BOXART STORY

#82119

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

Squares against stripes

Luftwaffe command assessed in 1944 that

it could no longer deploy twin-engine bombers for day operations, it wondered how to

deal with the surplus crews. Several bomber units, including KG 6, were selected to

have their pilots retrained on the Bf 109s

and Fw 190s. From the end of the year they

thus bore modified designations, in the case

of the unit mentioned above it was KG(J) 6,

the “J” standing for Jagd, a fighter unit. One

of the Luftwaffe priorities was to use the

experience of bomber pilots to fly in poor

weather conditions. Their experience in

operating twin-engine machines was also

to serve as a good basis for eventually switching KG(J) units to the Me 262 jets. At the

same time, their aircraft received elements

of the Luftwaffe rapid identification system,

which was introduced in the second half of

the war. In the case of KG(J) 6, these were

black and red squares.

The three KG(J) 6 Gruppen were converted to single-engine fighters from the end

of 1944 at Ruzyně (German: Prag-Rusin)

and Kbely (Prag-Gbell) airfields in Prague.

They also used the Klecany (Groß Kletzan)

airfield north of Prague. The Kommodore

of this Geschwader was Obstlt. Hermann

Hogeback, who was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and spent most of his war

career with KG 6. He was shot down twice

by a night fighter and became a recipient

of the Knight's Cross with oak leave and

swords.The I. and II. Gruppe of his unit were

equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109 G and

30

INFO Eduard

K. The CO of I./KG(J) 6 was Major Ernst Haller, a veteran of KG 26 “Löwen”. For most

of the time II./KG(J) 6 was undergoing retraining for fighters, its CO was Hptm. Hans-Joachim Faulhaber, who had previously

served with KG 77 and was awarded the

Knight's Cross. In 1942 he escaped night fighter over England and returned with a damaged plane. Faulhaber was replaced at the

end of March 1945 by Hptm. Wilhelm Kunze, who had seen combat on the Western

Front with KG 2 and was also shot down by

a British fighter.

For the boxart of this kit Piotr Forkasiewicz

depicted the encounter that occurred north

of Prague on 31 March 1945 between seventeen airmen of KG(J) 6 and the same number of pilots on P-51Ds from the 309th FS,

31st FG. The American formation, led by the

executive officer of the 31st Fighter Group

Lt.Col. Fred C. Stoffel, spotted the 109s at

2.00 pm over the Klecany airfield while flying among the clouds at 6000 feet. Only two

of the American airmen had downed aircraft

in previous combats. There was confusion

on the German side because after announcing visual contact with the Americans, the

Germans were given a nonsensical order

to land! The Mustangs pounced on the Messerschmitts flying below and a manoeuvre

fight ensued from which the more experienced American pilots emerged victorious.

They reported 18 kills, the Germans actually lost nine machines. Four pilots were

killed and three were wounded, belonging

to the 2. and 4. Staffel of KG(J) 6. Commander of 4./KG(J) 6 Hptm. Erwin Zöllner was

among those killed.

Germans reported only one seriously damaged Mustang, which is consistent with

the fact that the 309th FS commander Maj.

Simon H. Johnson Jr had to make an emergency landing with the damaged machine at

a British-controlled airfield in Croatia. The

rest of the unit returned safely to Mondolfo

Air Base in Italy.

A week after this encounter, the Luftwaffe

command decided to disband Stab, I. and

II./KG(J) 6, representing approximately 1,000

Luftwaffe personnel. Some of the airmen

were transferred to III./KG(J) 6, which was

rearming with the Me 262 at Prague-Ruzyně

and reached operational status in mid-April.

However, its pilots had made limited combat

engagements with the Me 262s in the preceding weeks. The number of jet aircraft of this

unit hardly exceeded ten. Its mission was to

intercept Allied four-engine bombers. In the

last weeks of the war its airmen achieved

a few more aerial victories. The unit continued to operate almost until the last day of

the war. It was involved in attacks on Red

Army ground forces advancing from the

northwest towards Prague and also in the

fighting against the Prague Uprising. One

of its last tasks was the defence of Ruzyně

Airport against the units of General Vlasov's

Russian Liberation Army (ROA), which had

originally fought on the side of the Germans

and briefly joined the Prague Uprising.

December 2022