry-RLM. The direction of the units and combatmissions, inspection of the equipment, lodging, communication andanti-aircraft artillery were still under OKL command. RLM continuedto direct the training, administration, protection of the civilians andtechnical development. At the same time the LuftwaenbefehlshaberMitte was replaced by Luftotte Reich which was still responsible forthe Reich’s air defense-Reichsluftverteidigung.Bf 109G-6/R6 „Red 29“, 2./JG 302 operating from Helsinki-Malmi in early 1944 under tactical designation Einsatzkomman-do Helsinki. Note black lower surfaces on the starboard wing and the ame-damping exhaust covers.Photo: SA-KuvaOil CampaignWith the Battle for Berlin at the end, the combined bombing oen-sive ceased as well. Until May 1944 the Allied Air Forces dened thepriority tasks: the attacks on the cities, the attacks on the V-1 laun-ching pads and the attacks on the German railway system. On May 8the USAAF launched the Oil Campaign with the German fuel industryas a main target. The USAAF day bombers have become the primaryopponents of the German ghters. In the end of 1943, and in the rsthalf of 1944, the power balance in the battleeld changed. With theUSAAF arrival in ETO and its growing combat capability and above allintroduction of P-51B to the escort ghter groups, the German ghterunits were under the extreme pressure. It rapidly turned out thatthey were falling behind in terms of organization, technology as wellas personnel. It was necessary to quickly replenish the ghter unitsranks. Therefore, as early as spring 1944, the majority of Wilde Sauunits were gradually integrated into the Reichsverteidigung (RLV) sys-tem and deployed in the day ghting against the American bombingforce.The tacticsAfter the successful deployment of Sturmstael 1, in summer theSturmgruppen IV.(Sturm)/JG 3, IV.(Sturm)JG 4 and II.(Sturm)/JG 300were established and equipped with heavy, armored Fw 190A-8/R2.The rst combat debut of the new Sturmgruppen took place on July7, 1944 during the raid on Leipzig. The new tactics of attacking theAmerican formations further relied on the ghter formations calledGefechtsverbände concentrated around heavy Sturmgruppen attac-king the bombers with their Fw 190A-8 and Fw 190A-8/R2 and theunits equipped with the lighter Bf 109G that would provide the topcover against the American escort ghter arriving at the higher altitu-de. Since summer 1944 the Gruppe JG 300 and JG 301 were deployedas a ghter cover for the heavy ghters Fw 190A-8/R2 in this manner,since the fall equipped with Bf 109G-14/AS and later (since December1944) with Bf-109G-10. In the dogght with American ghter escorts,which were in summer and fall practically exclusively equipped withpowerful P-51D Mustang surpassing Bf 109G-14/AS in the most ightparameters, the Wilde Sau units suered heavy losses which weredicult to replace.Not only the aircraft parameters mattered. The other supportingequipment played a role too. The anti-G pants or a new gyroscopicgunsight K-14 gave USAAF ghter pilots further advantage. Apparentlythe most important factor of the Allied air superiority became thethorough, highly ecient new pilots‘ training. On the other side thelevel of training of the young German pilots was deteriorating. Theaverage ight time logged by new Luftwae pilots was 100-120 hoursout of which only around 10 hours on the combat airplanes. That wasless than half of the ight time of their opponents whose trainingwas heavily focused on the combat ying. During the summer, as theAllied attacks on the oil reneries continued, the fuel allocation tothe training units was cut down. In June 1944 the monthly fuel alloca-tion to Luftwae pilot schools was 50 000 tons. In October 1944 itwas only 7000 tons. The negative impact on pilots‘ training is obvious.In the fall the fuel was in short supply everywhere.The combat tactics played the crucial role. The oensive deploymentof the American ghters was conducted by ying ahead of its ownformation and clearing the area of the enemy ghters, blocking theGerman airports by continuously circling ghters and strang the air-ports and supply lines. This tactics proved to be fatal for Luftwae.Photo taken from a Boeing B-17 of 95th BG during a raid on Mainz on September 8, 1944.Photo: Museum of Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains Archiveseduard23INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 24
Restructuring of RLV ghter unitsIn July 1944 it became clear that deployment of the twin-engine hea-vy ghters in day attacks against the bomber formations protected byghter escorts is ineective and the units equipped with twin-engineghters started to restructure and re-equip with single-engine gh-ters.For example ZG 26 became JG 6. Since August 1, the number ofaircraft forming a Stael was increased to 16 and number of Staelsin the Gruppe increased from three to four. During the summer 1944RLV managed to establish 8 new Gruppen, mostly based on twin-en-gine ghter units personnel but also bomber and transport aircraftcrews and of course, pilot schools graduates. Restructuring also en-tailed disbanding of some units. In June the majority of JG 302 wasdisbanded including Stab/JG 302. The only surviving JG 302 unit,I./JG 302, which operated independently, from February to May 1944out of Helsinki as Einsatzkommando Helsinki for example, was inOctober 1944 integrated into JG 301 as III./JG 301. It was equippedwith Fw 190A-8 and operated as a heavy Gruppe but lacking the armo-red Fw 190A-8/R2. Its aircraft were standard A-8 carrying four 20 mmcannons and two 12.7 mm machine guns lacking the armor. In the fall,the armored Fw 190A-8/R2 were being phased out of the heavy Grup-pen and replaced by standard Fw 190A-8s or had the weight reducedby removing the outer applique armor and sometimes 30 mm cannosas well. In its initial conguration these cannons were quite eectiveweapons against the bombers. A single 30 mm round was sucientto destroy B-24 (three were needed to destroy a sturdier B-17) butin case of a dogght with Mustangs, Focke Wulfs were cumbersome,clumsy and almost defenseless. As we can see further, such combatsdid occur and Fw 190A-8/R2 losses were extremely high.Oil Campaign continuesAfter a short break, during the Normandy landing in June, USAAF con-tinued attacking the reneries and factories producing the syntheticfuel, railroad infrastructure and other targets. In July also 15th AFoperating out of Italy joined the attacks on Germany. Between 19 and31 July 15th AF conducted seven large operations, 8th AF conductedve, at 2% average loss of the deployed aircraft. That was quite somedierence compared to 1943! Wilde Sau units also joined the attacksagainst the 15th AF formations, for example on July 25, during theraid on Linz, these units were attacking the Americans together withII./JG 27, I./JG 300, II./JG 300 and I./JG 302. On August 3 during the15th AF raid on Friedrichshafen, the I./JG 300 shot down 8 Liberatorsat the loss of 11 own aircraft.The already mentioned II.(Sturm)/JG 300 was ocially established onAugust 9. Quite exemplary deployment of the Gefechtverband com-posed of Stab/JG 300, I./JG 300, II. (Sturm)/JG 300 and IV. (Sturm)/JG 3 took place on August 15 during the raid on Wiesbaden. I./JG 300ying the top cover, kept Mustangs far from the Focke-Wulfs resultingin 8 B-17s shot down at the loss of 10 own ghters and 5 pilots killed.The second Gefechtverband composed of II./JG 5 and III./JG 53 attac-ked without the top cover and reported the same results, 8 B-24s shotdown at the loss of 10 own aircraft. Walter Dahl rather optimisticallyreported 83 B-17s and 18 ghters shot down. The actually losses o-cially recorded by USAAF were 13 B-17s, 5 B-24s and 5 Mustangs. OnAugust 19 the 15th AF ew the last attack against Ploiesti, Romaniaand further concentrated on the raids on Germany. From 20 to 29August it performed the raid on Germany every single day. For therst ten days of September there was a lull in ghting. There wasan inclement weather in the West and 15th AF was conducting therepatriation ights in Romania and the operation in support of theattacking Russians and new allies, the Romanians. On August 23 Roma-nians surrendered and after a rather injudicious German bombing ofthe Royal Palace, on August 24 Romania declared the war on Germany.On September 11 the lull on the Western front was over when the 8thAF deployed 1131 bombers and 715 ghters in the operation againstGermany. RLV managed to muster the opposition of 355 ghters from12 ghter groups (Gruppen) concentrated into three Gefechtverbändeled by three Sturmgruppen. The strongest Gefechtsverband was ledby Walter Dahl. His pilots attacked 92nd BG above Merseburg andshot down eight B-17s (further four B-17s crashed behind the Alliedlines) at the loss of 7 aircraft. However during the repeated attack,II.(Sturm)/JG300 was scattered by Mustangs and lost 13 Fw 190A-8.The second Gefechtsverband, composed of II.(Sturm)/JG4, III./JG4and Stab/JG1, led by Major Specht (JG11), attacked 100th BG boxwithout the ghter cover above Kovářská (Schmiedeberg) in KrušnéHory (Ore Mountains or Erzgebirge) and shot down 11 B-17s, laterthree more crashed behind the Allied lines.The September 11 operations demonstrate the typical combat condi-tions above Germany in fall and a rather disproportionate losses sue-Walther Dahl(1916 – 1985)Walther Dahl joined the army in 1935 and was accepted into theLuftwae in the autumn of 1938. In 1939 he became a ight in-structor and in May 1941 was assigned to Stab JG 3. On the rstday of the attack against the Soviet Union he achieved his rstvictory and in July 1941 was transferred to II./JG 3. In April 1942he became commander of the operational training 1. Stael Er-gänzungsgruppe Süd. In August 1942 he returned to the EasternFront as Adjutant of Kommodore of JG 3 „Udet“ and in Decem-ber he received the German Cross in Gold and also the HonorGoblet „For Special Achievement in the Air War“. In April 1943,he achieved his 51st victory and was transferred to the Stab ofthe General der Jagdieger, who at that time was Adolf Galland.In July 1943 he became commander of III./JG 3 „Udet“, whichat that time was nishing its deployment on the Eastern Frontand moving to Germany to join the Defense of the Reich. At itshead, Dahl became one of the most famous commanders in theght against the American four-engine bombers. In March 1944,he was awarded the Knight‘s Cross at the rank of Major. Twomonths later he was appointed commander of Jagdgeschwaderz.b.V. and in June 1944 he took command of JG 300. By the endof 1944 he had achieved his 92nd victory, was awarded the OakLeaf Cluster and promoted to the rank of Oberstleutnant. Butdue to disputes with Göring, he was removed from his post ascommander of JG 300 and in January became inspector of ghterunits. Even in this capacity he continued to y combat sorties andin the last weeks of the war he achieved several victories in theMe 262 with III./EJG 2. The authors dier on the number of hisvictories. According to E. Obermaier, Dahl achieved 129 victoriesin 678 combat sorties, 30 of which were four-engined bombers.After the war, he had close ties to organizations and media witha far-right orientation.eduard24INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 25
