Markings for Bf 109G-5 1/72
COL A
Bf 109G-5/R3, 1./JG 50, Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany, July-October 1943
The ObdL’s Jagdgruppe Süd was formed on July 21, 1943, under the command of ace Hermann Graf, and was primarily intended to intercept fast British twin-engine de Havilland Mosquito bombers. The unit consisted of experienced pilots selected from other units. On August 15, 1943, the unit was renamed JG 50. Together with JG 25, their pilots did not achieve many successes in combat against the Mosquitos; however, when deployed against American formations of heavy bombers during the daytime offensive over Europe in the summer of 1943, both units were deemed successful. The Bf 109G-5 White 1 bore Erla factory paint scheme, and the surfaces of the aircraft in JG 50 were very carefully polished. Contrary to custom, the aircraft of JG 50 did not bear usual markings, only numbers on their rudder. JG 50 was short-lived and was disbanded at the end of October 1943 and incorporated into I./JG 301. Hermann Graf was then appointed commander of JG 11 in November 1943.
COL B
Bf 109G-5/U2/R3, W.Nr. 26099, Lt. Walter Bohatsch, 5./JG 3, Amsterdam-Schiphol, The Netherlands, November 1943
Walter Bohatsch was born on January 14, 1921. From June 1942 to February 15, 1943, he completed pilot training, and in April 1943 he was assigned as a fighter pilot to II./JG 3 on the Eastern Front. There, on April 17, 1943, he scored his first aerial victory. His victim was a LaGG-3. In total, he was credited with thirteen Soviet aircraft shot down during his service with JG 3. In August 1943, II./JG 3 was transferred to the Western Front. The Bf 109G-5 Black 6 bore the Erla factory camouflage without both the yellow lower engine cowling and the yellow rudder. The pilots of II./JG 3 tried to attract as little attention as possible from the American fighters escorting the B-17s. On February 20, 1944, Walter Bohatsch was injured in a crash involving a Bf 109G-6, and in May 1944, he was transferred to 1./JG 7, where he flew the Me 262. There, he was credited with his fourteenth aerial victory on April 10, 1945, and his fifteenth on April 14, 1945. His target was a B-17 over Dresden. He scored his final B-17 kill on April 19, southwest of Prague, and flew his last combat mission in a Me 262 on May 8, 1945. He survived the war and died on October 4, 2006.
COL C
Bf 109G-5/R3/R6, W.Nr. 26082, Flg. Victor Widmaier, 7./JG 11, Oldenburg, Germany, October 1943
This aircraft was assigned to JG 11, but members of JG 300 also flew it as part of the Wilde Sau tactic. Note the black paint on the underside of the right half of the wing. The camouflage scheme was applied according to the pattern used on the Bf 109G at the Erla factory in Leipzig. Flg. Victor Widmaier scored his first victory with this aircraft when he shot down a B-17 bomber on October 2, 1943. By the end of 1943, he had destroyed three more bombers of this type, and in early January, he scored a P-38 kill. After III./JG 11 was re-equipped with Fw 190s in February, Widmaier scored a B-17 and a P-47 on February 10, but was himself hit by another P-47, sustained injuries, and bailed out of his aircraft. He landed about 200 meters from the American P-47 pilot, who had also saved himself by parachuting. That very evening, Widmaier underwent surgery, and after just two weeks, he insisted on returning to his unit. He learned that the pilot he had shot down had been taken prisoner. It was likely 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Merrill W. De Merit, Jr., of the 361st FG, 356th FG, who was on his fourth combat mission. Victor Widmaier died in 2011.
COL D
Bf 109G-5/R3, Lt. Ingomar Feldmann, 8./JG 54, Ludwigslust, Germany, February 1944
From December 1943 to February 25, 1944, 8./JG 54 was stationed at a base near Ludwigslust, northwest of Berlin in the direction of Hamburg. This Bf 109G-5 was flown here by Lt. Ingomar Feldmann. Due to increased air activity by Allied bomber formations, Luftwaffe pilots frequently rotated among operational aircraft, and lower-ranking officers did not have personal aircraft at their disposal. The Bf 109G-5 Black 11 bore the 8./JG 54 insignia on both sides of the nose, with the III./JG 54 insignia beneath the cockpit. On the fuselage in front of the tail surfaces was a blue stripe, which marked JG 54 as part of the Reich Defense Forces. Lt. Ingomar Feldmann was killed on February 10, 1944, while flying a Bf 109G-6, W.Nr. 20221, Black 6, when he was shot down over Hannover in the area of Lake Steinhuder. Today, the remains of his Bf 109G-6 (primarily the damaged rear fuselage) are part of the collection at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum in Kent.
COL E
Bf 109G-5/U2/R3, W.Nr. 15564, 2./JG 25, Gardelegen, Germany, August 1943
On July 1, 1943, Jagdgeschwader Nord was established in Staaken near Berlin. On August 14, 1943, the unit moved to Gardelegen, where it was redesignated JG 25 on August 15, 1943. JG 25’s mission was to intercept the RAF’s twin-engine Mosquitos. The commander of JG 25 was Obstlt. Herbert Ihlefeld. The unit was not very successful, recording only two Mosquito kills, while nine JG 25 aircraft were shot down and five were lost on the ground during air raids. JG 25 was disbanded in December 1943, and 2./JG 25 was reassigned to Jagdstaffel Erla. JG 25 aircraft were marked with capital letters. The Black K aircraft had a smaller cross on the fuselage, shifted one bulkhead closer to the cockpit. It had a yellow stripe running around the entire circumference of the fuselage in front of the tail surfaces.
COL F
Bf 109G-5/U2/R3, 3./JG 300, Bad-Wörishofen, Germany, July-August 1944
The Bf 109G-5 aircraft were manufactured at the Erla factory, and were all equipped with a pressurized cockpit, which is why they always had a small bulge on the right side of the engine cowling, beneath the larger bulges covering the fuselage gun breeches.. This Bf 109G-5 was camouflaged on the upper surfaces in RLM 76 with stripes in RLM 74 or RLM 75. The lower surfaces were painted black (RLM 22). Based on the yellow color of the aircraft’s number, this was an aircraft from the 3rd Staffel; during the Reich Defense period, aircraft of JG 300 bore a red stripe on the fuselage in front of the tail surfaces. The propeller spinners were also painted in the Staffel colors; the color appeared either as a stripe, as on this aircraft, or covering the entire front section of the cone.