Oblt. Rolf Hermichen, 3./JG 26, Dno field base, the Soviet Union, March 1943

Rolf Hermichen achieved 66 kills during the WW II, the first 11 of them as a Bf 110 pilot during the battles of France and Britain. He was transferred to III./JG 26 in November 1941 and first served as an adjutant to Josef Priller, the CO of III. Gruppe. As early as May 1, 1942, Hermichen became Staffelkapitän (CO) of the 3. Staffel. When I./JG 26 moved to the Eastern Front in January 1943, he added eight more kills to his existing 21. Already as Hauptmann, on his return to the Western Front he temporarily led III. Gruppe from June 15 to July 4, 1943 and became CO of I./JG 11 on October 16. There, as a part of the Defense of the Reich, he was very successful in combat against Allied bombers. In total, he had 25 (or 26) of them to his credit. His last success came on April 24, 1944, when he shot down a P-51D. He was shot down himself on May 12 and after withdrawal from operational duty, he served at Headquarters of 2. Jagd-Division. From October 1944 to January 1945, Hermichen served as CO of II/JG 104. The Fw 190A-5 he was flying in the spring of 1943 had the original RLM 74 and 75 shades oversprayed by irregular spots of green shades, probably RLM 70 and 71, which were partly oversprayed by white color for winter operations. The white was already quite weathered in March. The original camouflage was probably apparent inside the crosses on the upper side of the wing. The shape and size of the green spots on the wing and right side of the fuselage is a reconstruction.

Maj. Fritz Losigkeit, CO of I./JG 1, Deelen, the Netherlands, April 1943 

Fritz Losigkeit (1913–1994) was born in Berlin and starting from October 1936 served with JG 2 “Richthofen”. He joined Legion Condor in Spain in March 1936 but was shot down and captured. In April 1939 he joined 2./JG 26 and later became CO of this unit. A shift in his career occurred in June 1941, when he became member of the diplomatic mission in Japan. After his return in March 1942 he took over the command of I./JG 26, but he did not stay too long there, as he was sent to Eastern Front to lead III./JG 51 shortly afterwards. In April 1944 he became Kommodore of JG 51 and a year later he took over the command of JG 77. Losigkeit scored 68 victories in approximately 750 missions flown and was awarded Knight’s Cross. An interesting feature of the marking of his Fw 190 was the stripe of the flags under the canopy representing his combat deployments and foreign affairs assignments. Emblem of IV./JG 1 and victory marks on rudder are not confirmed by photos. After the war Losigkeit was working for CIA-controlled organization Gehlen, later he became secretary of Free Democratic Party (FDP). Camouflage consists of RLM 74, 75 and 76 colors with spinner in RLM 70.

Lt. Emil Lang, 5./JG 54, Orel, the Soviet Union, summer 1943 

Lt. Emil “Bully” Lang managed to shoot down 173 enemy aircraft over the course of more than 400 combat missions. Of these, 144 were achieved in the Eastern Front. Lang, pre-war athlete and Lufthansa pilot, proved to be a real expert in combat flying. His immense success rate could nicely be illustrated with downing 72 enemy aircraft within three weeks of December 1943. At that time, he was 34 and thus one of the oldest Luftwaffe pilots. His lucky days ended on September 3, 1944. At the time, he was a commander of II./JG 26 and was shot down during combat with Spitfires Mk. XII of No. 41 Squadron RAF over Belgian territory. He fell victim to F/Lt. Terry Spencer. This Fw 190A-5 was flown by Lt. Lang during the time he was commander of 5./JG 54. The upper surfaces of Lang’s Fw 190A-5 were camouflaged by irregular fields of two shades of a green and a sand color. The darker of greens was probably RLM 70, while the other two shades were non-standard colors. Undersurfaces were painted in RLM 76 and the aircraft sported yellow markings of the Eastern Front: lower engine cowl, bottom wingtips and rudder and also wide band around the rear fuselage. Other aircraft of JG 54 were finished in the same manner.   

WNr. 1230, Obstlt. Walter Oesau, CO of JG 2, Beaumont le Roger, France, June 1943      

Walter “Gulle” Oesau joined JG 2 “Richthofen” before the war and in April 1938 was transferred to Legion Condor in Spain. In August 1940, already as CO of 7./JG 51, he was awarded Knight’s Cross after gaining 20 victories in WWII. He briefly led III./JG 51 and in November was appointed CO of III./JG 3. On July 15, 1941, his victory tally had reached 80 and at the end of July 1941, he took command of JG 2 in France. Oesau recorded his 100th victory on October 26, 1941 and was appointed Kommodore of JG 1 in November 1943, following the death of Oberst Hans Philipp. On May 11, 1944, Oesau was shot down and killed by P-38s in the cockpit of Bf 109G-6/AS (WNr. 20601) “Green 13” near St Vith. “Gulle” Oesau scored 127 victories in over 300 combat missions. Nine of them in Spain, 74 in the West and 44 over the Eastern Front. This Fw 190A-5 was manufactured by Focke-Wulf in Marienburg in the first half of 1943. Camouflage consisted of RLM 74, 75 and 76 color shades with spinner painted RLM 70. The rudder sported symbols of five victories (101st to 105th) against four-engined bombers.