Marking for Ju 88A-4 1/48
COL A
1./KG 1, Kharkov-Voichenko, Soviet Union, January 1943
I. Gruppe Kampgeschwader 1 was formed on May 1, 1939, by renaming IV. Gruppe KG 152. The original KG 152 was named after Paul von Hindenburg, and the newly formed KG 1 also took on the name Hindenburg. This unit, initially armed with He 111 bombers, took part in battles over Poland, France, and Great Britain. It took part in the fighting over the Soviet Union with new equipment, namely Ju 88A bombers. In mid-1943, after a short rest in Germany, Stab, I. and II. Gruppe were transferred to the southern front. At the end of 1943, the entire Geschwader was equipped with He 177 Greif bombers. During their service on the Eastern Front in the winter months, the aircraft were repainted with washable white paint for better camouflage. Applying it in field conditions caused it to rub off and peel during operation. The aircraft bears the identification marks used on the Eastern Front in the form of a yellow stripe on the fuselage in front of the tail surfaces and yellow-painted undersides of the wing tips.
COL B
Hptm. Klaus Häberlen, CO of Stab I./KG 51, Bagerovo, Soviet Union, April 1943
The future recipient of the Knight's Cross, Klaus Häberlen, was born on April 14, 1916, in Geislingen. His military career began on April 1, 1935, in the Wehrmacht, and his aviation career began with studies at the Grosse Kampffliegerschule in Lechfeld on November 1, 1936. In August 1940, he was appointed commander of the 2. Staffel KG 51, armed with Junkers Ju 88s. He flew with KG 51 throughout his combat career, participating in approximately 300 combat missions, for which he was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on March 18, 1943, and the Knight's Cross on June 20, 1943. In October 1943, after a verbal confrontation with Göring, he was relieved of his command of the unit and continued to serve in staff positions. He died on April 7, 2002, in Konstanz. During his time as commander of I. Gruppe KG 51, he used this Ju 88, which bore not only the KG 51 Edelweiss emblem on its nose, but also the emblem of his hometown, the coat of arms of the city of Memmingen. He is the author of the book A Luftwaffe Bomber Pilot Remembers.
COL C
4./KG 54, Catania, Sicily, spring 1943
After previous combat operations over France, Great Britain, and the vast plains of the Soviet Union, II. KG 54 was transferred to its sister unit, I. Gruppe KG 54, which had previously been operating with its Ju 88s on the southern front, mainly against Malta, the convoys supplying the island, and the fighting forces on African soil, as well as against Allied airfields and ports in Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. KG 54 Totenkopf also participated in supporting German troops in the fighting in Africa. During deployment on the southern front, the camouflage of the aircraft was changed from the standard splinter pattern on the upper and side surfaces with RLM 70/71 colors and the lower surfaces in RLM 65 color, to upper and side surfaces sprayed with RLM 79 color, while the lower surfaces were in RLM 78 color. The upper RLM 79 was supplemented with waves in RLM 70 and white, while the lower surfaces received waves in RLM 70. The unit's emblem, a skull and crossbones, visible on the Ju 88 in previous battles, was slowly abandoned in 1943. The modeler can decide if he wants to place it on the fuselage, as it is not clear from the photographs of this aircraft whether it was there or not.
COL D
W.Nr. 140206, Hptm. Heinrich Paepcke, CO of Stab II./KG 77, Gerbini, Italy, October 1942
Heinrich Paepcke was born on December 11, 1910, in Wattescheid, Westphalia. In May 1929, he began his career in the merchant navy, he joined the army in July 1934, and enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1935, to which he remained loyal until his death. After flight training, he was assigned to KG 30, armed with Junkers Ju 88s, in December 1939. In April 1940, he was appointed commander of the 7. Staffel, and in September 1940, he was awarded the Knight's Cross. On October 1, 1941, he was promoted to Hauptmann and appointed commander of II. Gruppe KG 77, which was at that time in rest and rearming at Ansbach Airfield, preparing for deployment on the southern front. Paepcke's unit was transferred to Comiso Airfield in Sicily in January 1942, from where it carried out attacks on Malta and against supplies being transported to the island. On October 17, 1942, Hptm. Paepcke and his crew were killed in a head-on collision with a Spitfire approximately 15 km off the coast of Malta during a raid on Luqa Airport. Heinrich Paepcke was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross and promoted to the rank of Major. The camouflage of his aircraft, consisting of splinter pattern of RLM 70 and 71 colors on the sides and upper surfaces, was supplemented with spots in RLM 65 and RLM 79 colors.
COL E
W.Nr. 1016, Lt. Johannes Geismann, CO of 1./KG 77, Catania, Sicily, September 1942
Johannes Geismann was born on June 20, 1920, in Hattingen in the Ruhr region and voluntarily enlisted in the Luftwaffe on November 15, 1939. After flight training, he was assigned to 1. Staffel KGr. 606 in the summer of 1941, specializing in attacks against shipping convoys. Geismann achieved his first success against ships on August 29, 1941, and his score kept growing even after the unit was transferred to Catania Airport in Sicily in December 1941. In September 1942, the unit was renamed 1./KG 77, and in December 1942, Lt. Geismann received the Knight's Cross for sinking 98,000 BRT of enemy ships. He continued sinking ships until August 1944, when he completed fighter training and subsequently transferred to the night fighter IV./NJG 1. He lived to see the end of the war and after the war joined the re-established Bundesluftwaffe, from which he retired on September 30, 1979, with the rank of Oberst im Generalstab. He passed away on August 15, 1994, in Aurich.
COL F
Lt. Gerhard Brenner, CO of 1./LG 1, Eleusis, Greece, March 1942
Gerhard Brenner, a native of Ludwigsburg in Württemberg, was born on August 29, 1918. On November 3, 1937, he joined the Luftwaffe and, after training, was assigned on November 28, 1939, to 2./LG 1, which was armed with Heinkel He 111s at the time. At the beginning of 1940, the unit received new Junkers Ju 88A aircraft, with which it participated in campaigns against France, Great Britain, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In May 1941, during the fighting against shipping convoys in the Mediterranean, he hit a British cruiser, and in July 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross. On June 14, 1942, luck abandoned Oblt. Gerhard Brenner's crew, after being hit by anti-aircraft fire during an attack on a convoy and its escort transporting supplies to hard-hit Malta, they were forced to abandon their aircraft 100 kilometers south of Crete. Part of the crew got into lifeboats, but they probably drowned in a storm south of the Gavdos island. The crew was never found...