Restructuring of RLV ghter unitsIn July 1944 it became clear that deployment of the twin-engine hea-vy ghters in day attacks against the bomber formations protected byghter escorts is ineective and the units equipped with twin-engineghters started to restructure and re-equip with single-engine gh-ters.For example ZG 26 became JG 6. Since August 1, the number ofaircraft forming a Stael was increased to 16 and number of Staelsin the Gruppe increased from three to four. During the summer 1944RLV managed to establish 8 new Gruppen, mostly based on twin-en-gine ghter units personnel but also bomber and transport aircraftcrews and of course, pilot schools graduates. Restructuring also en-tailed disbanding of some units. In June the majority of JG 302 wasdisbanded including Stab/JG 302. The only surviving JG 302 unit,I./JG 302, which operated independently, from February to May 1944out of Helsinki as Einsatzkommando Helsinki for example, was inOctober 1944 integrated into JG 301 as III./JG 301. It was equippedwith Fw 190A-8 and operated as a heavy Gruppe but lacking the armo-red Fw 190A-8/R2. Its aircraft were standard A-8 carrying four 20 mmcannons and two 12.7 mm machine guns lacking the armor. In the fall,the armored Fw 190A-8/R2 were being phased out of the heavy Grup-pen and replaced by standard Fw 190A-8s or had the weight reducedby removing the outer applique armor and sometimes 30 mm cannosas well. In its initial conguration these cannons were quite eectiveweapons against the bombers. A single 30 mm round was sucientto destroy B-24 (three were needed to destroy a sturdier B-17) butin case of a dogght with Mustangs, Focke Wulfs were cumbersome,clumsy and almost defenseless. As we can see further, such combatsdid occur and Fw 190A-8/R2 losses were extremely high.Oil Campaign continuesAfter a short break, during the Normandy landing in June, USAAF con-tinued attacking the reneries and factories producing the syntheticfuel, railroad infrastructure and other targets. In July also 15th AFoperating out of Italy joined the attacks on Germany. Between 19 and31 July 15th AF conducted seven large operations, 8th AF conductedve, at 2% average loss of the deployed aircraft. That was quite somedierence compared to 1943! Wilde Sau units also joined the attacksagainst the 15th AF formations, for example on July 25, during theraid on Linz, these units were attacking the Americans together withII./JG 27, I./JG 300, II./JG 300 and I./JG 302. On August 3 during the15th AF raid on Friedrichshafen, the I./JG 300 shot down 8 Liberatorsat the loss of 11 own aircraft.The already mentioned II.(Sturm)/JG 300 was ocially established onAugust 9. Quite exemplary deployment of the Gefechtverband com-posed of Stab/JG 300, I./JG 300, II. (Sturm)/JG 300 and IV. (Sturm)/JG 3 took place on August 15 during the raid on Wiesbaden. I./JG 300ying the top cover, kept Mustangs far from the Focke-Wulfs resultingin 8 B-17s shot down at the loss of 10 own ghters and 5 pilots killed.The second Gefechtverband composed of II./JG 5 and III./JG 53 attac-ked without the top cover and reported the same results, 8 B-24s shotdown at the loss of 10 own aircraft. Walter Dahl rather optimisticallyreported 83 B-17s and 18 ghters shot down. The actually losses o-cially recorded by USAAF were 13 B-17s, 5 B-24s and 5 Mustangs. OnAugust 19 the 15th AF ew the last attack against Ploiesti, Romaniaand further concentrated on the raids on Germany. From 20 to 29August it performed the raid on Germany every single day. For therst ten days of September there was a lull in ghting. There wasan inclement weather in the West and 15th AF was conducting therepatriation ights in Romania and the operation in support of theattacking Russians and new allies, the Romanians. On August 23 Roma-nians surrendered and after a rather injudicious German bombing ofthe Royal Palace, on August 24 Romania declared the war on Germany.On September 11 the lull on the Western front was over when the 8thAF deployed 1131 bombers and 715 ghters in the operation againstGermany. RLV managed to muster the opposition of 355 ghters from12 ghter groups (Gruppen) concentrated into three Gefechtverbändeled by three Sturmgruppen. The strongest Gefechtsverband was ledby Walter Dahl. His pilots attacked 92nd BG above Merseburg andshot down eight B-17s (further four B-17s crashed behind the Alliedlines) at the loss of 7 aircraft. However during the repeated attack,II.(Sturm)/JG300 was scattered by Mustangs and lost 13 Fw 190A-8.The second Gefechtsverband, composed of II.(Sturm)/JG4, III./JG4and Stab/JG1, led by Major Specht (JG11), attacked 100th BG boxwithout the ghter cover above Kovářská (Schmiedeberg) in KrušnéHory (Ore Mountains or Erzgebirge) and shot down 11 B-17s, laterthree more crashed behind the Allied lines.The September 11 operations demonstrate the typical combat condi-tions above Germany in fall and a rather disproportionate losses sue-Walther Dahl(1916 – 1985)Walther Dahl joined the army in 1935 and was accepted into theLuftwae in the autumn of 1938. In 1939 he became a ight in-structor and in May 1941 was assigned to Stab JG 3. On the rstday of the attack against the Soviet Union he achieved his rstvictory and in July 1941 was transferred to II./JG 3. In April 1942he became commander of the operational training 1. Stael Er-gänzungsgruppe Süd. In August 1942 he returned to the EasternFront as Adjutant of Kommodore of JG 3 „Udet“ and in Decem-ber he received the German Cross in Gold and also the HonorGoblet „For Special Achievement in the Air War“. In April 1943,he achieved his 51st victory and was transferred to the Stab ofthe General der Jagdieger, who at that time was Adolf Galland.In July 1943 he became commander of III./JG 3 „Udet“, whichat that time was nishing its deployment on the Eastern Frontand moving to Germany to join the Defense of the Reich. At itshead, Dahl became one of the most famous commanders in theght against the American four-engine bombers. In March 1944,he was awarded the Knight‘s Cross at the rank of Major. Twomonths later he was appointed commander of Jagdgeschwaderz.b.V. and in June 1944 he took command of JG 300. By the endof 1944 he had achieved his 92nd victory, was awarded the OakLeaf Cluster and promoted to the rank of Oberstleutnant. Butdue to disputes with Göring, he was removed from his post ascommander of JG 300 and in January became inspector of ghterunits. Even in this capacity he continued to y combat sorties andin the last weeks of the war he achieved several victories in theMe 262 with III./EJG 2. The authors dier on the number of hisvictories. According to E. Obermaier, Dahl achieved 129 victoriesin 678 combat sorties, 30 of which were four-engined bombers.After the war, he had close ties to organizations and media witha far-right orientation.red by both sides. 8th AF lost 46 bombers and 25 ghters. RLV lost 110out of 305 attacking ghters i.e. 36% loss ratio. 60 pilots were killed,25 survived with injuries. On September 12 the 8th AF attacked again,the outcome for RLV was even worse. 147 ghters entered combat, 76were shot down, 42 pilots killed i.e. 52% loss ratio! On September 1315th AF arrived at the scene raiding plants in Odertal (Oder valley)and Blechhammer (Blachownia Śląska) in Silesia. It comes as a sur-prise that RLV still managed to throw 137 ghters into combat, 63 ofthem got close enough to attack the enemy formation. In the middleof October the German fuel supplies have reached the lowest levelsince the beginning of war. On August 1 the Warsaw Uprising started.On September 17 the operation Market Garden commenced which cal-med down the situation above Germany a little bit. 8th AF operatedabove the Dutch combat area and together with 15th AF conductedthe supply ights in Warsaw area and smaller scale operations abovethe central Germany.Night operations Wilde Sau in 1944Let‘s take advantage of the relative combat ina-ctivity and talk about the night operations WildeSau. They did not cease even though their restric-tions and transfer of the Wilde Sau ghters to theday operations were caused by dierent factors,besides the arrival of USAAF arrival in the thea-ter. Among others it was strengthening the nightghter units equipped with twin-engine aircraftfeaturing the airborne radar and improvement oftheir armament and other equipment. The tech-nical conditions of the ground radar network haveimproved as well. New devices, such as Mammut,have arrived with the eective range 300km,Freya went through the modernization, the veryadvanced and sophisticated Jagdschloss system appeared and in ge-neral the system of the search and vector radars was being developedand expanded. The radars with short range Wurzburg A, C and D werebeing developed with eective range 40 km. In the system of moni-toring the combat situation, night ghter and anti-aircraft artilleryvectoring, the radio communication interception and passive moni-toring of H2X airborne radars transmission played the important role.This translated into the higher eciency of both the night ghtersdeployment and anti-aircraft artillery which, as the war progressed,played more important role and losses it inicted on the attackingbombers were heavier than those caused by ghters. The single-engi-ne ghters hanging out in the airspace without radar presented moreof the burden to the system than the benet. The concept of suchdeployment visioned by Hajo Hermann in 1944 was no longer feasible.It did not mean though these ghters could not be useful. As opposedto the heavy twin-engine ghters they possessed one valuable advan-tage - the speed.Formation of the 92nd BG during a raid on September 11, 1944 minutes before they were attacked by JG 300 led by Walther Dahl.Photo: Museum of Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains ArchivesFeldwebel Konrad ‘Pitt’ Bauer and his Fw 190A-8‘Kornjark’ with the fuselage „Red 3“ and W.Nr.171 641 of 5.(Sturm)/JG 300. Reportedly,he was shot down seven times, but destroyed57 enemy aircraft, 32 of which were reportedas four engined heavy bombers. Today, someforty of his kills have been documented.For his success, he was awarded the Knight’sCross, and nominated for the Oak Leaf.eduard25INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 26
