#8188

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Antonis Karydis

The legendary JV 44 under the command of Adolf Galland 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. As a result, JV 44 organized a protective flight using Fw 190 Ds under the leadership of Heino Sachsenberg, an ace with 104 kills. 

Sachsenberg was a logical choice. He certainly didn’t lack bold nerve, and he had several year-long experience fighting fast flying enemy fighters at low altitudes. His pilots also had to contend with another danger - friendly ground fire. According to the memoirs of Johannes Steinhoff, a good chunk of crews of the anti-aircraft artillery at Riem were women. There was no real effort to distinguish between friendly and enemy aircraft. The Me 262 did enjoy relative security in this respect due to its distinctive silhouette and engine noise. Perhaps this was why the bottom surfaces of the Doras of JV 44 were painted red on the bottom, with white stripes. 

The duties of Sachsenberg’s protective flight were largely improvised. His pilots couldn’t communicate directly with the Me 262 pilots. They simply took off and circled the field at low altitudes until the jets were safely on their way. Usually, there were two Fw 190 Ds in the air, but, as an exception, Riem was circled by four.

Problems began when the jets returned. For them to set down as quickly as possible, there must not have been anything in their way. The Focke-Wulfs always had to land before the Me 262s. This left their jet colleagues to land without the protective cover and dependant on their skill, luck and field AAA.

Sachsenberg’s -190s were covered in their shelters at the northern edge of the airfield, and his pilots weren’t too close to the remaining JV 44 pilots. Up to now, there are five known  Fw 190 Ds that served with JV 44. This is the case with Red ‘3’, which was assigned to Hptm. Waldemar Wübke. Apparently, this notorious prankster and Sachsenberg understood each other quite well, and on his aircraft, he reiterated the inscription from his previous aircraft as far back as 1940. The motto was "Im Auftrage der Reichsbahn", which translates as "on behalf…" or "by order of the Reichsbahn".

This inscription, sometimes with a winged wheel, appeared on several Wübke´s aircraft. After an emergency landing in 1940, Wübke had to return to his unit by train, which caused his colleagues considerable amusement. So, he made fun of himself with the inscription. The design of the text on his Fw 190 D-9 was not known for a long time. The first to publish conclusive photographs of Wübke's Dora with the motto was the recently deceased American author, Jerry Crandall. In his last publication, Fighters of the Iron Cross, this author published a unique JV44 document with a list of aircrew and their functions, identifying the fifth member of the Platzschutz flight. He was Major Wilhelm Steinmann, an ace with 44 victories and holder of the Knight's Cross. The inscription on his Fw 190 D-11 “Red 2” is not yet known. But I believe it will turn up in some collection or archive in years to come. Additional airmen who served in this protection flight were Lt. Karl-Heinz Hoffmann and Oblt. Klaus Faber.  Interestingly airman Bodo Dirschauer, who was speculated to have also served with the Sachsenberg flight, isn’t mentioned at all in this document. The first time I wrote about JV 44 in Eduard INFO was in issue 06/2010 and the second time in issue 11/2010. There is hardly anything to correct in the texts, but it is interesting to see how Eduard INFO magazine has changed in these 12 years. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jerry Crandall once again for his life's work, and I wish his wife Judy all the best in her continued editorship of Eagle Editions.