Strana 59
Bf 109F-4/Trop, WNr. 8477, Ofw. Albert Espenlaub, 1./JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala,
Libya, November 1941
Bf 109F-4, WNr. 7223, Ofw. Josef Heinzeller, 3./JG 2,
Beaumont-le-Roger, France, May 1942
Bf 109F-4/Trop, WNr. 8477, Ofw. Albert Espenlaub, 1./JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala,
Libye, December 1941
Albert Espenlaub was born on August 25, 1913,
in Balzholt. He joined the army in 1937 and
completed his flight training at the end of 1940.
He was assigned to I./JG 27 and saw action on the
African front. He recorded his first aerial victory
on April 21, 1941. On December 13, 1941, after
a dogfight with a Hawker Hurricane, he was shot
down, made an emergency landing, and was
captured by the British. He had achieved a total
of 14 aerial victories. On February 25, 1942, while
attempting to escape from a prisoner-of-war
camp, he was shot and killed by a British guard.
Espenlaub flew the Messerschmitt pictured
here in November 1941. At that time, the noses
of aircraft in Africa were painted yellow. Eleven
stripes were painted on the rudder, representing
Espenlaub’s aerial victories.
Josef Heinzeller was born on June 10, 1915, in
Innsbruck. After completing his flight training
with the Luftwaffe, he was assigned to 2.(J)/LG 2.
It was there, during the campaign in France, that
he scored his first aerial victory on May 31, 1940.
He then served in 5./JG 3, from where he was
transferred in June 1942 to 3./JG 2 Richthofen.
He then moved to 2./JG 54, which was operating
on the Eastern Front. There, in May 1944, he
became commander of 1./JG 54. During World
War II, he scored 35 aerial victories and lived
to see the war’s end. All of his aircraft were
adorned with a drawing of a dog and the
inscription “SCHNAUZL” on the engine cowling.
This color scheme depicts the appearance of
Ofw. Albert Espenlaub’s Bf 109F-4/trop after its
emergency landing on December 13, 1941, and
the repairs it underwent during November 1941.
It had new engine cowlings, a widened white
stripe on the fuselage, and a white kill mark
added to the rudder, on which a repaired bullet
hole was also visible.
KITS 08/2026
INFO Eduard
59
August 2026