BOXART STORY

#82141

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Kateřina Borecká

Fourth of July over the Netherlands

The boxart of Eduard’s September release

depicts the fight of Uffz Johannes Rathenow

with the British Boston formation on July 4,

1942, over the Netherlands. This was the first

victory of IV./JG 1, which later became I./JG 1,

re-equipped with Heinkel He 162 jets at the

end of the war. However, the German unit did

not come unscathed out of the engagement.

The crews of No. 226 Squadron RAF, armed

with Bostons III, were joined in the spring of

1942 by some personnel of the American 15th

BS of the 27th BG. The Yanks were to learn

low-altitude bombing tactics from their British counterparts. The first joint mission was

scheduled for the morning of July 4, 1942.

Twelve aircraft were prepared for the raid on

the airfields in the Netherlands, including six

with American crews. Their targets were De

Kooy, Haamstede, Valkenburg and Bergen-op-Zoom. The latter airfield, where IV./JG

1 was based, was attacked by P/O Charles

M. Henning, F/Lt. Robert A. Yates-Earl and

American 2/Lt. William G. Lynn Jr.

Bostons have hit hangars and dispersals of

IV./JG 1 few minutes after 8 am. Their bombs

severely damaged a Bf 109F “White 11” of

10./JG 1, killing one mechanic and injuring

two others. However, the aircraft piloted by

2/Lt. Lynn crashed within the airfield, apparently after being hit by flak. The flak also hit

Henning's machine, but he managed to drop

his load and continued flying.

Just after the bombs were dropped, Yates-Earl spotted a Bf 109 in front of him.

He scored hits from his front guns, follo-

September 2022

wed by gunfire at point-blank range by his

rear gunner, Sgt. Leaver. The stricken Bf 109

F-4/Z (WNr. 7423) marked “White 9” crashed

into one of the airfield buildings and its pilot,

Uffz. Erwin Grütz of 10./JG 1, was killed.

The pair of Bostons were pursued by a plane

which was leaving a black smoke trail. The

British thought it was the same one they had

hit over the airfield, but it was a different aircraft. Behind the controls of this plane was

Uffz. Johannes Rathenow of 10./JG 1 and the

engine of his machine was apparently running in short-term power boost mode. He

managed to catch up with the Bostons over

the sea and concentrated his fire on the

damaged aircraft manned by 20-year-old

P/O Henning. The British machine burst into

flames, disintegrated, and the navigator, P/O

Percy J. Voyzey as well as the radio operator/gunner, Sgt. Herbert T. Willig, were killed

along with their pilot.

A victorious Rathenow is depicted in a series

of photographs with the Fw 190 “White 12”,

which show him in high spirits after this first

victory, including a jump from the edge of

the cockpit to the ground. The images have

been described as such in several publications. The problem is that the war correspondent made them in late July 1942. On July 4

Rathenow was still flying a Bf 109. It may

have been his personal Bf 109F “white 4” with

the Susi inscription under the cockpit.

In March 1942, the Luftwaffe established the

IV./JG 1 for a second time. Most of the original IV Gruppe had been incorporated into

JG 5 in northern Europe shortly before. The

new IV./JG 1 was formed largely from several operational training units. From the end

of April, it was gradually moved from Germany to various bases in the Netherlands.

It was armed with a varied mix of different versions of the Bf 109E and F fighters.

At the end of June, it was assigned seventeen Fw 190A-2s and fifteen Fw 190A-3s.

However, these were in Germany with Übernahmekommando Rotenburg in Mönchen

Gladbach, at which IV./JG 1 was gradually

rearmed with the Fw 190s from mid-July

1942. The transformation was accompanied by a number of problems with malfunctioning BMW engines. When parts of

IV./JG 1 with Fw 190s began to move to Deelen in the Netherlands at the end of July, the

last Bf 109E’s were still to be seen alongside

the new Focke-Wulfs. For the rest of 1942,

IV./JG 1 over the Netherlands and Germany mostly encountered reconnaissance

Mosquitos, but occasionally got into combat

with Spitfires, Bostons or Wellington bombers.

Johannes Rathenow later scored a number

of successes in combat against American

four-engined bombers. He was killed on

November 3, 1943, in fight with Boeing B-17s

and their escorting P-38 fighters of the 55th

FG over Germany. His aircraft exploded after shots fired probably by Lightning pilots

Major Milton Joel and 2/Lt. Willard L. Kreft.

INFO Eduard

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