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9./JG 1, Paderborn, Germany, May 1944
WNr. 412179, Uffz. Horst Petzschler, 2./JG 3, Burg near Magdeburg, Germany, May 1944
The Bf 109G-6/AS was developed to intercept
enemy aircraft at higher altitudes. This accounts
for the camouflage paint consisting of just RLM
76. At unit level, these aircraft often received
additional coats of then standard colors consisting
of RLM 74 and RLM 75 over the side and upper
surfaces. The JG 1 unit emblem was applied to
the nose, and this was a winged numeral 1 inside
of a square, rotated to sit on one of its corners.
On period photographs of Yellow 14, the red
fuselage band is clearly visible, signifying the
fact that this aircraft served within the Defense
of the Reich system. The vertical bar located
within it was a designator for III. Gruppe planes
and was always rendered in the Staffel color. This
was, in the case of the 9. Staffel, yellow. Some
sources conclude that the fuselage code of Yellow
14 covered the earlier applied numeral 3, while
others suggest that the covered designation
was either the factory applied TO or TQ. We are
offering both possibilities.
Horst Petzschler was born in Berlin on September
1, 1921, and joined the Luftwaffe on April 1, 1941.
After undergoing fighter pilot training, he was
assigned to JG 51 on August 23, 1943, and it was
there he would gain his first three kills. On April
13, 1944, he was transferred to 2./JG 3 which
was a component of the Defence of the Reich
structure, but by June 1944, he would return
to JG 51 on the Eastern Front. On May 4, 1945,
III./JG 51 was relocated to Schleswig-Holstein
from eastern Prussia. Horst Petzschler did not
reach that location due to a navigation error and
landed at Bulltofta in Sweden, where he was
interned and in January 1946, the Swedes handed
him over to the Soviets. He was released from
captivity on September 22, 1949. On his return,
he worked for the Berlin Police Department and
in 1953, he emigrated to Canada and then to the
United States, where he worked in the aviation
industry. He retired in 1988. Over the course of the
Second World War, he downed 26 enemy aircraft.
During his service with 2./JG 3, Uffz. Petzschler
flew an aircraft coded Black 14. The aircraft was
painted RLM 76 overall at the plant and carried
the JG 3 insignia on the nose. On May 30, 1944,
Fw. Otto Bülsow was shot down during combat in
this airplane over Belzig.
Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller, CO of 1./NJGr. 10, Werneuchen, Germany, July 1944
The future Knight’s Cross recipient, the ace
with 30 night victories over the enemy aircraft,
was born on December 4, 1912, in Sulzbach in
Saarland. In 1934 he completed his pilot training
and got the job with Lufthansa. After the outbreak
of World War Two he was ordered to the Luftwaffe.
Initially he was flying as a transport pilot, later
as an instrument flying instructor. In December
1942 he was assigned to KG 50 operating He 177
aircraft, in the summer of the following year he
responded to Hajo Hermann call and requested
the reassignment to JG 300 famous for its Wilde
Sau (single-engine fighter night interception
deployment) tactics. While serving with this unit
he was credited with 19 kills and in January 1944
he was ordered to form 1./NJGr. 10. In August 1944
he was promoted to command I./NJG 11 and lead
this unit until the end of World War II. He passed
away on November 2, 1987. The lower and partially
side surfaces were painted black for the better
night camouflage. The red stripe surrounding the
rear fuselage indicated the original owner of this
aircraft within Reich Defense, JG 300.The pilot’s
“score” was painted on both sides of the rudder
in the form of the 23 stripes with the enemy
nationality and date of the victory.
KITS 08/2024
INFO Eduard
47
August 2024