Serious challenge to the current air defense system were Allied fastreconnaissance and bomber aircraft, British Mosquitos in the rstplace. Since 1943 RAF deployed them in the small scale disruptivebut annoying attacks and Luftwae lacked the means to stop them.The reconnaissance Mosquitos and Spitres ying during daylightat the high speed and altitude presented another problem. In August1944 the special anti-Mosquito ight was established to counter thedisruptive raids of the De Haviland Mosquito squadrons commandedby RAF Light Night Strike Force.At the end of summer, 1944, as a reaction to destructive raidsconducted by De Havilland Mosquito light bombers of the Light Ni-ght Strike Force RAF, a specialized anti-Mosquito unit was formed,10./JG 300, also called ‘Mosquito Stael’, under the leadership of KarlMitterdorfer. The unit ew out of Jüterbog and was tasked with inter-cepting lone Mosquitos bombing Berlin and other fast enemy aircraftattacking by night. Mosquito Stael was equipped with the new high--performance Bf 109G-14/AS, built by Messerschmitt at Regensburg.Its high-performance characteristics came from its power plant, theDB 605D, coupled with the MW50 water injection system, boostingpower output for temporary emergency situations. Thanks to its highmaximum speed at high altitude, around 10,000m, the Bf 109G-14/AShad at the very least, a theoretical chance of intercepting successfu-lly the fast Mosquito, ying at these heights. Vectoring to the targetwas done through a modication to the Wilde Sau method, utilizinga hybrid of ground control, guidance using directional beams andground-based searchlights, which brought some success, despite notstopping or even limiting these attacks.Using 10./JG300 as the foundation, the II./NJG11 was formed in No-vember still equipped with Bf 109. in January 1944, based on the ex-perienced personnel of I./JG300, the night ghter 1./Nachtjagdgrup-pe 10 (NJGr.10) was established ying Fw 190A, Bf 109G, Bf 110 andother types. in August 1944 2./NJG 11 was formed from the section of1./NJGr. 10 and in October 3./NJG 11 from the remainder. And on Au-gust 28, to complete this process, 1./NJG 11 emerged from 6./JG300.A number of NJG 11 operational single-engine ghters were equippedwith radar but a portion was without it and continued ying WildeSau missions. And then we have Sonderkommando Stamp establishedin November 1944, shortly renamed Sonderkommando Welter aftera new commander. This experimental unit operated Me 262A-1a inthe night ghter role without the airborne radar i.e. in Wilde Saustyle. On January 28, 1945 the unit was renamed as 10./NJG 11. UntilApril 1945 it was ying out of Burg airport at Magdeburg, then on April24 it ew over to Reinfeld and on May 7 to Schleswig-Jagel where onMay 8 the unit surrendered to the British.8th AF Grand FinaleLet’s go back to fall 1944 when the Oil Campaign was at its peak.In November the 8th AF conducted 13 raids, 15th AF 12. In Novemberthe fuel production in Germany dropped to 31% of the June producti-on. November 2 the 8th AF deployed 1174 bombers and 968 ghters inthe raid on Merseburg/Leuna. All 15 ghter groups of the 8th AF ewthe mission. During the raid RLV lost 133 out of 305 deployed aircraftwhich represents 44%. This repeated itself on almost every raid. OnNovember 6 RLV command conference took place at Hitler’s den. An-gry Hitler expressed the opinion that further aircraft supplies to RLVwas only a waste of material. A day after, Göring delivered his famousaddress at Wannsee. In in 3 and half hours long emotional speech hehumiliated the whole Luftwae command.On November 27 the 8th AF conducted an interesting operation.10 ghter groups ew a mock raid on Merseburg. Half of the ghtergroups ew at the altitude typical for the bombers in order to lureRLV ghters into the combat. The other half ew the top cover. JG 3and JG 3 did not take the bait and disappeared from the area. Howe-ver JG 300 and JG 301 were ambushed and lost 39 aircraft destroyedand 27 pilots killed. 8th AF bombers in the meantime bombed themarshalling yards in the southern Germany without any interferencefrom Luftwae ghters.In December the 8th AF refocused on Berlin. On December 5 the am-munition factory in Tegel was attacked. 1st and 3rd Bombing Divisi-on sortied on Berlin while 2nd BD on Munich. RAF Bomber Commanddispatched its bombers escorted by Spitres to Soest, a historic townbetween Paderborn and Dortmund, with large marshalling yards. Thiswell planned operation completely disintegrated the RLV defenseas they literally did not know what to do rst. JG1 was engaged byMustangs even before it commenced the attack. It lost 37 aircraftand 25 pilots and was eectively out of the action. JG 301 and JG 27above Soest shared the same fate. In total RLV lost 77 aircraft and 44pilots, the Americans and British did not loose a single bomber. 8thAF lost 11 Mustangs and RAF one Spitre. RLV commanders were goinginsane at that time. The American yers were duly fullling the taskGen. Arnolds had given them and were close to nish it.On December 16 the German counter oensive in Ardennes was laun-ched and the weather was bad. 8th AF operated above Ardennes, asconditions permitted, while 15th AF ew missions over Germany al-most without any RLV ghters opposition. Nevertheless, on ChristmasEve, December 24, 8th AF conducted its largest raid deploying 2700aircraft. Then it returned to Ardennes. On December 31 and New Ye-ar’s 1945 It continued the strategic bombing. The ill-fated GermanOperation Bodenplatte, which practically nished the hard-testedGünther Rall(1918 – 2009)Günther Rall was, with his 275 victories, the third most successful gh-ter ace in history. In August, 1939, he was attached to III./JG 52, andremained there until the spring of 1944. His rst kill came in the Battleof France, and then (as CO of 8. Stael) took part in the Battle of Britain,and also the battle over Crete. His second victory didn’t come until theconict began with the Soviets. By the end of November, 1941, he gainedanother 34 victories, but was himself shot down and suered spinal in-juries that took him some eight months to recuperate from. During thisperiod he met a doctor that eventually became his wife. In July, 1942,he returned to the Eastern Front, and for his one hundredth victory wasawarded the Oak Leaf to go with the Knight’s Cross he received not eventwo months previous. In April, 1943, he was credited with JG 52’s 5000thkill, and at the end of August, he attained the two hundred mark. Fromthe beginning of June, 1943, he was named CO of III./JG 52, which wasthe most successful component of JG 52. This unit amassed over 10,000kills, and Rall’s III. Gruppe was credited at least with 4,000 of them. Hispersonal best month came in October, 1943, over the course of which hedestroyed forty Soviet ghters. In the spring of 1944, JG 52 needed topick ve commanders with signi cant enough combat experience againstghters to be recalled back to Germany, to take part in the planning ofthe ‘Defense of the Reich’. Günther Rall became the commanding o-cer of II./JG 11 on April 19th, and less than a month later, on May 12th,he was shot down during combat with 56th FG Thunderbolts and sue-red a hand injury. In the fall of 1944, he became CO of Verbandsführer-schule des Generals der Jagdieger, and in the nal weeks of the war hetook over command of JG 300. After the war, he returned to ying, notavoiding the military, and progressively built a second career. He trainedin the United States, and became a pioneer in the use of the F-104 inGermany. In the sixties, he was Kommodore of Jagdbombergeschwader34, and later commanded the 3rd and 1st Luftwaendivision, and at thestart of the seventies, he became Inspekteur der Luftwae. Up to 1975,he was Germany’s attaché to NATO.eduard26INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 27
Serious challenge to the current air defense system were Allied fastreconnaissance and bomber aircraft, British Mosquitos in the rstplace. Since 1943 RAF deployed them in the small scale disruptivebut annoying attacks and Luftwae lacked the means to stop them.The reconnaissance Mosquitos and Spitres ying during daylightat the high speed and altitude presented another problem. In August1944 the special anti-Mosquito ight was established to counter thedisruptive raids of the De Haviland Mosquito squadrons commandedby RAF Light Night Strike Force.At the end of summer, 1944, as a reaction to destructive raidsconducted by De Havilland Mosquito light bombers of the Light Ni-ght Strike Force RAF, a specialized anti-Mosquito unit was formed,10./JG 300, also called ‘Mosquito Stael’, under the leadership of KarlMitterdorfer. The unit ew out of Jüterbog and was tasked with inter-cepting lone Mosquitos bombing Berlin and other fast enemy aircraftattacking by night. Mosquito Stael was equipped with the new high--performance Bf 109G-14/AS, built by Messerschmitt at Regensburg.Its high-performance characteristics came from its power plant, theDB 605D, coupled with the MW50 water injection system, boostingpower output for temporary emergency situations. Thanks to its highmaximum speed at high altitude, around 10,000m, the Bf 109G-14/AShad at the very least, a theoretical chance of intercepting successfu-lly the fast Mosquito, ying at these heights. Vectoring to the targetwas done through a modication to the Wilde Sau method, utilizinga hybrid of ground control, guidance using directional beams andground-based searchlights, which brought some success, despite notstopping or even limiting these attacks.Using 10./JG300 as the foundation, the II./NJG11 was formed in No-vember still equipped with Bf 109. in January 1944, based on the ex-perienced personnel of I./JG300, the night ghter 1./Nachtjagdgrup-pe 10 (NJGr.10) was established ying Fw 190A, Bf 109G, Bf 110 andother types. in August 1944 2./NJG 11 was formed from the section of1./NJGr. 10 and in October 3./NJG 11 from the remainder. And on Au-gust 28, to complete this process, 1./NJG 11 emerged from 6./JG300.A number of NJG 11 operational single-engine ghters were equippedwith radar but a portion was without it and continued ying WildeSau missions. And then we have Sonderkommando Stamp establishedin November 1944, shortly renamed Sonderkommando Welter aftera new commander. This experimental unit operated Me 262A-1a inthe night ghter role without the airborne radar i.e. in Wilde Saustyle. On January 28, 1945 the unit was renamed as 10./NJG 11. UntilApril 1945 it was ying out of Burg airport at Magdeburg, then on April24 it ew over to Reinfeld and on May 7 to Schleswig-Jagel where onMay 8 the unit surrendered to the British.8th AF Grand FinaleLet’s go back to fall 1944 when the Oil Campaign was at its peak.In November the 8th AF conducted 13 raids, 15th AF 12. In Novemberthe fuel production in Germany dropped to 31% of the June producti-on. November 2 the 8th AF deployed 1174 bombers and 968 ghters inthe raid on Merseburg/Leuna. All 15 ghter groups of the 8th AF ewthe mission. During the raid RLV lost 133 out of 305 deployed aircraftwhich represents 44%. This repeated itself on almost every raid. OnNovember 6 RLV command conference took place at Hitler’s den. An-gry Hitler expressed the opinion that further aircraft supplies to RLVwas only a waste of material. A day after, Göring delivered his famousaddress at Wannsee. In in 3 and half hours long emotional speech hehumiliated the whole Luftwae command.On November 27 the 8th AF conducted an interesting operation.10 ghter groups ew a mock raid on Merseburg. Half of the ghtergroups ew at the altitude typical for the bombers in order to lureRLV ghters into the combat. The other half ew the top cover. JG 3and JG 3 did not take the bait and disappeared from the area. Howe-ver JG 300 and JG 301 were ambushed and lost 39 aircraft destroyedand 27 pilots killed. 8th AF bombers in the meantime bombed themarshalling yards in the southern Germany without any interferencefrom Luftwae ghters.In December the 8th AF refocused on Berlin. On December 5 the am-munition factory in Tegel was attacked. 1st and 3rd Bombing Divisi-on sortied on Berlin while 2nd BD on Munich. RAF Bomber Commanddispatched its bombers escorted by Spitres to Soest, a historic townbetween Paderborn and Dortmund, with large marshalling yards. Thiswell planned operation completely disintegrated the RLV defenseas they literally did not know what to do rst. JG1 was engaged byMustangs even before it commenced the attack. It lost 37 aircraftand 25 pilots and was eectively out of the action. JG 301 and JG 27above Soest shared the same fate. In total RLV lost 77 aircraft and 44pilots, the Americans and British did not loose a single bomber. 