KITS 11/2023

WNr. 431007, Maj. Heinz Bär, CO of II./JG 1, Störmede, Germany, April 1944

Heinz Bär is credited with 221 aerial victories,

including 16 achieved flying the Me 262 jet

fighter, ranking him in eighth place among

German WWII fighter aces. In July 1943, as CO of

I./JG 77 in the Mediterranean got into conflict

with Göring and as punishment was transferred

to the position of commander of the operational

training Jagdgruppe Süd. In early 1944, however,

he was assigned to II./JG 1 in Germany as a simple

pilot, due to a physical assault on an NSDAP

official. However, he soon took command of the

combat formations of this unit, was appointed

its provisional commander in March 1944, and

was officially appointed at the end of April.

Bär achieved 23 victories during his five months

with II./JG 1 without being shot down himself.

Among his most famous victories were the B-17

“Miss Ouachita” and B-24 “Flak Magnet”, the latter

became his 200th victory. Bär’s machine sported

the JG 1 emblem, his lucky number 13, and the 200

victory symbol painted on the white rudder that

was the designation of formation leaders during

this period.

Hptm. Rolf Hermichen, CO of I./JG 11, Rotenburg, Germany, March 1944

Rolf Hermichen achieved 66 kills during the WWII,

the first 11 of them as a Bf 110 pilot during the

battles of France and Britain. He was transferred

to III./JG 26 in November 1941 and first served as

an adjutant to Josef Priller, the CO of III. Gruppe.

As early as May 1, 1942, Hermichen became

Staffelkapitän (CO) of the 3. Staffel. When I./JG 26

moved to the Eastern Front in January 1943, he

added eight more kills to his existing 21. Already

November 2023

as Hauptmann, on his return to the Western Front

he temporarily led III. Gruppe from June 15 to July

4, 1943 and became CO of I./JG 11 on October 16.

There, as a part of the Defense of the Reich, he

was very successful in combat against Allied

bombers. In total, he had 25 (or 26) of them to

his credit. His last success came on April 24,

1944, when he shot down a P-51D. He was shot

down himself on May 12 and after withdrawal

from operational duty, he served at Headquarters

of 2. Jagd-Division. From October 1944 to January

1945, Hermichen served as CO of II./JG 104.

His Fw 190A-7 of spring 1944 had the original

camouflage colors of RLM 74/75 repainted

in varying intensities with the light grey-blue of

RLM 76.

INFO Eduard

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