BUILT

Bf 109G-6/R6, W. Nr. 20272, flown by Oblt. Heinrich Klöpper, CO of 7./ JG 1, Leeuwarden,

the Netherlands, November 1943

A native of Lower Saxony´s Peine, future

Knight's Cross recipient Heinrich Klöpper took part

in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain

as a member of JG 77. He would claim one kill

in each of these campaigns. He would get another

eighty after the initiation of Operation Barbarossa on June 22nd, 1941 through to November 1943,

December 2022

this time with 11th Staffel of JG 51. At the beginning

of November 1943, he took command of the 7th

Staffel JG 1, a unit that was incorporated in the the

Defence of the Reich (Reichsverteidigung). Serving

with this unit, he downed five four engined B-17s,

a B-24 and two P-38s. He was killed on November

29th, 1943, in combat with a couple of P-38s in the

cockpit of his Bf 109 over Vollenhove in the Netherlands. Some commanders of tactical units had the

fin and rudders of their aircraft painted white for

quick identification of the leader's aircraft in combat. The rudder also bears Klöpper's victory tally.

INFO Eduard

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