8thAF lost 11 Mustangs and RAF one Spitre. RLV commanders were goinginsane at that time. The American yers were duly fullling the taskGen. Arnolds had given them and were close to nish it.On December 16 the German counter oensive in Ardennes was laun-ched and the weather was bad. 8th AF operated above Ardennes, asconditions permitted, while 15th AF ew missions over Germany al-most without any RLV ghters opposition. Nevertheless, on ChristmasEve, December 24, 8th AF conducted its largest raid deploying 2700aircraft. Then it returned to Ardennes. On December 31 and New Ye-ar’s 1945 It continued the strategic bombing. The ill-fated GermanOperation Bodenplatte, which practically nished the hard-testedGünther Rall(1918 – 2009)Günther Rall was, with his 275 victories, the third most successful gh-ter ace in history. In August, 1939, he was attached to III./JG 52, andremained there until the spring of 1944. His rst kill came in the Battleof France, and then (as CO of 8. Stael) took part in the Battle of Britain,and also the battle over Crete. His second victory didn’t come until theconict began with the Soviets. By the end of November, 1941, he gainedanother 34 victories, but was himself shot down and suered spinal in-juries that took him some eight months to recuperate from. During thisperiod he met a doctor that eventually became his wife. In July, 1942,he returned to the Eastern Front, and for his one hundredth victory wasawarded the Oak Leaf to go with the Knight’s Cross he received not eventwo months previous. In April, 1943, he was credited with JG 52’s 5000thkill, and at the end of August, he attained the two hundred mark. Fromthe beginning of June, 1943, he was named CO of III./JG 52, which wasthe most successful component of JG 52. This unit amassed over 10,000kills, and Rall’s III. Gruppe was credited at least with 4,000 of them. Hispersonal best month came in October, 1943, over the course of which hedestroyed forty Soviet ghters. In the spring of 1944, JG 52 needed topick ve commanders with signi cant enough combat experience againstghters to be recalled back to Germany, to take part in the planning ofthe ‘Defense of the Reich’. Günther Rall became the commanding o-cer of II./JG 11 on April 19th, and less than a month later, on May 12th,he was shot down during combat with 56th FG Thunderbolts and sue-red a hand injury. In the fall of 1944, he became CO of Verbandsführer-schule des Generals der Jagdieger, and in the nal weeks of the war hetook over command of JG 300. After the war, he returned to ying, notavoiding the military, and progressively built a second career. He trainedin the United States, and became a pioneer in the use of the F-104 inGermany. In the sixties, he was Kommodore of Jagdbombergeschwader34, and later commanded the 3rd and 1st Luftwaendivision, and at thestart of the seventies, he became Inspekteur der Luftwae. Up to 1975,he was Germany’s attaché to NATO.Luftwae, had to make do without JG 300 and JG 301 as they facedtheir own challenges. It did not mean these units were spared of hea-vy losses though. In January 1945 the losses mounted, for example onJanuary 14 JG 300 lost half of its combat aircraft. The total losses ofJG 300 and JG 301 on that day were 57 aircraft and 32 pilots killed.Final countdownTo top it o, the Soviet oensive began at the same time, on January12, with the Vistula-Oder operation, during which Soviet forces advan-ced quickly through Silesia, on the right banks of the Oder. By theJanuary 27, the Oder was crossed at Küstrin (today Kostrzyn, Poland),and a bridge was established to the left bank. In an eort to halt theSoviet advance, elements of JG 300 and JG 301 were committed tothe area, engaging ground attack aircraft and ghters of the VVS fromthe end of January and into February. They performed ground attackmissions against the Soviet units, a mission much dierent from theone Wilde Sau units were originally formed for. In March, heavy lossescaused the disbandment of I. Gruppe JG 300, which at the time wasdown to fteen combat-capable aircraft.Some pilots of the unit were invited by the founder of Wilde Sau, HajoHerrmann, to join Sonderkommando Elbe, that was developing tarantactics that were nothing short of suicide, involving the ramming ofincoming heavy bombers. The only operation Sonderkommando Elbeconducted took place on April 7, 1945. It also yielded an insignicantsuccess - 3rd Air Division of the 8th AF lost 9 bombers. Herrmann´stask force sent to combat 213 ghters, 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 262Schwalbe and were later integrated into units ying the type, such asJG 7. The rest of the pilots and aircraft were integrated into III. andIV./JG 300, that were transferred to the Western Front in the areaof southern Germany and from where they were gradually retreatingeastwards. By the beginning of May, they found themselves on theirformer home eld of Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden in Ainring, on theGerman side of the German-Austrian border, some three kilometerswest of Salzburg. Here, they received an order on May 3 to forman operational unit designated Jagdgruppe 300 Ainring, and to movethrough České Budějovice (Budweis) to Prague. At least a section ofJagdgruppe 300 managed to reach Prague immediately prior to thePrague Uprising, and with that, somewhat paradoxically, went fromthe relative safe of Ainring and the American area of operations tothe extremely dangerous trap of the insurgent Prague and the Sovietsphere of inuence. Some of the pilots attempted to evade captureby the Soviets by eeing to the west, but a large number perished inthe trap. Mass of aircraft wrecks of Jagdgruppe 300 have been docu-mented in photographs obtained after the end of the war scatteredaround Prague airelds. Photographs taken around the same time onwest German airelds show wrecks of JG 301 aircraft.The last JGr. 300 base was the new airport in Žatec (Saatz) westof Prague where all remaining combat-ready aircraft ew over onMay 7. Me 262A from JG 7 took o from Žatec for an ground attack onthe Soviet columns advancing from Dresden to Most (Brüx). The lastkill and apparently the very last JGr. 300, respectively JG 300, sortieout of Žatec is attributed to Uz. Eugen Mayer. On May 8 at 10am hewas scrambled against the solitary Soviet Pe-2 bomber which he dulyshot down in the vicinity of Žatec airport. In the early afternoon theremaining aircraft were destroyed and pilots and ground personnelset on the march to Cheb where the unit‘s torso surrendered to theAmericans.Sources:CALDWELL D.: Luftwae Over Germany: Defense of the ReichCALDWELL D.: Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich: A War Diary, 1942–45LORANT J.-Y., GOYAT R.: Jagdgeschwader 300 Wilde Sau, A Chronicle ofa Fighter Geschwader in the Battle for Germany, Vol 1 & 2OBERMAIER E.: DIE RITTERKREUZTRÃGER DER LUFT-WAFFE 1939 – 1945, BAND 2, JAGDFLIEGERwww.ww2.dkwww.ww2.dk/lwairelds.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin_(RAF_campaign)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointblank_directivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_campaign_of_World_War_IIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinfurt%E2%80%93Regensburg_missionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Raid_on_SchweinfurtArchiv Muzea letecké bitvy nad Krušnohořím 11. 9.1944 v KovářskéPhoto taken after the war at Bad Aibling aireld in Bavaria. The Fw 190A-8 „White 5“ probably belonged to 7./JG 300. On the right isa 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 andthe fuselage designation „yellow 10“.Photo: Fold3eduard27INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 28
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KITS 07/2021Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 490249, Uffz. Hans Dahmen, 2./JG 300, Borkheide, Germany, December 1944Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 151965 (not confirmed), I. or III./JG 300, Germany, early 1945Bf 109G-10 Erla, Jagdgruppe 300, Ainring, Germany, early May 1945This 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 waschanged to blue-white-blue fuselage band. In the second half of January 1945 was JG 300 deployed on the eastern front to fighton the Oder River, conducting ground attacks and strafing advancing Soviet troops. By this time, Hans Dahmen had already seenheavy 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 duringthe USAAF raid on Berlin on January 14, 1945.WNr. 151965 is an example of a Bf 109G-10 produced by the Erla factory, series 151. These machines were characterized bya 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 70or 71 or another green paint. The bottom of the wing including the center section were left in bare metal, but the bottom surfacesof the ailerons and flaps were painted in light blue RLM 76. The lower surfaces of the wingtips and the horizontal tail were alsopainted in the same color. The underwing crosses were painted in form of black angles.During March 1945 the I./JG 300 was disbanded and between April 1 and April 12, some 15 of the remaining airworthy aircraftwere handed over to the III. and IV./JG 300. Both units were shuttling around various airfields in southern Germany. As Americanforces advanced further southwards these aircraft were ordered to move to Ainring near Salzburg and then to Prague. Luftwa-ffekommando 6 ordered II. and III./JG 300 to be integrated into Jagdgruppe 300 Ainring on May 3, 1945. A short black horizontalstripe was then added to the blue-white-blue Reichsverteidigung stripes of the Jagdgruppe 300 aircraft. Ainring airfield waslocated on German side of German-Austrian border, also known as Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden airport. It was one of twoSalzburg area military airfields during wartime.eduard29INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 30
Bf 109G-10 Erla, Jagdgruppe 300, Prague-Gbel, Protectorate Böhmen und Mähren, May 8, 1945Bf 109G-14/AS, Fw. Eberhard Gzik, 2./JG 300, Borkheide, Germany, October 1944Bf 109G-14/AS, Fw. Wolfgang Hundsdörfer, 2./JG 300, Esperstedt, Germany, September 1944This aircraft, originally belonging to 16./JG 300, is an Erla build 150 or 151 series machine with large bulges over the undercarri-age wells. This machine was flown from Prague-Gbel airfield on May 8, 1945 by Fw. Josef Unminger, a pilot of Flugzeugüber-führungsgeschwader 1. He had to make a belly-landing due to the lack of fuel near the city of Bochov near Karlsbad in WesternBohemia and the aircraft was destroyed by retreating German soldiers by several shots of Panzerfaust. Unminger was capturedby the Russians but managed to escape from captivity and returned home to Bavaria after long way through Saxony andThuringia.This Bf 109G-14/AS belonging to I./JG 300 was either a Series 780 machine produced by the Messerschmitt factory in Augsburg,or a Series 413 or 460, produced by the Erla factory in Leipzig. During the fall of the 1944, the I./JG 300 led by Hptm. GerhardStamp conducted fighter cover for the Fw 190A-8/R2 Sturmbock heavy fighters. The unit suffered serious losses during toughcombats with USAAF fighters in September and October. On October 2, I./JG 300 lost 19 aircraft destroyed and 13 damaged byMustangs of the 355th FG which strafed the Borkheide airfield. Fw. Eberhard Gzik was posted to 9./EJG 2 in November 1944 andflew the Me 262 in Kommando Stamp. He achieved three aerial victories during the war.There was the emblem of a dog cartoon with a B-17 in its mouth and the inscription Lumpi on the fuselage side below the cockpitof this aircraft. Lumpi was the pilot´s, Wolfgang Hunsdörfer's, nickname. On the fuselage, in front of the tail surfaces was a redstripe, the designation of JG 300 aircraft within the Reichsverteidigung system. In December 1944 was this marking changed toblue-white-blue stripes.KITS 07/2021eduard30INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 31
