Red Doras

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Antonis Karydis

Cat. No. 84102 

One of the legendary fighter pilots of II./JG 52, "Heino" Sachseberg, was retrained from flying the Bf 109 to the Me 262 after achieving his 104th victory in the spring of 1945. His final unit was Galland's Jagdverband 44 equipped with Me 262 jets.

The jet powered Me 262 were most vulnerable during take-off and landing. Aircraft of JV 44 were no different, because during low speeds, the Me 262 was more difficult to control, and the throttle had to be treated with a gentle respect, or the result could be a stalled engine or a fire. During the final phases of the war, it was standard practice for jet aircraft to be covered by piston engined planes during these critical flight phases. As a result, JV 44 organized a protective flight using Fw 190 Ds under the leadership of Heino Sachsenberg.

Sachsenberg was a logical choice. He certainly didn’t lack bold nerve, and he had several year-long experience fighting fast flying enemy fighters at low altitudes. His pilots also had to contend with another danger - friendly ground fire. According to the memoirs of Johannes Steinhoff, a good chunk of crews of the anti-aircraft artillery at Riem were women. There was no real effort to distinguish between friendly and enemy aircraft. The Me 262 did enjoy relative security in this respect due to its distinctive silhouette and engine noise. Perhaps this was why the bottom surfaces of the Doras of JV 44 were painted red on the bottom, with white stripes.

The duties of Sachsenberg’s protective flight were largely improvised. His pilots couldn’t communicate directly with the pilots of the jet powered Me 262s. They simply took off and circled the field at low altitudes until the Me 262s were safely on their way. Usually, there were two Fw 190 Ds in the air, but, as an exception, Riem was circled by four.

Problems began when the jets returned. For them to set down as quickly as possible, there must not have been anything in their way. The Focke-Wulfs always had to land before the Messerschmitts. This left their colleagues in the Me 262s to land without the protective cover and dependant on their skill, luck and field AAA.

Galland himself was victim of this practice. On April 26, 1945, he crashed at Riem with injuries and a damaged aircraft. There was no one in the air to cover him. Sachsenberg’s -190s were covered in their shelters at the northern edge of the air field, and his pilots weren’t too close to the remaining JV 44 pilots. Up to now, there are five Fw 190 Ds that served with JV 44, and most of them wore a black and white square symbol with a red ring and a specific slogan. The inscription was very personal and the authorship was probably tied to a specific pilot.

Almost certainly, this is the case with Red ‘3’, which was assigned to Hptm. Waldemar Wübke (15 victories and a veteran of JG 54). Apparently, this notorious prankster and Sachsenberg understood each other quite well, and on his aircraft he reiterated the inscription from his aircraft as far back as 1940. Another two pilots who flew with Sachsenberg (and were confirmed by JV 44 documentation) were Lt. Karl H. Hoffmann and Hptm. Klaus Faber (2 victories and a JG 27 veteran). The fifth member of this flight was not Fw. Bodo Dirschauer, as previously stated, but Maj. Wilhelm Steinmann, a holder of the Knight's Cross with 44 victories.

The protection flight over Riem engaged American pilots only a few times, but details are nevertheless lacking. During the evacuation of the base, two Focke-Wulfs were left behind, the remainder were to move to Ainring at Salzburg. It appears that only two made it, and the third was found at the end of the war at Bad Aibling. JV 44 always reported having five Fw 190 D-9s and Fw 190D-11s. Klaus Faber recounted after the war ferrying Red ‘13’ from Ainring to Bad Aibling. On the way, he met a group of Mustangs and Thunderbolts, and reportedly shot down one, maybe two of them. He was also to deliver a supply of whiskey back to Ainring. Capitulation found JV 44 at Ainring, at Salzburg and Innsbruck. Her members found their way home fairly quickly.

Note: This text is a slightly edited excerpt from Sachsenberg's biography, published in INFO Eduard 11/2010. A biography of his uncle, WWI naval fighter Gotthard Sachsenberg, can be found in INFO Eduard 04/2021.