KITS 12/2022

Obstlt. Max Ibel, CO of JG 27, Guines, France, September-October 1940

This aircraft probably belonged to Kommodore

of JG 27 and as a quick identification marking had

a yellow engine cowling, following the rule introduced on September 9, 1940. The pilot of the aircraft

was probably Max Ibel. He was born in Munich in January 1896 and served in the Army Engineers and Air

Service during the First World War. He did not retire

after World War I and from August 1928 underwent

extensive training at a secret military base in Lipet-

sk, Russia. In the 1930s he commanded several flight

schools and worked for RLM as well. From 1936 he

changed several fighter units and starting from May

1939 he was Kommodore of JG 3. In October 1939 he

was appointed Kommodore of JG 27. He led the unit

for one year including the Western Campaign and the

Battle of Britain. In October 1940 he took command

of Jagdfliegerschule 4, but in July 1941 he was appointed Jagdfliegerführer 3. In February 1942, during

Operations Cerberus and Donnerkeil, he was a fighter liaison officer aboard the battleship Scharnhorst.

In 1943 and 1944 he was commander of the Jagddivision 2. At the end of the war, he was captured at

Tegernsee and subjected to extensive interrogations

at Island Farm Camp. He was released in March 1948

and joined the Bundesluftwaffe in October 1957, becoming commander of the Luftverteidigungsdivision

1. He retired in September 1964 and died in 1981.

WNr. 1271, Oblt. Helmut Henz, CO of 4./JG 77, Kristiandsand-Kjevik, Norway, September 1940

Helmut Henz was born in January 1911 in Berlin.

After completing his pilot training and transferring to

I./JG 136, Helmut Henz was sent to the Legion Condor

to gain pilot experience in the fighting of the Spanish

Civil War. The beginning of World War II found Oblt.

Henz in command of 4. Staffel of JG 77, achieving his

first victory on December 14, 1939, by shooting down

a British Wellington. JG 77 was part of the invasion

force in the attack on Norway, its 4. Staffel under

Oblt. Henz moved to Kristiandsand-Kjevik airfield on

April 11, 1940. The II. Gruppe JG 77 remained in Norway until November 1940, when it moved to the front

at the Channel. This aircraft sported camouflage

in RLM 70/71/65 colors with a high transition between upper and lower colors on the fuselage sides

(so called 40-er Anstrich). On the left side of the

fuselage in front of the windshield was the II. Gruppe

emblem and under the cockpit a black reaper with

an umbrella flying on a scythe was painted as the

emblem of the 4. Staffel. The initials LF belonged to

the pilot’s girlfriend. In April 1941 Henz became commander of II./JG 77, but on May 25 he was shot down

in a dogfight with the crew of Blenheim near Crete

and is still missing. In total he achieved six victories.

WNr. 5058, Fw. Arthur Haase, 6./JG 51, Marquise-West, France, August 1940

The serial number 8508 is sometimes mistakenly

given for this aircraft. In fact, the serial was probably 5058 and the aircraft was produced by Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke GmbH in late 1939.

Its pilot was Arthur Haase, who had a personal symbol inspired by his surname (der Hase, in English:

hare) painted on the side of the aircraft. The painting was done by mechanician Hoffmann. On the

side of the fuselage, there was also the emblem of

36

INFO Eduard

II./JG 51, depicting a raven with the inscription “Gott

strafe England!” (May God punish England!). The yellow color of part of the rudders, wing tips and horizontal tail surfaces was introduced in early August

1940. The commander of 6./JG 51 was the legendary

Josef “Pips” Priller. During the fighting over France

in May and June 1940, Haase shot down two Hurricanes and added one Spitfire in late July. His fourth and

final victory came on August 15, 1940, when he fought

Hurricanes from No. 1 Squadron RAF off Clacton-on-Sea. However, he was wounded in the battle and

crash-landed his aircraft at Wissant, France. Photographs from the preparation of the transport of the

damaged aircraft show Haase’s machine with three

kills marked on the tail. Haase was killed on January

29, 1944, in aerial combat. At the time he was serving

as a flight instructor with the rank of Oberfeldwebel

with 1./JG 107 in France.

December 2022