KITS 07/2021Bf 109G-14/AS, Ofhr. Klaus Grothues, CO of 9./ JG 300, Mark Zwuschen, Germany, December 1944Bf 109G-14/AS, Ofhr. Bruno Klostermann, 11./JG 300, Jüterbog-Waldlager, Germany, December 1944Bf 109G-14/AS, Lt. Karl Mitterdorfer, CO of 10./JG 300, Jüterbog, Germany, September 1944This Yellow 1 was damaged when the landing gear dug into the soft ground and the propeller hit the runway surface of the MarkZwuschen airfield. The aircraft had the undercarriage legs painted red. Klaus Grothues was the last ace of III./JG 300 with 17confirmed kills. He was killed in action during an attack against the formation of the American bombers during USAAF raid onBerlin on January 14, 1945. Grothues was shot down near Rathenow, west of Berlin when at controls of the Bf 109G-14 Yellow 2.Ofhr. Bruno Klostermann was a cousin of the French fighter ace Pierre Clostermann. Unlike his more famous relative, he didnot live to see the end of the war, as he was killed in action during the USAAF's big raid on Berlin on January 14, 1945. That datewas a black day for the Wilde Sau units, with JG 300 and JG 301 losing nearly 90 aircraft and 68 pilots in thirty minutes. Jagd-geschwader 300 alone lost 50 % of all its aircraft. Klostermann's Green 12 had the undercarriage legs painted red.In the late summer and early autumn of 1944, the JG 300 established a special Mosquito-Jagdstaffel to combat the night incur-sions over Berlin conducted by de Havilland Mosquito bombers of the RAF's Light Night Strike Force. The 10.(N)/JG 300 operatedout of Jüterbog under Staffelkapitän Karl Mitterdorfer. His White 1 featured the unit's comet emblem on both sides of the cowlingand a narrower-than-usual red band around the rear fuselage. The aircraft´s lower starboard wing surfaces were black.eduard31INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 32
Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 151556, JG 301, Germany, May 1945Bf 109G-10 Erla, WNr. 151035, Stab IV./JG 301, Stendal-Borstel, Germany, early 1945WNr. 151556 was an example of a Bf 109G-10 series 151 manufactured by the Erla factory. These machines were typical in havinga wing with large bulge over the undercarriage well. It would be possible this aircraft was camouflaged in RLM 81 and RLM 82colors on the upper surfaces and RLM 76-painted lower and side surfaces. Further details about this aircraft are not known.WNr. 151035 was an example of an early Bf 109G-10 series 151 produced by the Erla factory. These machines were characterizedby a wing with large bulge over the undercarriage well. It is believed this aircraft served with the staff Staffel of the IV. GruppeJG 301 at the Stendal-Borstel air base in Saxony-Anhalt. Further details about this aircraft are unknown.KITS 07/202148942 Bf 109G-14 (PE-Set)481006 Bf 109G-10 Erla (PE-Set)FE910 Bf 109G seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)FE1191 Bf 109G-10 ERLA Weekend (PE-Set)644004 Bf 109G-10 LööK (Brassin)644045 Bf 109G-10 w/ early wheels LööKplus (Brassin)644046 Bf 109G-10 w/ late wheels LööKplus (Brassin)648158 Bf 109G-10 wheels (Brassin)648239 Bf 109G-6 radio compartment (Brassin)648247 Bf 109G exhaust stacks (Brassin)648261 Bf 109G-6 wheels (Brassin)648265 Bf 109G external fuel tanks (Brassin)648309 Bf 109G undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648310 Bf 109G control surfaces (Brassin)648422 Bf 109G-10 cockpit (Brassin)648441 Bf 109G-10 engine (Brassin)D48025 Bf 109G stencils (Decal set)D48027 Bf 109G Balkenkreuze (Decal set)D48028 Bf 109G svastikas (Decal set)D48042 Bf 109G-10 Erla national insignia (Decal set)3DL48014 Bf 109G-6 SPACE (3D Decal set)EX512 Bf 109G spinner spirals (Mask)EX524 Bf 109G-6 Erla canopy (Mask)EX581 Bf 109G Erla canopy TFace (Mask)EX608 Bf 109G-10 (Mask)EX609 Bf 109G-10 TFace (Mask)Recommended for WILDE SAUCat. No. 648422eduard32INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 33
EX512 Bf 109G spinner spirals (Mask)EX524 Bf 109G-6 Erla canopy (Mask)EX581 Bf 109G Erla canopy TFace (Mask)EX608 Bf 109G-10 (Mask)EX609 Bf 109G-10 TFace (Mask)KITS 07/2021OVERTREESBf 109G-10Cat. No. 82164X1/48Product pageProduct pageCat. No. 82164-LEPT1OVERTREESBf 109G-14/ASCat. No. 82162X1/48Product pageProduct pageCat. No. 82162-LEPT1eduard33INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 34
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KITS 07/2021Bf 109E-3, WNr. 5102, Lt. Herbert Kunze, Stab I./JG 77, Döberitz, Germany, June 1940Bf 109E-4, WNr. 5274, Lt. Werner Machold, 1./JG 2, Marigny, France, June 1940Bf 109E-1, WNr. 3413, Lt. Hans Krug, 5./JG 26, Marquise, France, July 1940This aircraft was manufactured by WNF in early autumn 1939 and assigned to I./JG 77 led by Hptm. Johannes Janke. This unitwas frequently relocated prior to World War II outbreak so it was no wonder the members of I./JG 77 ironically dubbed themsel-ves “Wanderzirkus Janke” (Janke’s Wandering Circus) and expressed their feelings about the constant relocation with a scuffedboot as the unit's emblem. Janke's adjutant Lt. Kunze was born in Berlin in 1918. He achieved two victories in September 1940 andlived to see his promotion to the rank of Oberleutnant. He was killed in combat with Spitfires of No. 603 Squadron on September14, 1940 while at the controls of Bf 109E-4 WNr. 3759. He crashed near Lympne and was buried two days later in Hawkinge Ce-metery. Kunze originally used a Bf 109E-1 with the name “Sepp” under the cockpit, but for this Bf 109E-3 he chose to paint a smallrabbit with a spear between its ears and the inscription “Kieki”.Machold was serving with 1./JG 2 at the beginning of World War II. He was very successful in Battle of France, gaining 10 victo-ries including three Hurricanes and one Spitfire. His 11th victory was a “Tomahawk” claimed on August 11 at about midday nearPortland. Oberfeldwebel Machold continued to gain victories during the Battle of Britain and became eighth German fighterpilot to reach 20-victories mark. On September 5, 1940, he was awarded the Knight Cross for 21 victories. On September 7,Machold was transferred to 9./JG 2. He recorded his 24th through 26th victories on September 30, shooting down three Spitfires.Oberleutnant Machold was appointed Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 2 in spring 1941. On June 9, 1941 during a low-level Jabo attack ona shipping convoy off Portland was his Bf 109 E-7/Z (WNr. 5983) “White 15” hit by anti-aircraft fire from a Royal Navy destroyer.Machold belly-landed near Swanage, Dorset and became prisoner of war. Werner Machold claimed 32 victories in more than250 combat missions. He achieved all his victories over the Western front.Hans Krug was born in 1899 and served in various Bavarian aviation units during the Great War. He was flying combat missionsfrom March till May 1918. Considered rather old for fighter pilot in Germany during mid-thirties he joined the Spanish nationalistair force instead of Legion Condor like other German “volunteers”. Krug often flew alongside Spanish ace Joaquin Garcia Morato,whose Fiat CR.32 carried bullfighting motto “VISTA SUERTE Y AL TORO” (The look, good fortune and lets´s go for the bull!). Krugadopted this inscription on his “Emil”, as he was finally accepted to Luftwaffe and entered successful service with II./JG 26“Schlageter” with rank of Leutnant. He scored with 5./JG 26 five victories during French campaign including one unconfirmed. Allwere depicted on his tail with kill marks. Krug scored additional five victories during Battle of Britain and took over leadership of4./JG 26. He was shot down by RAF fighters over England and performed belly landing near Pluckley in the evening of Septem-ber 7. His name is sometimes confused with bomber pilot Lt. Peter Krug who escaped from prison camp in Canada to the UnitedStates.eduard35INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 36
Bf 109E-4, WNr. 3709, Oblt. Josef Fözö, CO of 4./JG 51, Desvres, France, July 1940Bf 109E-3, Maj. Adolf Galland, CO of III./JG 26, Caffiers, France, August 1940Bf 109E-3, Maj. Adolf Galland, CO of III./JG 26, Caffiers, France, late August 1940Raven with running nose and umbrella was badge of II./JG 51 and was later adopted by some of unit´s Staffeln with differentbackground colors. Mickey Mouse is personal emblem of Josef Fözö who was a Vienna-born Austrian. As a pre-war pilot ofAustrian Air Force Fözö joined Luftwaffe in 1938 and volunteered for service in Spain where he scored three victories. He wasalready commander of 4./JG 51 at the beginning of World War II and downed one balloon during Sitzkrieg and two RAF fightersduring “Kanalkampf” in July. His second and third victory were scored west of Cap Griz-Nez against Hurricanes of No. 56 Sqn.During Battle of Britain he scored nine victories against RAF and one more in April 1941. Fözö was appointed commander of II./JG51 and was seriously injured on Russian front in July 1941. He was awarded Knight Cross during the same month. After recoveryhe became commander of I./JG 51 in May 1942. However, he was injured again the same month. After lengthy recovery Fözö tookover commanding position on operational training unit JG 108. His total score was 27 victories including service in Spain. Fözöpassed away in Vienna in 1979, at the age of 67 years.Major Adolf Galland was the highest scoring Luftwaffe fighter pilot of Battle of Britain. In the period from August 8 to October 31,1940, he scored 32 victories including 15 Spitfires. After service with Legion Condor, 4.(S)/LG 2 and JG 27 he became comman-der of III./JG 26 on June 11, 1940. This unit was the second-most successful Jagdgruppe of Battle of Britain with 105 victoriesachieved. Galland´s last victories (19th to 22nd) with III./JG 26 were scored on August 15. He claimed one Spitfire possibly flownby RAF ace F/Lt A.C. Deere of No. 54 Sqn. and later added two Spitfires of No. 64 Sqn. On August 22 Galland became Kommodoreof JG 26 “Schlageter”. He took position of General der Jagdflieger later, becoming the youngest Luftwaffe General. He did not getalong with Göring very well and lost his position in 1944. During the last months of the war, he was allowed to organize elite unitJagdverband 44 equipped with Me 262 Schwalbe jet fighters. Adolf Galland achieved 104 aerial victories during 705 missions,all on the Western front. Included in his score are at least seven victories achieved when he was flying the Me 262. Galland alsodowned four four-engined bombers. He was himself shot down four times.This is Galland´s aircraft as it appeared at the end of August 1940, i.e., with yellow identification markings introduced by Luftwaffecommand at the beginning of August 1940. Some authors believe that this is aircraft WNr. 4820 flown by Galland during August1940 as his last personal mount when at command of III./JG 26. But… The 4820 was manufactured by Arado in July 1940 asE-1/B and Galland´s logbook states E-1 version as well, but photographs reveal his aircraft sported cannons in the wing. There isanother aircraft of Galland known from this period, and it is also attributed to WNr. 4820. But again, this “Emil” shows cannons inthe wings and earlier style of the canopy. After the war, Adolf Galland took part in development of Argentine Air Force and wasalso active in German fighter pilot association. He also became one of the advisers during the filming of Battle of Britain movie.Fellow adviser RAF ace Robert S. Tuck became Galland´s very close friend and godfather of his son.KITS 07/2021eduard36INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 37
