KITS 09/2023

WNr. 8326, Maj. Günther von Maltzahn, CO of JG 53, Bila Tserkva, The Soviet Union, July 1941

Günther “Henri” von Maltzahn was born on October

20, 1910 in Wodarg, Pomerania. He started his military

career in 1931 as a member of a cavalry regiment.

In 1935 he was transferred to the Luftwaffe. At the

beginning of the war he was in command of II./JG

53 at the rank of Hauptmann. After achieving ten

victories, he was promoted to Major and appointed

as Kommodore of JG 53 in October 1940. At the end

of the year, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross.

After the attack on the USSR, he achieved his 42nd

victory on July 24, 1941 and received the Oak Leaves

to the Knight’s Cross. From the autumn of 1941 until

June 1943, he led Geschwader in the Mediterranean.

During aerial combat over Malta, he was shot down

off Valletta on May 11, 1942 and was rescued from the

sea by the crew of Dornier Do 24. In total, he achieved

68 victories. He had to relinquish command of JG 53

after he contracted malaria and served in senior staff

positions in Italy and Germany until the end of the

war. He was one of the Luftwaffe’s most prominent

figures and did not hesitate to be publicly critical of

the German command. He died in Düsseldorf in June

1953. His aircraft was camouflaged by RLM 74/75/76

shades. On the nose the emblem of JG 53, staff

markings and identification elements of the Eastern

Front were applied. On both sides of the rudder the

kill marks were applied.

Hptm. Dietrich Hrabak, CO of II./JG 54, Ostrov, The Soviet Union, July 1941

Dietrich Adolf “Dieter” Hrabak was born on

December 19, 1914, in Gross-Deuben near Leipzig.

He originally served in the navy and joined the

Luftwaffe in 1935. At the beginning of the war he

commanded 1./JG 76 and was shot down during

the Polish campaign on September 3, 1939, but

escaped capture. He achieved his first aerial

victory on May 13, 1940, when he shot down

a French twin-engine reconnaissance Potez 630.

In total, he scored six kills in the French campaign.

In the Battle of Britain, as the commander of

II/JG 54, he scored 10 kills and was awarded the

Knight’s Cross in October 1940. He flew on the

Eastern Front from the first day of the attack

on the USSR. This aircraft dates from this period

and was camouflaged with RLM 74/75/76 shades,

darkened on the sides with RLM 02 patches and

RLM 70 stripes. On both sides of the rudder kill

marks were painted. Hrabak was appointed

Commodore of JG 52 fighting in the southern

part of the Eastern Front in November 1942 and

achieved his 100th victory on August 2, 1943. He

was awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster in November.

In October 1944 he became Commodore of JG 54

and at the end of the war he managed to evacuate

a significant part of this unit from Kuronsk in the

Baltic. In total, he achieved 125 victories. After

the war he participated in the formation of the

Bundeswehr and retired in 1970 in the rank of Major

General as the Gen. der Kampffliegerverbände im

Führungsstab der Luftwaffe.

Hptm. Hans Philipp, CO of I./JG 54, Krasnogvardeysk, The Soviet Union, March 1942

Hans “Fips” Philipp, an ace with 206 kills to his

credit over the course of some 500 sorties, was

born on March 17, 1917, in Meissen. He joined the

Luftwaffe in 1936. At the beginning of the Second

World War, he served with I./JG 76, redesignated

II./JG 54 in July 1940. As a member of this unit,

he participated in the fighting over Britain and

the Balkans. He also took part in Operation

36

INFO Eduard

Barbarossa and was appointed CO of JG 1 in April

1943. For his combat success he was awarded

the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Philipp was shot down on October 8, 1943, and did

not survive his attempt to bail out. The aircraft

flown by Hans Philipp was camouflaged with

white color over the upper and side surfaces to

better suit the conditions of the winter of 1942 in

the vicinity of Leningrad. The Gruppe Commander

marking was carried on the fuselage, as were

the II. Gruppe and JG 54 (Green Heart) identifiers.

Both sides of the rudder carried kill marks. The

landing gear covers were removed due to their

tendency to pile up snow.

September 2023