BUILT

Bf 109F-2, WNr. 8085, Lt. Jürgen Harder, Stab III./JG 53, Sobolewo, Germany, June 1941

Jürgen Harder, brother of the better known Harro

Harder, achieved his first kill on June 22, 1941, the

day Operation Barbarossa began. He joined the

Luftwaffe in 1939 and served in 7./JG 53 from early

1941, then became a staff officer in III. Gruppe. In

April 1942 he took command of 7./JG 53 in Africa

and in February 1944 became commander of

I./JG 53 in Italy. Until the end of the war he claimed

further 63 kills both on the Eastern and Western

July 2023

fronts. On February 1, 1945, he was decorated with

the Knight’s Cross with the Oak Leaves. His luck

ran out on February 17, 1945, when, due to the

engine failure of his Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14, he

crashed to death nearby the town of Strausberg.

Harder’s WNr. 8085 later served with 4./JG 51,

Jagdgruppe West, underwent an overhaul and

its version designation was changed to F-4.

It was destroyed on December 2, 1943, in Southern

France when it was allocated to Jagdgruppe Süd,

commanded by Heinz Bär. In its cockpit, Uffz.

Alexis Prinz zu Bentheim und Steinfurt was shot

down in combat with American airmen.

INFO Eduard

105