Bf 109E-1, WNr. 3771, flown by Fw. Ernst Arnold, 3./JG 27, Peuplingues, France, August 1940Bf 109E-1, WNr. 3417, Gefr. Erich Mummert, 4./JG 52, Peuplingues, France, September 1940Bf 109E-4, WNr. 5375, Hptm. Wilhelm Meyerweissflog, Stab JG 53, Etaples, France, September 1940Fw. Arnold was shot down in the late afternoon on August 30 during free hunt sortie over England. The I./JG 27 formation wasattacked by RAF fighters and Arnold´s “Emil” was hit in radiator, possibly by F/O B. J. G. Carbury of No. 603 Squadron. He hadperformed belly-landing at Westwood Court, near Faversham, Kent and his Aircraft was placed on display in Exeter as thefundraising motivation element. Africa emblem of I./JG 27 was introduced in late spring 1940 as reminder of German Africancolonies lost after Great War. The scissors (in German language “Schere”) and the “r” letter are play on the name of formerSchwarmführer and within the 3. Staffel popular Lt. Ulrich Scherer. He was declared missing after combat with Hurricanes ofNo. 615 Sqn. near Cherbourg on July 20. The unit lost Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Helmut Riegel during the same combat. Sta-ffelkapitän of 3./JG 27 was future Knight Cross recipient Oblt. Gerhard Homuth who was later successfully leading I./JG 27 in Af-rica. Homuth scored 15 victories during 1940 and his final score resulting from 450 combat missions counted 63 aerial victories.Homuth was engaged in a 20-minutes dogfight with Russian fighters on August 2, 1943, and remains missing from that time on…This Messerschmitt saw very long career, being manufactured by Arado company in the late summer or early autumn 1939. Itscamouflage consists of RLM 71, 02 and 65 and probably went through several changes. It cannot be ruled out the aircraft wasfinished in the RLM 70/71 scheme on upper surfaces originally. Probably due to error, the JG 52 kept this aircraft in books as theE-4 variant. Red cat emblem was introduced as unit badge in 1939 when the Staffel carried designation 1./JG 71. Erich Mummertwas shot down with this “Emil” on September 30 in the afternoon during bomber escort mission. Six JG 52 fighters had beenattacked by Spitfires and tried to form a defensive circle. But Germans were running out of fuel and had to abandon the combatsoon. Being pursued by Spitfires the combat got slightly chaotic for Germans and Mummert´s aircraft was hit in radiator by the“friendly” fire of another Bf 109. Mummert performed belly-landing on the edge of Detling airfield. Another II./JG 52 pilot was alsoshot down and bailed out, being captured near Detling as well. Commander of 4./JG 52 was the legendary Johannes Steinhoff,the man, who acted as Kommodore of the Jagdgeschwader 7 flying with Me 262s and later joined Adolf Galland and his eliteJagdverband 44.Wilhelm Meyerweissflog was born in 1889 and served in military during Great War. It is assumed he lived in Switzerland after thewar and travelled to USA as businessman regularly. In the ranks of the JG 53 “Pik As” he was acting as an administrative officerof Geschwaderstab. His aircraft was photographed during refueling at former British airbase La Villiaze, Guernsey, part of occu-pied Channel Islands. Meyerweissflog was captured on September 5, 1940. During interrogation he said: “Saw the boys goingoff and thought he would like a flip too. He jumped into his aircraft, flew vaguely in the direction of England and was neatly shotthrough the petrol tank by a British fighter," probably by F/Lt. P. C. Hughes flying Spitfire of No. 234 Sqn. Hptm. Meyerweissflogmade a forced landing at Monkton farm near St. Nicholas-at-Wade at 15.45 hrs “from which more by luck than good judgementhe came out safely and, when apprehended, had not the slightest idea where he was”. To further quote the interrogation report,his start and mission were described as a “Very freelance patrol”, and his morale as “Good under trying circumstances”.KITS 07/2021eduard37INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 38
Bf 109E-4, WNr. 3709, Oblt. Josef Fözö, CO of 4./JG 51, Desvres, France, second half of September 1940WNr. 1480, Oblt. Franz von Werra, Gruppenadjutant of II./JG 3, Wierre-au-Bois, France, September 1940Bf 109E-4, WNr. 5153, Oblt. Egon Troha, CO of 9./JG 3, Desvres, France, October 1940This is Fözö´s aircraft after he scored his 14th victory on October 15 in the morning near London when escorting fighter bom-bers. Yellow cowling and rudder were identification markings introduced at beginning of September to identify Bf 109s assignedto fighter bomber missions.Franz von Werra became the first German fighter ace to fall into British hands. It happened on the morning of September 5, 1940,when he was shot down with this “Emil” over the county of Kent. Von Werra then became famous for his escape froma Canadian prison camp. He was able to return halfway around the world to German territory, where he rejoined the Luftwaffeand continued his combat flights. He served on both the eastern and western fronts but was strictly ordered to avoid the shoresof England. This proved fatal when he failed to return from a flight over the English Channel as CO of I./JG 53 on October 25, 1941.The WNr. 1480 carried the standard camouflage of RLM 02/71/65 with white identification markings. These included the rudderand wingtips. It is also often depicted with a white engine cowling, but a careful study of photographs and archival documentsprove contrary to it and the supposed white paint was in fact a newer and lighter coat of RLM 65 paint. It is possible that thecover came from another aircraft. The vertical tail area bears the symbols of von Werra's achievements, i.e. eight aerial victoriesand five aircraft destroyed on the ground. They are depicted on each side in a slightly different form. The RLM65 color extendedto the upper surfaces of the leading-edge wing.Egon Troha was born in Austria in 1916 and after finishing his pilot and fighter training, he started to serve in the ranks of the JG26 in 1939. Later he joined the JG 27 before being finally assigned to III./JG 3. Troha scored five victories during 1940 including oneDutch Fokker C.V and on October 1 he became commander of 9./JG 3. His last kill, probably a Hurricane of No. 605 Sqn., was sco-red on October 26 just after midday west of Boulogne. On October 29 Oblt. Troha was attacked by Spitfires of No. 74 Sqn. duringmission over England. He believed his wingman was covering him, but instead he got a burst of fire which damaged radiator ofhis Messerschmitt. He force-landed near Shepherdswell. During his stay in Canadian prison camp, Troha lost an eye in a pris-oner´s riot and was repatriated. After return to Germany he was promoted to Hauptmann and served with operational trainingunit JG 108 till the end of war. Troha´s plane was manufactured by WNF in autumn 1939 as Bf 109E-3. In 1940 it was not upgradedonly with new canopy but probably also with new MG FF/M cannons, so unit kept the airplane in records as E-4. The sea horseemblem was created by the core of original unit´s pilots who were supposed to form fighter squadron of German aircraft carrierGraf Zeppelin.KITS 07/2021eduard38INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 39
Bf 109E-4, WNr. 4869, flown by Lt. Bernhard Malischewski, Stab II./JG 54, Campagne-les-Guines, France, October 1940This “Emil” was personal mount of Stab II./JG 54 officer Lt. Bernhard Malischewski who was already long serving member at thetime, as his presence was dating back to the times, when the unit had original designation I./JG 76. He scored one victory duringSitzkrieg and three more during French campaign and the Battle of Britain. His last victory dates to the September 29 when heshot down a Spitfire near London. Malischewski was captured on October 12 after forced landing south of Tenterden, Kent. It isbelieved he was shot down by S/Ldr R. S. Tuck, however Malischewski stated the engine failure was his real defeater in the do-gfight. Indeed, his airplane did not have any hits from enemy fire. In the UK he was kept as prisoner of war at Camp 13, the HayesCamp, Swanwick, Derbyshire. He joined the group of prisoners, who were planning escape through a tunnel. One of the groupmembers was Franz von Werra. They nicknamed themselves as “Swanwick Tiefbau A. G.” meaning Swanwick Engineering Co.Three prisoners including von Werra escaped, but Malischewski gave up the effort earlier during digging process. In February1945 he was sentenced to 28 days detention for attempting to escape from the train bringing him from one Canadian camp toanother. He was promoted to rank of Oberleutnant during his captivity and passed away in 1975.KITS 07/202173736 Bf 109E-4 (PE-Set)73739 Bf 109E-3 (PE-Set)Sprue - A-E-1Sprue - A-E-3/4Sprue - A-E-3/4Sprue - BSprue - BSprue - BSprue - C - malýSprue - C - malýSprue - C - velkýRecommended for ADLERANGRIFFOVERTREES OVERTREES OVERTREESBf 109E-1 Bf 109E-3 Bf 109E-4/7Cat. No. 7031X Cat. No. 7032X Cat. No. 7033X1/72 1/72 1/72eduard39INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 40
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KITS 07/2021Hptm. W. Moritz, CO of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3, Memmingen, Germany, July 1944WNr. 682181, Fw. Hubert Engst, 6.(Sturm)/ JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, early 1945Wilhelm Moritz joined German army service in 1933 and was assigned to the Luftwaffe afterwards. The outbreak of WWII foundMoritz flying Bf 110 with II./ZG 1. In the summer of 1940, he was reassigned to 6./JG 77 and served as CO of 11./JG 1 in April 1942.He was transferred to JG 51 on the Eastern Front in September 1942, there he shot down 25 aircraft. On October 19, 1943, he wasappointed Staffelkapitan of 6./JG 3. The JG 3 was a component of the fighter network tasked with the defense of the Reich (Re-ichsverteidigung). Moritz became the CO of its IV. Gruppe on April 18, 1944. This Gruppe specialized in the use of heavily armedand armored single-engine fighters against Allied four-engined bombers. He was relieved of his command of IV. Gruppe onDecember 5, 1944, following a nervous breakdown and after recuperation he took over command of the Luftwaffe replacementtraining unit IV./EJG 1. Moritz found his way back to a combat unit before the war ended, as he became CO of II./JG 4 on April 18,1945. He held this post till the end of the war. He was credited with 44 victories and was awarded the Knight's Cross on July 18,1944. Moritz's aircraft carried the standard Luftwaffe fighter camouflage scheme. Aircraft of IV./JG 3 had black engine cowls. Thedouble chevron identifies the Gruppe leader's aircraft and the wave marking on the rear fuselage was carried by aircraft of theIV. Gruppe. Fuselage protective armor plates were light gray or unpainted. Most of the JG 3 aircraft carried the unit marking onthe engine cowl, but available photographs cannot confirm whether this was the case with this aircraft.A native of Krauschwitz, Hubert Engst was born on November 10, 1921 and on completion of flight training in July 1943, he wasassigned to JG Hermann (later redesignated as JG 300), specialists in the use of Wilde Sau tactics (night attacks against bom-bers using single-engine fighters). Here, on his first combat flight and only three hours after his arrival he would shoot downa Stirling bomber. Hubert Engst flew with the 5. and later 6. Staffel of JG 300, the unit integrated from the beginning of its exi-stence into the structure of the Defense of the Reich. According to the sources Engst shot down some 20 aircraft. He was shotdown twice himself. Remains of his Fw 190A-8/R2 WNr. 681361 “Yellow 7” were discovered in 2011 near Otin close to JindrichuvHradec. They are part of the collection of the local museum there nowadays. Hubert Engst lived in the former East Germanyafter the WWII and died in 1981. The standard RLM74/75/76 scheme was complemented by JG 300 colors and markings from theend of the war in the shape of a blue-white-blue band of prescribed 900 mm overall width. A horizontal strip designating aircraftof the II. Gruppe was painted over the band, its yellow color was specific to the planes of the 6. Staffel.eduard41INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 42
