KITS 11/2023

Bf 109G-4/R6, WNr. 14997, Lt. Erich Hartmann, 7./JG 52, Taman, the Soviet Union, May 1943

Lt. Erich Hartmann, the most successful fighter

ace in history, began to ply his trade with 7./JG

52, to which he was assigned on October 10, 1942.

He first flew the Bf 109G-2, but by the first half of

March 1943, the unit began accepting the Bf 109G-4.

From the beginning of May 1943, after gaining

his 11th and 12th kills, he was made Rottenführer

(leader of a two-aircraft flight) and his score

began to quickly rise to reach 352 by the end

of the war. For his success, he was awarded

the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords

and Diamonds. Hartmann’s “White 2” was

camouflaged in the standard Luftwaffe scheme

consisting of RLM 74/75/76. The factory codes

on the fuselage sides and the bottom of the

wings were not completely obliterated, but

only partially oversprayed with a white wave

(III. Gruppe marking), the white number 2 and

a yellow band, which together with the yellow

bottom wing tips was common to Luftwaffe

aircraft operating on the Eastern Front.

The front of the aircraft carried the marking of

its previous user, I./JG 52. Flying this aircraft,

Uffz. H. Meissler was forced to land behind

enemy lines by Soviet fighters due to an engine

failure on May 28, 1943 and was taken prisoner.

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November 2023

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