KITS 09/2023

Lt. Horst Potreck, Stab III./JG 53, Kreuzstrasse near Holzkirchen,

Germany, April

Twenty-year-old Horst Potreck served in the

11./JG 53 in 1944 and later was assigned to Stab

III./JG 53. The CO of III./JG 53 at that time was

Hptm. Siegfried Luckenbach. In the summer of

1943, at the age of thirty-one, he began serving

with Stab III./JG 1 in the Netherlands and scored

three victories. A year later, he briefly commanded

I./JG 27 on the Western Front. In September 1944

he was reassigned to Stab III./JG 53 and took

over 12. Staffel. During Operation Bodenplatte

he was shot down by an American fighter but

escaped. At the end of January 1945 he became

commander of III./JG 53 and scored several more

victories. In February he was again shot down in

combat with the Americans. His career ended

in April accident when Luckenbach unexpectedly

stopped after landing and climbed onto the wing.

Potreck apparently did not see him, rammed his

aircraft and Luckenbach was severely wounded.

The wreckage of the machine Chevron 4, probably

Potreck’s, was found by Allied soldiers after the

fighting ended. Fuselage was probably painted

in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version

of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker

version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge

of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of

colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

WNr. 330177, Uffz. Alfred Nitsch, 12./JG 77, Neuruppin,

Germany, November 1944

In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the first Luftwaffe

fighter unit to be completely re-equipped with the

Bf 109K-4. They received 68 of these aircraft. Its

commander was the experienced JG 77 veteran

Major Armin Köhler (40 victories, KC). Uffz. Alfred

Nitsch was photographed with the “Blue 3” in

November 1944. It is highly likely that the aircraft

was serial number 330177. Fw. Hans Rössner (12

victories) was lost in this plane during a dogfight

with Thunderbolts on December 23, 1944, near

Münstereifel. Although the Germans claimed

three P-47s as shot down, 13 Bf 109K-4s were

destroyed or damaged. Two pilots were killed and

four were wounded. During December 1944, III./JG

77 lost about half of its aircraft. During Operation

Bodenplatte, in which III./JG 77 lost a further 11

machines and pilots, again part of its armament

was various versions of the Bf 109G. From mid-

January 1945 it was deployed on the Eastern Front.

At the end of the war this unit fought in Upper

Silesia, based at Beneschau in the Hlučín region

(today Dolní Benešov, Czech Republic). Fuselage

was probably painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with

yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was

painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the

RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with

lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

WNr. 333878, S. Ten Umberto Gallori, 3a Squadriglia,

Io Gruppo Caccia, Lonate Pozzolo,

Italy, March 1945

This aircraft, produced in February 1945, was one

of six Bf 109K-4s received by the Aeronautica

Nazionale Repubblicana in Northern Italy. During

February it was assigned to 3a Squadriglia

“Arciere”, which was part of Io Gruppo Caccia

“Asso di Bastoni” under the command of Maggiore

Adriano Visconti (10 victories). The aircraft, WNr.

333878 “3-14”, was damaged in aerial combat on

April 10, 1945. In the early morning hours, three Bf

September 2023

109s from Io Gr. C. were sent against four P-47s

from the 65th FS, 57th FG, which were conducting

a weather reconnaissance in the Milan-Lago di

Como area. In the aerial combat a Bf 109G-14/AS

“1-7“, piloted by M.llo Veronesi, and a Bf 109K-4 “314”, piloted by S. Ten Gallori, were damaged. One

P-47 was reported damaged by M.llo Forlani. The

American pilots did not claim any victories. In late

April, the Io Gr. C. moved to Malpensa and on April

29, after receiving security guarantees, laid down

its arms and surrendered. Visconti and his aide,

however, were shot dead by Russian bodyguards

of resistance commander Aldo Aniasi. Fuselage

and vertical tail was probably painted in RLM 81

(dark brown variant) and RLM 82 with yellowgrey version of RLM 76. Wing was painted with

colors RLM 74, 75 and 76, the RLM 74 was darker

version with tinge of green.

INFO Eduard

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