KITS 07/2021WNr. 681343, Obgefr. Karl Kleemann, 7.(Sturm)/JG 4, Welzow, Germany, September 1944WNr. 739431, Ltn. Norbert Graziadei, 5.(Sturm)/JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, October 1944Karl Kleemann became a member of 7. Staffel II.(Sturm)/JG 4 in August 1944. The newly formed unit was to fight with Alliedfour-engine bomber formations. Its first combat occurred on September 11, 1944, and its pilots achieved considerable successin combat with aircraft from the 3rd Bomb Division. With the support of Messerschmitts from the III. Gruppe, they managed toshoot down fourteen B-17s, mostly from the 100th Bomb Group. The Sturmgruppe paid for this with the loss of at least 20 Sturm-bocks and 12 pilots killed. Karl Kleemann in the aircraft designated “Yellow 1” was one of them. To escape the battle area, manySturmbock pilots got into dogfights with American fighters. Kleemann's machine appeared shortly after 12:10 at an altitude of 160ft (50 m) over the town of Thum, pursued by several P-51s. After a sharp turn over the center of town, the aircraft crashed ina field just next to the town hospital and exploded. In September 2018 a monument was unveiled near the crash site, designed asa memorial to all the victims of the Battle of the Erzgebirge. Kleemann's Sturmbock bore the standard livery used by II.(Sturm)/JG 4. The RLM 74/75/76 color scheme was supplemented by the fuselage markings of JG 4 according to the Reich Defense Sys-tem (black and white band). The horizontal stripe of the II. Gruppe was not used on JG 4 aircraft during this period. The emblemon the engine cowling could have had the crest of the knight's helmet painted yellow, or it could have remained unpainted. Duringthe period in question, JG 4 still used side armor windows on its Fw 190s. The fuselage machine guns were often removed.A native of Vienna, Norbert Graziadei was born on February 20, 1920. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1941 and completed pilot training,after which he flew with a transport squadron. In April 1944, he joined the fighters, underwent night fighter training, and onJune 14 he was sent to II./JG 300, which was at the time conducting Wilde Sau night flights using single seaters to fight Britishbomber raids. Later on the unit was transferred to the Defence of the Reich system, which necessitated change in its activities,as it became a day combat unit. Graziadei was chosen by the commander of 6./JG 300 as his deputy and technical officer. In Sep-tember, the change occurred again and II. Gruppe became Sturmgruppe, i.e. a special group for fighting daylight bombers. On 25September 1944, Ltn. Graziadei, nicknamed Naggi, was transferred to the 5. Staffel, where he also acted as the technical officerand CO´ s deputy, now to Ltn. Bretschneider. Norbert Graziadei survived deployment during World War II, shooting down a totalof ten enemy aircraft. He died in 1999. During his time with the 5. (Sturm)/JG 300, he flew at least two Fw 190A-8/R2s, designated“Red 2”, which bore the inscription “Moidl”, the Tyrolean dialect term for girl (Mädchen), on the armour under the front plate.eduard42INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 43
KITS 07/202148973 Fw 190A-8/R2 (PE-Set)48974 Fw 190A-8/R2 landing flaps (PE-Set)FE863 Fw 190A seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644005 Fw 190A-8/R2 LööK (Brassin)648356 Fw 190A wingroot gun bays (Brassin)648366 Fw 190A propeller (Brassin)648381 Fw 190A exhaust stacks (Brassin)648426 Fw 190A-8/R2 cockpit (Brassin)648482 Fw 190A-8/R2 engine (Brassin)SIN64852 Fw 190A-8/R2 ESSENTIAL (Brassin)D48036 Fw 190A-8/R2 national insignia (Decal set)3DL48027 Fw 190A-8/R2 SPACE (3D Decal set)EX587 Fw 190A TFace (Mask)Recommended for Fw 190A-8/R2Cat. No. 644005Cat. No. 648426Cat. No. 648482Cat. No. 648366eduard43INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 44
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KITS 07/2021MiG-21bisD, Eskadrila borbenih aviona, HRZ i PZO, Zagreb – Pleso, Croatia, December 2016MiG-21bis, 115th GIAP, Soviet VVS, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, 1980The Croatian Air Force purchased forty MiG-21bis fighters and MiG-21UM trainers from Ukraine in 1995. In 2003, eight MiG-21bisaircraft were modernized to bisD standard in Romania. The modernization program included upgrade of the navigation, com-munication and IFF equipment. In 2014, another modernization took place involving seven Croat MiG-21bisD/UMD aircraft, alongwith a purchase of another five aircraft from repair facility in Odessa. The modernized aircraft received an all-grey camouflagescheme. Aircraft coded 116 received a stylized “25” on the left side of the fin to commemorate 25th anniversary of the CroatianAir Force.Fighter cover duties during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan were conducted by the 115th Guards' Regiment at the end of 1979.The unit was equipped with the MiG-21bis and was based at Kokaity in Uzbekistan, a Soviet Socialist State at the time. Three daysafter the invasion beginning, the 1st Squadron moved to Bagram Air Base, followed by a second Squadron on January 23, 1980.Due to the lack of any enemy fighters, the 115th GIAP became involved in ground support duties together with the 136th APIB.MiG-21bis aircraft of the 115th GIAP used in Afghanistan were painted in green and brown on the upper surfaces at the beginningof the war, with lower surfaces in a blue-grey tone.eduard45INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 46
KITS 07/2021MiG-21bis, C2283, No.3 Squadron „Cobras“, Pathankot AB, India, early ´90sThe newest version of the MiG-21, the “bis”, was purchased to the tune of twenty-six pieces by the Finnish Air Force in the latterhalf of the seventies. The first aircraft were delivered in 1978, and at the beginning of the eighties, these aircraft began to bewesternized. The process included a new instrument panel and radio equipment compatible with those of west European air-craft. The aircraft coded MG-130 was delivered to Finland on July 17th, 1980, and its westernization was conducted during 1982.It made its last flight on March 7th, 1998, and it can currently be seen on the roof terrace of the Verkkokauppa Oy Shopping Cen-ter in Helsinki. At the beginning of the eighties, MG-130 carried the camouflage scheme in which it was delivered from the SovietUnion, i.e. brown and green on the upper and side surfaces, while the lower surfaces in light grey.C2283 displays a unique combination of camouflage scheme and colorful ID markings. The unit personnel named their aircraftafter snakes, among which “Rattler”, “Mamba” and “Cobra” are known. The dorsal section of the fuselage was taken from anotherMiG-21bis, probably from a “Mamba”. The history of No.3 Squadron goes back to October 1941, when the unit was activated inPeshawar, equipped with the Hawker Audax. During the second half of the Twentieth Century, the unit took part in every conflictthat India was involved in with neighboring states. The No.3 Squadron used the MiG-21bis from July 1980 to 2002, when it wasre-equipped with the modernized MiG-21 “Bison”.MiG-21bis, HävLLv 31, Suomen ilmavoimat, Kuopio-Rissala AB, Finland, 1980eduard46INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 47
Recommended for MiG-21bisKITS 07/202148704 MiG-21 ladder 1/48 (PE-Set)48994 MiG-21 surface panels 1/48 (PE-Set)48999 MiG-21bis exterior 1/48 (PE-Set)49065 MiG-21 KM-1 seatbelts FABRIC (PE-Set)49110 MiG-21 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 (PE-Set)491036 MiG-21bis interior 1/48 (PE-Set)FE1149 MiG-21bis Weekend 1/48 (PE-Set)644033 MiG-21bis LööK 1/48 (Brassin)648025 Rocket launcher UB-16 and UB-32 1/48 (Brassin)648026 MiG-21 wheels 1/48 (Brassin)648030 MiG-21 seat late 1/48 (Brassin)648049 MiG-21 wheel wells 1/48 (Brassin)648050 MiG-21BIS interior (Brassin)648051 MiG-21BIS exhaust nozzle (Brassin)648064 MiG-21 late airbrakes 1/48 (Brassin)648080 MiG-21 undercarriage legs BRONZE 1/48 (Brassin)648082 R-60 / AA-8 Aphid 1/48 (Brassin)648125 R-3S / AA-2 Atoll-A 1/48 (Brassin)648126 OFAB-100 Soviet bombs 1/48 (Brassin)648127 OFAB-250 Soviet bombs 1/48 (Brassin)648136 S-24 rocket 1/48 (Brassin)648173 UB-16 rocket launcher (2 pcs) 1/48 (Brassin)648424 FAB-500 M54 bombs 1/48 (Brassin)648445 R-13M missiles 1/48 (Brassin)648490 MiG-21 F.O.D 1/48 (Brassin)3DL48026 MiG-21bis SPACE (3D Decal set)EX751 MiG-21bis Weekend 1/48 (Mask)Cat. No. 644033Cat. No. 648050Cat. No. 648080Cat. No. 648490eduard47INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 48
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KITS 07/2021Bf 109F-4, WNr. 7183, Hptm. Hans Hahn, III./JG 2, St. Pol, France, October 13, 1941Bf 109F-4, WNr. 7243, Oblt. Otto Kath, Stab/JG 54, Staraya Russa, Soviet Union, early December 1941Bf 109F-4, Uffz. Hans Döbrich, 6./JG 5, Petsamo, Finland, September 2, 1942Hans „Assi“ Hahn, a fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross with oak leaves was in command of 4./JG 2 from December,1939 and starting from October 1940 he overtook the lead of III./JG 2. Fifty kill marks on the rudder related to his service on theWestern Front. Hahn added the fiftieth kill to his tally on October 13, 1941, shooting down a Spitfire near Boulogne-sur-Mer. Alto-gether he destroyed 66 enemy aircraft in the West. In late 1942 “Assi” Hahn moved to the East and commanded II./JG 54 from No-vember 1, 1942. On February 21, 1943, he was downed and captured. He spent seven years in captivity, returning back to Germanyin 1950. He wrote a book about his life in prison Prisoner of War in Russia (Ich spreche die Wahrheit – I Speak the Truth). Hahn´stotal score stands at 108 kills. The rooster head was the crest of III./JG 2, based on Hahn´s family name (“der Hahn” means “therooster” in English).Otto Kath served as Geschwaderadjutant for Hannes Trautloft, the famous fighter ace and CO of JG 54 from March, 1941 till Sep-tember, 1943. Trautloft retained Kath when moving from I./JG 20 to JG 54. Kath is credited with 6 kills. The standard camouflageof RLM 74/75/76 was oversprayed with washable white paint on the upper sides as the temporary winter camouflage. The onlyexception was the framing of the canopy. The non-standard Geschwader Stab marking is green, which was the color reservedfor aircraft of the HQ members. The green heart was the symbol of the JG 54 “Grünherz”. Note the yellow Eastern Front mar-kings on the wings, rudder, and fuselage.This aircraft was flown by Hans Döbrich, a fighter ace credited with 65 victories. He was downed three times and seriouslywounded during the last incident. He never flew a combat sortie again. During the second half of 1942, II./JG 5 was equipped with“Friedrichs” manufactured for service in a tropical environment. The desert camouflage colors consisting of RLM 79 and RLM78 were applied at the factory. Feldflugpark (Repair Field Unit) in Pori added segments of RLM 74/70 (some sources state RLM75/71) which helped to camouflage effect over the northern territory. The green shamrock on the cowling was a crest of 6./JG 5.eduard49INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 50
