KITS 12/2022

WNr. 600?69, Hptm. Waldemar Wübke, Sachsenberg Schwarm, Ainring, Austria, May 1945

Waldemar Wübke was one of the few Luftwaffe fighter

pilots to survive combat duty over the entire course

of the WWII. He started his fighter pilot career in May

1940 as a Leutnant with I./JG 27. In July he was transferred to 9. Staffel of III./JG 54, flying the Bf 109E-4 and

went through the Battle of Britain with this unit. He

was credited with 15 victories plus one at night, first of

this tally being Blenheim shot down over the Channel

on September 9, 1940. Wübke was shot down six times

during his spell with the JG 54 and twice wounded. His

career ended with the JV 44, where he flew “Platzschutz“ (airfield defense) missions with the so called

“Papagaistaffel”, where he accompanied other experienced German fighter pilots. Their task was to provide

cover for Adolf Galland’s group of Me 262 jets during

take-offs and landings. Due to the rather inexperienced women-crewed Flak defensive artillery of the Munich-Riem airfield, the Fw 190D-9s of the JV 44 were

painted red on undersurfaces, highlighted by white

stripes to make the recognition of friendly fighters

as easy as possible for them. According to the newest

findings these stripes were not reaching the tail on the

fuselage bottom but ended at the front of the wheelbays. Wübke’s Dora was an example from the Fieseler

factory with typical no-bulges three piece machine

guns cover and with later production blown canopy.

The inscription “Im Auftrage der Reichsbahn” had been

on various Wübke machines since the beginning of the

war. He started using it when he returned to his home

base several times by train after being shot down.

WNr. 500698, Lt. Günter Seyd, 7./JG 26, Uetersen, Germany, May 1945

JG 26 was established on November 1, 1938, (originally

as JG 132) with Eduard von Schleich, an ace with 35

kills in WWI as its first Kommodore. JG 26 entered the

war under the command of Hans Hugo Witt but stayed

in Germany during the invasion of Poland. It than operated on the Western Front until 1943, with its most famous Kommodore, Adolf Galland, taking command on

August 22, 1940. Galland was leading JG 26 for the rest

of the Battle of Britain and well beyond until December

5, 1941. In early 1943, JG 26 was to replace JG 54 in the

Luftflotte 1 formation on the Eastern Front, but in the

December 2022

end, it was only a brief episode of I./JG 26. The group

continued to operate in France and then as a part of

the defense of the Reich system. From late 1941 onwards all Gruppe except III./JG 26 started their conversion to Fw 190As, the first to receive Fw 190D-9s were

I. Gruppe and II. Gruppe starting from mid-October 1944.

Lt. Günter Seyd of 5./JG 26 took off with this aircraft

from Uetersen on May 5, 1945, but due to an engine

failure he made an emergency landing in Schleswig.

In the only known photograph, the lower engine cowling appears slightly darker and it is likely it was

painted RLM 76 early (probably taken from another

aircraft), but a yellow color cannot be completely

ruled out. The brown color of the fuselage numbers

was unusual, with only a few Staffeln within the Luftwaffe using it. However, 7./JG 26 kept this habit throughout the war. Günter Seyd scored a single kill during

the war when he shot down a Lancaster from No. 405

(or No. 582) Sqn. RAF west of Cologne on December 23,

1944. It was not only his first kill, but also the first kill

of II./JG 26 after conversion to Fw 190D-9.

INFO Eduard

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