BOXART STORY

#82115

The First Winter

When Adolf Hitler broke the MolotovRibbentrop Treaty and attacked Stalin’s

Soviet Union with his allies on June 22, 1941,

the greatest ground and air battles in world

history took place. However, the forces of

Germany and its satellites launched the

attack later than originally planned. And

the command's ideas that the Soviets would

be defeated by winter were wrong for many

reasons. In addition, the Soviet Union soon

began to receive help under the Lend-Lease

Act. Coming winter 1941/1942 German ground

and air units were in a situation for which

they were often ill-equipped, unlike their

opponents who knew the terrain and the

Russian winter well.

One of the units that fought in Russia at

that time was Jagdgeschwader 54 “Grünherz”

under the command of Kommodore Hannes

Trautloft. One of his Gruppen, I./JG 54, was

commanded from February 1942 by Hptm.

Hans Philipp, whose duel is depicted on

a boxart by Adam Tooby. Trautloft ordered

preparation of report relating Geschwader

experiences from November 1, 1941, to April

30, 1942. It is available in the Bundesarchiv

under the signature RL 10/477. The document

is 80 pages long and in a few paragraphs,

I will try to summarize some interesting

points from the first seven chapters.

JG 54 was deployed on a frontline

stretching 330 km long in the Army Group

Nord area between Lake Ilmen and Leningrad.

It was subordinated to Luftflotte 1 within the

I. Fliegerkorps. Its armament consisted of

July 2023

Bf 109 F-2s and the first F-4s were received

by III. Gruppe in March 1942. In December the

temperature dropped to minus 10´C, but by

January it reached minus 42°C. During this

period, JG 54 flew 8,946 combat sorties and

1,258 ground attack sorties. In doing so, it

claimed the shoot-down of 51 reconnaissance,

courier and transport aircraft types, 107

bombers, most of which were modern Pe-2

and Il-2s, and destroyed 518 fighter aircraft,

more than 80% of which were modern aircraft.

During the winter the Soviet airmen

modified their formations in a manner similar

to that used by the Germans. Due to the

technical superiority of the Bf 109 F, their

enemies began to use a defensive circle

against which the Germans had to develop

offensive tactics. On this battlefield JG 54

encountered for the first time the Curtiss

P-40s, which they judged to have good rate of

climb and ability to manoeuvre in turns.

The Soviet formations usually flew

machines with white camouflage paint as well

as the original dark camouflage, which made it

difficult for the Germans to get an overview of

the number and position of their enemies. The

Bf 109 F usually used a four-plane formation

(Schwarm), which was split into a pair (Rotte)

that attacked and a second Rotte that provided

cover. The recommended method of attack

was at close range from the rear, due to the

quality of the armour of the Soviet machines.

When the firing ceased, it was recommended

to pull in and fly over the enemy so that the

German machine would not be hit by debris.

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Adam Tooby

Soviet bomber formations usually flew in

numbers of three to twelve machines with

a strong fighter escort. Against such superior

numbers, it was necessary to call in additional

Rotten and Schwärme from other sections of

the front in order to draw the fighter escorts

into the fight and then attack the bombers.

The Pe-2 formations were very disciplined

and it was not recommended to attack them

directly from the rear. If a bomber was hit, the

other Pe-2 crews would try to line it up in the

centre of the formation to protect it.

According to the JG 54 pilots, the Il-2s had

excellent armour and it was recommended to

fire at the tail surfaces, ideally from above or

from the side. The JG 54 report shows respect

for the rear gunners of enemy bombers.

Mention is also made of the problem of

retraining rookie pilots, who had a great

appetite for combat but at the same time

underestimated the enemy.

Escorting German bombers was more

difficult than in the summer of 1941, mainly

because of the timing of rendezvous and also

because Ju 88 crews tended to use looser

formations. JG 54 rated better the Stukas

crews, who maintained tight formations in

a disciplined manner.

JG 54 judged the enemy anti-aircraft

defences to be highly effective, these were

particularly dangerous during strafing

attacks. It was not recommended to attack a

single target twice, and it was essential to fly

low when departing.

INFO Eduard

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