KITS 07/2021Bf 109F-4/trop, WNr. 8693, Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille, 3./JG 27, North Africa, February 1942Bf 109F-4, WNr. 13325, Oblt. Viktor Bauer, 9./JG 3, Shchigry, Soviet Union, June 1942Bf 109F-4/B, W. Nr. 7629, Oblt. Frank Liesendahl, 10. (Jabo)/JG 2, France, June 1942This aircraft was flown by Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille, a fighter ace with 158 kills to his credit. Marseille was awarded the Kni-ght´s Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds as the recognition of his remarkable success. He was shooting down ene-my aircraft at rapid rate with many multiple one-day victories. The German propaganda made use of it to make Marseille a star.The tale ended with Marseille´s death. He was killed in accident on September 30, 1942. The camouflage of his aircraft consistedof RLM 79 “Sandgelb” on the upper surfaces and RLM 78 “Himmelblau” on the lower ones. The rudder was adorned with fifty killmarks (Abschussmarken) and appears to be oversprayed with a red-brown primer. Marseille achieved his 49th and 50th killson February 21, 1942. His victims were two Kittyhawks. The white-painted wingtips and fuselage band were Luftwaffe markingsused on the aircraft flown in the Mediterranean theatre.This aircraft was flown by Viktor Bauer, holder of the Knight's Cross with an oak leaves and ace with 106 kills. He achieved mostof them in combats with Soviet pilots. Bauer flew this particular aircraft in the summer of 1942, when German Group of ArmiesA advanced on Stalingrad. The unit received Messerschmitts originally intended for service in North Africa, thus camouflaged inRLM 78/79 colors. The segments of RLM 74/70 (some sources state RLM 75/71) were added to the desert camouflage scheme tobetter the camouflage effect in the Eastern Front environment. The yellow wingtips, fuselage band and lower cowling were typi-cal for airplanes flown in the east. Note the III./JG 3 badge on the nose. The name Ellen referred to Bauer´s wife. Bauer achievedhis 106th and last kill on August 9, 1942, northwest of Stalingrad. The very next day he was hit by enemy fire, wounded, and had tobelly land his crippled plane. After rescue, Bauer served in various posts of Ergänzungs (replacement) units.During late 1941, the Luftwaffe considered renewing bombing of Great Britain and coastal shipping. Each fighter unit fightingagainst the Great Britain was ordered to single out one Staffel for this purpose. The 10. (Jabo) Staffel played this role withinJG 2. Under command of Oblt. Frank Liesendahl this Staffel sank 20 vessels (total tonnage 630.000 BRT) over a four-monthperiod. Liesendahl was killed when attacking cargo vessels near Brixham on July 17, 1942. Posthumously he was promotedto Hauptmann rank and was awarded the Knight´s Cross as well. Liesendahl´s personal mount wore a standard day fightercamouflage consisting of RLM 74/75/76. The ship-munching fox was a 10. (Jabo) Staffel badge. Note the symbols of vessels da-maged or sunk by Liesendahl on the rudder.eduard50INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 51
KITS 07/2021OVERTREESBf 109F-4Cat. No. 82114X1/48Product pageProduct pageCat. No. 82114-LEPT1Recommended for Bf 109F-448899 Bf 109F-4 (PE-Set)FE844 Bf 109F-4 Weekend (PE-Set)644010 Bf 109F LööK (Brassin)648279 Bf 109F cockpit (Brassin)648282 Bf 109F wheels (Brassin)648288 Bf 109F propeller LATE (Brassin)648291 Bf 109F landing flaps (Brassin)648300 Bf 109F engine & fuselage guns (Brassin)648308 Bf 109F undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648365 Bf 109F radio compartment (Brassin)SIN64829 Bf 109F ESSENTIAL (Brassin)SIN64830 Bf 109F ADVANCED (Brassin)D48026 Bf 109F stencils (Decal set)3DL48028 Bf 109F-4 SPACE (3D Decal set)EX535 Bf 109F-4 (Mask)EX588 Bf 109F TFace (Mask)Cat. No. 644010Cat. No. 648365Cat. No. 648300eduard51INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 52
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KITS 07/2021Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, MH712, W/O Henryk Dygala, No. 302 (Polish) Sqn., ALG G10 Plumetot, France, August 1944Spitfire HF Mk.IXc, MJ296, F/Lt Otto Smik, No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Sqn., RAF North Weald, United Kingdom, August 1944Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, MJ586, S/Lt. Pierre Clostermann, No. 602 Sqn., Longues-sur-Mer, France, July 1944The No. 302 (Polish) Squadron was one of the units that participated in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The D-Day „In-vasion Stripes“ painted on the bottom of the fuselage and wings indicate that fact as well. This aircraft was equipped with wingracks for 250Ib bombs. The pointed rudder was freshly painted and so the colors appeared darker than the rest of the aircraft.Nose art paintings were not common within the RAF, so this one, the girl sitting on the bomb, is one of exceptions. The Polishstencil right of the cockpit door “Wycierac obuwie” means “Wipe your shoes“.This Spitfire was flown by F/Lt Otto Smik, the CO of B Flight of No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron. On the cockpit door 8,5 confir-med kill marks plus three V-1s destroyed were painted as his personal score of that time. Smik was flying this Spitfire duringJuly and August on strafing missions over occupied Europe. He was shot down by AA fire during an attack on Gilze-Rijen AirBase but survived and with the help of the Dutch resistance, he returned to Great Britain. Smik met his fate on November 28,1944, when he was killed during attack on the Zwolle railway station. The camouflage and marking of this Spitfire were typical forNo. 312 (Czechoslovak) Sqn. with the unit badge painted on both sides of the cowling. Available photos do not reveal the type ofthe rudder. The MJ296 could have had either the rounded or pointed type.Pierre Clostermann, a famous French fighter ace, became known worldwide thanks to his book “Le Grand Cirque” (The BigShow) as well. One of the aircraft he was flying during the war was Spitfire MJ586. Clostermann´s score of seven confirmed,three probable and seven damaged enemy aircraft is painted below windshield. French sources credit Clostermann with 20kills, but it has been a topic of debate for many years. The post war French numbers are inconsistent with those of wartimedocumentation in British archives due to different methodology of these two Air Forces. At the end of WWII, Clostermann flewTempests with No. 3 Squadron RAF. Note the squadron badge on both sides of the engine cowling.eduard53INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 54
KITS 07/2021Spitfire LF Mk.lXc, MJ250, F/O Desmond Ibbotson, No. 601 Sqn., Italy, Summer, 1944Spitfire LF Mk.lXc, ML135, P/O Jerry Billing, No. 401 Sqn., RAF Tangmere, United Kingdom, June 7, 1944Spitfire LF Mk.lXc, ML 135, flown by Jerry Billing, No. 401 Sqn., France, July 1, 1944MJ250 was flown by No. 601 "County of London" Squadron from July 1944. The unit was operating from the airfields at Perugia,Loreto and Fano at that time. The aircraft was used primarily for dive-bombing operations. MJ250 survived the war but wasscrapped shortly afterward. The MJ250 was regularly flown by F/O Desmond Ibbotson, DFC & Bar. This fighter ace is creditedwith 11 confirmed and four probable kills plus five damaged aircraft. He died on November 19, 1944 at the controls of SpitfireMH614. The camouflage colors of MJ250 were removed except for the upper engine and fuel tank cowling. These parts seem tobe taken from another aircraft which retained the camouflage colors. Note the unit badge on the fin tip.Jerry Billing was one of many Canadians serving with RAF. He volunteered in October 1942 to help the Malta defense. Afterjoining No. 185 Squadron, he fought over the island until March 1943, when he was downed by a Bf 109. Billing was transferred toNo. 401 Squadron in 1944. He downed a Ju 88 bomber and damaged two Fw 190s on June 7, 1944, the second day of the invasionof Normandy. On July 1, 1944, his Spitfire ML135 was hit by AA fire and Billing belly-landed in no-man's land in France. He man-aged to get back to the UK with the help of a French family. After WWII, Jerry Billing re-enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Forceand became an instructor. In 1951 he joined the Blue Devils, a Canadian aerobatics team flying Vampire jets. Billing left the RCAFin 1964, becoming DeHavilland test pilot.Jerry Billing was shot down at the controls of ML135 on July 1, 1944, belly-landing seven miles south of Carentan, France.The D-Day stripes were left on the undersides only and the female name „Dorothy“ appeared under the windscreen.eduard54INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 55
KITS 07/2021OVERTREESSpitfire Mk.IXc late versionCat. No. 8289X1/48Product pageProduct pageCat. No. 8281-LEPT1Recommended for Spitfire Mk.IXc late48765 Spitfire Mk.IXc landing flaps (PE-Set)48766 Spitfire Mk.IX surface panels (PE-Set)49639 Spitfire Mk.IXc (PE-Set)FE840 Spitfire Mk.IX seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644008 Spitfire Mk.IX late LööK (Brassin)644067 Spitfire Mk.I late LööKplus (Brassin)648099 Spitfire exhaust stacks fishtail (Brassin)648100 Spitfire Mk.IX cockpit (Brassin)648109 Spitfire 500lb bomb set (Brassin)648112 Spitfire Mk.IX engine (Brassin)648113 Spitfire Mk.IX gun bay (Brassin)648119 Spitfire wheels - 5 spoke, smooth tire (Brassin)648120 Spitfire - radio compartment (Brassin)648124 Spitfire undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648306 Spitfire Mk.IX top cowl late (Brassin)3DL48029 Spitfire Mk.IXc late version SPACE (3D Decal set)Cat. No. 644008Cat. No. 648100Cat. No. 6481112eduard55INFO Eduard - July 2021Page 56
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KITS 07/20219./JG 1, Paderborn, Germany, May 1944WNr. 412179, flown by Uffz. Horst Petzschler, 2./JG 3, Burg near Magdeburg, Germany, May 1944The Bf 109G-6/AS was developed to intercept enemy aircraft at higher altitudes. This accounts for the camouflage paint con-sisting of just RLM 76. At unit level, these aircraft often received additional coats of then standard colours consisting of RLM 74and RLM 75 over the side and upper surfaces. The JG 1 unit emblem was applied to the nose, and this was a winged numeral'1' inside of a square, rotated to sit on one of its corners. On period photographs of Yellow '14', the red fuselage band is clearlyvisible, signifying the fact that this aircraft served within the Defense of the Reich system. The vertical bar located within it wasa designator for III. Gruppe planes, and was always rendered in the Staffel colour. This was, in the case of the 9. Staffel, yellow.Some sources conclude that the fuselage code of Yellow '14' covered the earlier applied numeral '3', while others suggest thatthe covered designation was either the factory applied 'TO' or 'TQ'. We are offering both possibilities.Horst Petzschler was born in Berlin on September 1st, 1921 and joined the Luftwaffe on April 1st, 1941. After undergoing fighterpilot training, he was assigned to JG 51 on August 23rd, 1943, and it was there he would gain his first three kills. On April 13th,1944, he w