KITS 09/2022

WNr. 130539, Hptm. Heinz Krafft, CO of I./JG 51, Vyazma, Soviet Union, Autumn 1942

Heinz Kraft was born on August 13, 1914 in Bílina, Austria-Hungary (nowadays Czech Republic). After the

birth of Czechoslovakia his parents emigrated with

him to Germany where in 1935 he joined Wehrmacht

and the following year was accepted to Luftwaffe.

In 1939 he flew with 3./JG 51. During the Western

campaign he scored four kills. On November 11, 1940

he was ordered to command 3. Staffel which he led

during the attack of the Soviet Union. On March 18,

1942 he was decorated with the Knights Cross having

scored 48 kills and on June 1, 1942 he was promoted

to command the whole I. Gruppe. After the conversion training to Fw 190 his I./JG 51 returned back to the

Eastern Front in Leningrad area. On December 10, 1942

he scored his last kill, number 78. Four days later he

was shot down by the AA fire of a soviet unit south of

the village of Beliy at Rzhev and was killed during the

emergency landing. Fw 190A-3 in which Heinz „Gaudi“

Krafft was killed featured a non-standard camouflage

in two shades of dark green. It remains unclear what

kind of paint they were exactly. One of the possibilities

is the combination of RLM 70 and RLM 71. The yellow

wingtips on the lower surfaces and the fuselage band

under the fuselage cross identify the aircraft assigned

to the Eastern Front. The engine cowling sports the JG

51 insignia and the I./JG 51 marking is painted under

the windshield.

WNr. 125425, Fw. Kurt Kundrus, 12./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, December 1943

This aircraft was built as an Fw 190A-2. During its

service life, it had a BMW-801D-2 engine installed,

which was a change that introduced the A-3 model.

On December 15, 1943, Kundrus set the aircraft down

34

INFO Eduard

gently into the sea after taking off from Herdla and suffering engine failure. After some 63 years, the aircraft

was raised and has been in the collection of a museum

in Herdia since 2007. The aircraft was camouflaged in

RLM 74/75/76 and carried yellow eastern Front recognition markings on the bottom wingtips and rudder.

The engine cowl sports the IV./JG 5 unit marking while

the 12./JG 5 badge appears below the windscreen.

September 2022