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Info Eduard - August 2010
Info Eduard - August 2010
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Dobroszyce not far from Wroclaw) to be in a location
better suited to support the attack on Poland. There are
two color films from this period, available on the internet,
that capture not only Trautloft, but also aircraft from his
2. Staffel. Janke’s personal aircraft, and that of Trautloft’s
Red ‘1’, carried fuselage stripes behind the crosses that
clearly signified aircraft of the unit CO.
When the war began on September 1st, 1939, Janke’s
I./JG 77 was tasked with covering the advance on
Krakow. The very first aerial victory in the war was gained
on September 3rd by Lt. Karl-Gottfried Nordmann with
the downing of a PZL-23
(NOTE 3).
The second victory over the Poles was gained
by Hannes Trautloft. It involved the flaming of a PZL-23
at 0820h over Warta, about 15km northwest of Sieradz.
An eye witness to the event was Oblt. Eckehard Priebe
of 2./JG 77: ‘In Poland, we had few encounters with the
enemy. Hannes Trautloft, with who’s Staffel I flew, shot
down a Polish observer. It crashed into a marsh, and one
crewmember bailed out, but his chute snagged the tail of
the aircraft, and it dragged him down behind it. Lt. ‘Hubs’
Mütherich shot at the dark squiggle in the swamp, the
later holder of the Knight’s Cross figuring that if it’s shot
down, it should burn.’
(NOTE 4)
The crew that died in this tragic manner apparently
belonged to reconnaissance unit 32. Eskadra
Rozpoznawcza. Trautloft’s victory corresponds to the
events under which a PZL-23B coded 44.55 was lost.
Its crew were composed of ppor. pil. Adam Kandzior,
plut. pil. Czesław Kruszewski and kpr. strz. Kazimier
Tyrakowski.
Janke’s unit gained one more aerial victory, but further
successes were elusive. Polish resistance ended without
further loss of aerial personnel, but the end of September
saw the unit go through an important change. Hannes
Trautloft was transferred to take command of an entirely
different fighter Gruppe, and 2. Staffel JG 77 command
was picked up by Oblt. Priebe. He also took over
Trautloft’s Red ‘1’ (W.Nr. 4072), previous to which Priebe
flew Bf 109E-1 Red ‘13’ (W.Nr. 3378)
NOTE 3. Nordmann later became Kommodor JG 51, gained
a total of 78 kills, and was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak
Leave. He spent the latter part of his life in Connecticut, USA.
NOTE 4. Citation Prien J.: Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 77
Teil, page 80. Hubert Mütherich gained a total of 43 kills
and later became CO of 5./JG 54. He died on September 9,
1941 not far from Leningrad. He was shot down by an enemy
fighter and hit a tree on attempting to land. From the wreckage
photos, it is evident that the aircraft didn’t burn either.
Wanderzirkus Janke at Odendorf base, in the summer of 1940.
On the cowling of the aircraft in the foreground, the ‘Lumpenstiefel’
emblem of I./JG 77 can be seen.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-058-1784A-14 via Wikimedia Commons
Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Johannes ‘Jänki’ Janke (left) with officers
of his Stab. In the fall of 1940, his Gruppe was made subordinate
to Hannes Trautloft’s JG 54, which was paradoxical since Janke
was formerly Trautloft’s superior. Janke was transferred to Stab
1. Jagddivision in February 1941.
Bundesarchiv 58-1784-17 via J. Prien
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 of 2. Staffel from I. Gruppe Jagdgeschwader
20 at Brandenburg-Briest base. Trautloft led this unit from September 23,
1939 to August 24, 1940. In July, 1940, it was redesignated III./JG 51.
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1997-026-32A via Wikimedia Commons
HISTORY