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Info Eduard - August 2010
Info Eduard - August 2010 Page 15
During the vast majority of combat on the Eastern
Front under Trautloft’s command, JG 54 operated over
the northern and central sectors within the framework
of Luftflotte 1. Despite the size of the area of operations,
Trautloft managed to maintain contact with all elements
of the fighter wing and personally knew all the pilots,
including non commissioned officers. Under his
command, there was a line of successful fighter pilots
and commanders, such as Nowotny, Kittel, Phillip,
Beisswenger, Hrabak, Ostermann, etc.
Trautloft was awarded the Knight’s Cross on July 27th,
1941, not for his number of kills, but more for the overall
success of JG 54. It is interesting to note that he received
the German Cross in Gold, which typically preceded the
awarding of the Knight’s Cross, on August 17th, 1942.
The number of aerial victories attained by the Germans
on the Eastern Front, compared to those reached on the
Western Front, were nothing short of unbelievable. JG 54
reached its 1000th on August 1st, 1941 (Lt. Ostermann),
the 2000th was bagged by Ofw. Klemm on April 4th,
1942, and no. 3000 came on September 14th, 1942
by Lt. Heyer.
Trautloft scored his fiftieth kill in WW II on February
15th, 1943 south of Leningrad. He identified his victim
as a Mustang. Trautloft wanted to personally capture his
victim and meet him, but the unfortunate Soviet pilot hit
a tree while trying to set down. Shortly after that event,
JG 54 achieved its 4000th kill.
At the time, part of the unit was re-equipping on the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G transferred to Western Europe,
where the pilots had to re-orientate themselves to
a different opponent, at different altitudes, and ground
support that was unthinkable on the Eastern Front.
The remainder of JG 54 went from the Messerschmitt
Bf 109G to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A.
In July, 1943, Trautloft left JG 54, and became
Inspector of Fighter Units on the Eastern Front under the
Stab of General of Fighter Forces Adolf Galland. At the
end of 1943, he was named inspector of the entire fighter
force, and after difficulties with Luftwaffe leadership,
he gained the dubious function as CO of the 4th Air Force
Training Division.
In all, he flew 560 combat missions from 1936 to the
summer of 1943, and scored 58 victories.
After the end of the war, he made a living by various
means, including in graphics, and as a merchant.
In 1957, he returned to the air force, and gained the
rank of Generalmajor, retiring in 1970. He was also the
first chairman of the German Fighter Pilots Association.
In 1979, he became the senior European tennis champion
in mixed doubles!
Hannes Trautloft is the author, or co-author, of around
ten books, some of which he himself illustrated.
In the preparation of this article, valuable assistance
was given by Franek Grabowski, Ota Jírovec, Dr. Jochen
Prien and Anders Hjortsberg. I extend my gratitude
to all. For an overview of Trautloft’s victories, I recom-
mend visiting the web page of Petr Kacha at
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/trautloft.html
Main Sources:
- Bob E.: Kriegs-Tagebuch von Hannes Trautloft, VDM, Zweibrücken, 2006
- Bob E., Trautloft H., Held W.: Die Grünherzjäger, Freiburg, 1999
- Cornwell P.: Battle of France, Then and Now
- van Ishoven A.: Messerschmitt Bf 109 at War, Ian Allan, Shepperton, 1977
- Mombeek E.: Jagdwaffe Volume One, Section 2, The Spanish Civil War, Classic
Publications, Crowborrow, 1999
- Obermaier E.: Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Band I, Jagdflieger, Verlag
Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz, 1989
- Prien J.: Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 77 Teil 1, Eutin
- Prien J. a spol: Die Jagdfliegerverbande der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945,
various volumes
- Skawran P. R.: Ikaros, Verlag 27, Memmingen 2000
HISTORY
(Emblems illustration by Jan Zdiarský, text by Jan Bobek)
BUY Weekend edition Bf 109E-1 (3401)
Bf 109E-1 W.Nr. 4072,
Hptm. Hannes Trautloft,
2./JG 77, Juliusburg,
Germany, September
1939
Illustration by Petr Štěpánek
used as boxart for the
Weekend edition of Eduard
Bf 109E-1 kit.
The original personal emblem
of Hannes Trautloft,
later adopted by Stab
and all JG 54 Gruppen.
The personal emblem
of Hannes Trautloft
in the function of Kommodore
JG 54. He used it on
the Bf 109 F, G and on
the Fw 190 A. The order
of the three Gruppe
emblems inside the
green heart progressively
changed.
I./JG 54 emblem
formed out of the
Nürnberg Coat of
Arms.
II./JG 54 emblem
- The Lion of Aspern
(Lowe von Aspern)
indicating the Gruppe’s
formation at Vi-
enna – Aspern (Wien
– Aspern). The Lion
of Aspern is a memorial
dedicated to the victory
over Napoleon
at Aspern – Essling
in May, 1809.
III./JG 54 emblem
– Jesau Coat
of Arms, where
the Gruppe was
formed, detailed
with fighter silhou-
ettes. Jesau is
nowadays Russian
city Yushny in for-
mer East Prussia.