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Info Eduard - August 2010
Info Eduard - August 2010
FIGHTER WING RICHTHOFEN,
WANDERZIRKUS JANKE or WHERE DID
THAT DISCARDED SHOE COME FROM?
In the fall of 1937,
Hannes Trautloft was
named commanding
officer and head of
training at Werneuchen’s fighter
school. In July, 1938, finally came the
longed for attachment to a fighter squadron,
and that to the elite Richthofen unit. Trautloft
was named CO of 12. Staffel within the framework of
Jagdgeschwader 132 in Werneuchen. The Gruppe was
equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 D-1, and the
Gruppenkommandeur was Hptm. Johannes Janke.
He became a friend of Trautloft’s, and more will be
warranted about him later.
Hannes Trautloft almost met his Czechoslovak
opponents from Zurich in combat in September, 1938.
Germany and Czechoslovakia were on the brink of
war. History and fate dictated that war would be averted
at that time, and Germany was granted large sections
of Czechoslovakia, with some going to Hungary, and,
to a lesser extent, Poland. Germany annexed the western
Czechoslovak frontier which was populated mainly by
Sudeten Germans, and for this action deemed air cover
necessary.
One unit that was allocated to this action was Janke’s
IV./JG 132 ‘Richthofen’. Trauthoft, as a result, spent most
of October in Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), and at the end of
the month he and his unit moved to Moravská Třebová
(Mährisch – Trübau), where he remained until February,
1939. At the beginning of November, 1938, Janke’s
unit was extracted from ‘Richthofen’, and was given
the designation I./JG 331, and from May, 1939, was
re-designated its likely best known designation, I./JG 77.
During this evolution, Hannes Trautloft’s Staffel changed
its position within the Gruppe, and at the time was
2. Staffel carrying red tactical markings.
In February, Janke’s unit moved to today’s Wroclaw,
to the Breslau-Schöngarten airfield in German Upper
Silesia. The unit did not remain there for very long, as in
March, 1939, Hitler managed to annex the remainder of
Bohemia and Moravia (in former Czechoslovakia) thanks
to the infamous policy of appeasement on the part of the
world. Janke’s unit again found itself covering ground
units, and for a change, found itself in the Moravian town
of Olomouc (Olmütz).
It is easy to lose track of all the places that Janke’s
unit was stationed. For the time, the movement was
uncommon, and covered relatively large distances.
For fighter and transport pilots, that belonged to the
Jagdgruppe, this was not a big issue. Naturally, they
simply flew to where they were ordered to be. But, the
remaining Gruppe personnel, which numbered about
600, would generally be moved via ground transport.
It’s no wonder, then, that members of I./JG 77 ironically
dubbed themselves ‘Wanderzirkus Janke’ (Janke’s
Travelling Circus), and expressed their feelings resulting
from constant relocation through their unit symbol,
a discarded shoe.
THE WAR AGAINST POLAND AND FURTHER
FATE OF TRAUTLOFT’S ‘RED 1’
In April. 1939, Janke’s Wanderzirkus moved again
from Olomouc to Breslau-Schöngarten airfield, and in
May began to re-equip from the Messerschmitt Bf 109 D-1
to ‘light’ Bf 109 E-1s and ‘heavy’ Bf 109 E-3s. At the end
of August, I./JG 77 moved to the field at Juliusburg (today
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HISTORY
Hptm. Hannes Trautloft with his men from 2. Staffel Jagdgeschwader 77
at Juliusburg airfield several days prior to the invasion of Poland.
In the background is his personal Emil Red ‘1’ (W.Nr. 4072).
On the front of it is the discarded shoe marking, the emblem of I./JG 77,
which was nicknamed ‘Wanderzirkus Janke’. Trautloft’s aircraft has the
fuselage stripes identifying it as the unit CO’s.
(Trautloft via J. Prien)
Bf 109E-1 W.Nr. 4072
2./JG 77
Hannes Trautloft resting in front of his aircraft. After leaving 2./JG 77,
his Red ‘1’ was taken over by Oblt. Eckehard Priebe.
(Lächler via J. Prien)