Info EDUARD
Synced!
Request for consent to store optional information

We do not need to store any information (cookies, etc.) for the basic functioning of the website. However, we would like to ask for your consent to store optional information:

Anonymous Unique ID

Thanks to it, next time we will know that it is the same device and we will be able to more accurately evaluate the traffic. This identifier is completely anonymous.

Aa

Aa

Aa

Aa

Aa

 

 

 

 

aA

The Youngest Kommodore

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Martin Novotný

Cat. No. 3003


The box art for this kit, firstly released in 2009, was created by our late friend Martin Novotný. This painting is one of my favourites due to its composition, the chosen colors, and the dynamics Martin infused into it. It captures the atmosphere of the Battle of Britain as many of us likely imagine it. The depicted Messerschmitt belonged to Major Helmut Wick, Kommodore of JG 2 "Richthofen." His plane is shown as it appeared in November 1940, a time when the daily Luftwaffe bomber raids on England had ceased. While the depicted situation is not historically accurate, I don't believe this detracts from the painting's appeal.

When twenty-five-year-old Helmut Wick was killed in aerial combat on November 28, 1940, he was the youngest Kommodore and the first recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves to be killed in action. At the time, Adolf Galland, commander of JG 26 "Schlageter," was 28 years old, and Werner Mölders, Kommodore of JG 51, was only a year younger than Galland. These three pilots were competing for the top spot in the number of aerial victories achieved since September 1939.

A typical Jagdgeschwader at that time had approximately 120 aircraft and an air and ground staff of more than 2,000 men. Leading such a unit was quite a challenge for officers barely thirty years old. These young airmen were mostly promoted to Kommodore positions in the summer of 1940, during a generational shift in command. They replaced officers who were sometimes a generation older, many of whom had seen combat during World War I.

Both Adolf Galland and Werner Mölders served in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders achieved 14 aerial victories in Spain and significantly influenced the methodology of German fighter deployment before World War II. Before becoming Kommodore, Galland led his III/JG 26 to become the best Jagdgruppe for bomber escort during the Battle of Britain. How did Wick compare?

He joined the Luftwaffe in early April 1936 and began training for an officer's career at the Luftkriegsschule Dresden. In July of that year, he was recommended for future officer career in an evaluation, but his flight training was rated as mediocre, and he performed below average in theoretical instruction. Consequently, he did not complete the course. In May 1937, he was assigned to bomber unit II./KG 254 (later II./KG 55 "Greif"), but after only a month, he was sent back to school in Dresden. He was unable to complete the second course either and only successfully completed the course on his third attempt in the summer of 1938. He then underwent six weeks of training on fighter aircraft at the Jagdfliegerschule Werneuchen, where he was highly rated for his marksmanship and his daring approach to conducting mock attacks.

Finally, he was assigned to a fighter unit, I./JG 333 (later I./JG 54 "Grünherz"), which rearmed from Arado Ar 68 biplanes to Bf 109 Ds during the autumn of 1938 and participated in the occupation of the Czechoslovakian border area.

Helmut Wick was promoted to the rank of Leutnant in November 1938, and on January 1, 1939, he became a member of JG 133, which was redesignated JG 53 "Pik As" in May 1939. He was assigned to the 1st Staffel, which the legendary Werner Mölders became commander in March. Wick later recalled with great respect the knowledge imparted to him over several months by both Mölders and I. Gruppe commander Hptm. Lothar von Janson. When the Gruppenkommandeur completed Wick's assessment on August 31, 1939, he recommended him for service with I./JG 2 "Richthofen." According to the evaluation, during his eight months with I./JG 53, Wick demonstrated organizational talent and had no interest in anything other than military and aviation subjects. He had exceptionally good eyesight and remained very cool when practicing aerial combat. Initially, he served as the technical officer of the 1st Staffel, and from July 15, he was in charge of training NCO candidates.

His career with JG 2 is fairly well known. After a year of service in the 3. Staffel, during which he achieved 22 victories and became its commander, he was appointed head of the I. Gruppe in September 1940. Six weeks later, on October 20, he took command of the entire JG 2. The young Kommodore, however, was very focused on his personal score at a time when the Luftwaffe was pulling back from major daily operations against Great Britain. He himself described it as a compulsive, even obsessive, desire to engage the enemy, which likely contributed to his death.

08/2024
Info EDUARD 08/2024

INFO Eduard is a monthly scale model-historical magazine published in Czech and English by Eduard Model Accessories since 2010. The magazine is available for free on the Triobo platform and can be downloaded in PDF format. Eduard is a manufacturer of plastic models and accessories with over 30 years of tradition. Throughout its history in the plastic modeling industry, Eduard has become one of the world's leaders. Further details about the company and its product range can be found at www.eduard.com. You can subscribe to the INFO magazine and receive product information for free at: https://www.eduard.com/cs/info-eduard/

8/1/2024

Read

Check out other issues

© 2025 Eduard – Model Accessories, s.r.o.

Mírová 170

435 21 Obrnice

Czech Republic

https://www.eduard.com

support@eduard.com

+420 777 055 500

Article The Youngest Kommodore waiting for thumbnails …

Sending statistics … done (6919 ms)

Rendering The Youngest Kommodore (360604): (1/1) (0 ms)

No sync content to local

Viewport set: width=device-width, user-scalable=0; scale = 1

No sync content to local

Screen: easyReading

--==[ RUN ]==--

Info EDUARD: theme set to 8895

Device info: input=mouse, webkitPrefix=no, screen=1264x0(1)

Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)

 r85/appLogo-123.png

 r85/pubLogoa-156-cz.png

 i9295/item1138818-small.jpg

 p156/vth465283-1.jpg

 r85/appLogoa-123.png

 r85/vth489166-0.jpg

 r85/vth489177-0.jpg

 p156/vth489062-1.jpg

 i9295/vth465401-1.jpg

 i9295/vth465402-1.jpg