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Info Eduard - November 2010
Page 17
HISTORY
This incident ended with the reigning CO of II./JG 52,
who at the time was Willi Batz (237 victories). He was
paid a visit by the anti-aircraft artillery unit CO, who
apologized for the shooting down of Ewald, but also
requested that members of the air force refrain from such
gags with grenades in the future. That evening, they not
only toasted the rebirth of Heinz Ewald, but also hosted
a downed American pilot from the ‘Checkertail Clan’.
Only two days later, as member of new 6 th Staffel
(CO Lt. Düttmann), Heino Sachsenberg entered into
combat with Mustangs. (
Note 5) On that day, there were
some pretty unfavorable weather conditions, but despite
that, the Americans conducted ops in the local airspace,
and on March 3, lost two aircraft. Mustangs of the
15 th USAAF were assigned to attack railroad transport
between Leibnitz and Spittal an der Drau. Some of these
also attacked the airbase at Graz. The Afro-American 332
nd Fighter Group lost two of their own during the strafing
runs at 1410h. Her Blue Flight of the 100 th FS came
down from 4,000 feet, but after the strafing, 1 st Lt. Robert
L. Martin and 1 st Lt. Alphonso Simmons with Mustang
No. 17 ‘Gripper Dan II’ went missing. Both had been
downed by anti-aircraft defenses. Martin was able to
return back to his unit via Yugoslavia, but Simmons had
no such luck and went missing in action. If Sachsenberg
was sent into this action and participated in its combat,
the flight from Veszprém would have taken him about
twenty minutes.
About two weeks later,
Wimmersal hit his 104 th,
and final, kill, and his career
with his ‘maternal’ JG 52
ended. He was picked, along
with some of his colleagues,
for training on the Me 262.
During the course of the war,
he made a total of 520 combat
flights.
JAGDVERBAND 44
It was likely in the second half of March, 1945, that
Heinz Schachsenberg underwent conversion training to
the Me 262. As of yet, it is not known
where, but the most logical choice
would be the operational training
unit III./EJG 2 at Lechfeld.
A little known fact is, however,
that Sachsenberg appeared at
Jagdgeschwader 7, equipped
with the Me 262, and became
Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 7.
For the first time in his career, he is elevated into
a command position, but unfortunately, with a unit
equipped with an aircraft that didn’t completely suit him.
(
Note 6)
Soon, he found himself a duty that was more suited
to his character, and, furthermore, with a more ‘suitable’
aircraft, with a unit so unique that anything similar would
be difficult to find. This was Galland’s Jagdverband 44.
Behind this unit were differences of opinion between
Galland and the Commander of the Luftwaffe, Hermann
Göring. At the beginning of 1945, Galland was relieved
of his function as General of fighters and was replaced
by his rival Gordon M. Gollob. Göring wanted to sweep
Galland under the rug, and so made it possible for the
latter to form his own unit equipped with the modern,
jet powered Me 262. This was unheard of for several
reasons:
- It was not subordinate to any standard element of
the Luftwaffe, but fell directly under the Luftwaffe High
Command (OKL); in other words, to a point, Galland
could do as he wanted.
- For JV 44, Galland could assemble almost twenty
fighter pilots holding the Knight’s Cross, which at this
point in the war, was exceptional.
- At the end of hostilities, Galland initiated negotiations
with the enemy to have his unit join the Allies
after capitulation, along with all its equipment and
ground personnel. This is in the history of aviation
unprecedented.
JV 44 flew most of its operations in the south
of Germany from the base at Munich-Riem. Through
April, 1945, the unit’s pilots racked up some sixty kills.
The role of the unit in terms of results is negligible, but is
significant in terms of illustrating the incredible conditions
that existed in the Third Reich at the end of the war.
The jet powered Me 262 were most vulnerable during
take-off and landing. Aircraft of JV 44 were no different,
because during low speeds, the Me 262 was more
difficult to control, and the throttle had to be treated with
a gentle respect, or the result could be a stalled engine
or a fire. During the final phases of the war, it was
standard practice for jet aircraft to be covered by piston
engined planes during these critical flight phases.
Lt. Alphonso Simmons from the 100 th FS/332nd FG in Mustang
‘Gripper Dan II’ in which he was shot down on March 3, 1945 at Graz
in Austria in an attack on an air base. On the same day, Heinz Sachsen-
berg took off from the Hungarian field Veszprém, and downed
a Mustang. Other details are not known. On the wing sits mechanic
Sgt. William C. Bright. (Craig Huntly)
NOTE 5: In HPM 11/96 Martin Sila and myself dated Sachsen-
berg’s kill of a Mustang on (probably) March 14, and, further-
more, that this was his 104 th and last kill. Bernd Barbas dates
the kill of the Mustang as March 3, 1945 (103 rd kill), and the
last, 104 th kill, as March 16 th, 1945, an Airacobra.
NOTE 6: The question, of course, is wether or not he made it
to JG 7. An overview of JV 44 personnel on April 27, 1945 lists
his former unit as II./JG 52.
JG 7 Crest
Crest of the Platzschutzschwarm” JV 44 Doras