KITS 07/2023

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

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INFO Eduard

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.

July 2023