Luftwaffe modelling - new Airfix Bf109 E-4 Emil 1:72 is here ! - edit 06 June

 As good as last year's 48th scale Emil from Airfix was, this new tool in 1:72nd scale is probably even better - the details are rendered with a certain finesse, the landing gear is not so stalky for a start and the 'engine' and the separate flaps deployed are very well done.  Likely to become the 'reference' in 1:72 scale.  Only one Battle of Britain decal option  (Franz von Werra - ' The one who got away' ) and no Trop/Jabo parts in this boxing. Aside from that, the molding is every bit as good as the Tamiya Emil in this scale -the only real issues I had with mine were the fit of the wing halves, a niggle easily solved if you remove the locating pins. There are no issues with dihedral at all, or any other of the supposed 'problems' you might have read about, as posted by supposed competition winners on certain forums - of course like any new kit, there are a few minor niggles, easily solved. Who cares if the instrument panel decal is too large for the panel part - just cut out some of the individual dials and apply - no need to whine about it! The option to pose the flaps deployed and the canopy open is very well done. A shame though that there are not more options in this box - no doubt the E-3, E-1 sub-types will appear in subsequent boxings. More comment and a bit of a build log over on my modelling blog pages..

http://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/new-airfix-bf-109-emil-in-172-scale-is.html

A quick look at a couple of my finished models built from this kit if arriving from google directly onto this page - Aeromaster decals..

A page of Emil photos

http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2011/06/ebay-emils.html

Heinkel He 111 of Kampfgeschwader 26 RK crew

Michael Meyer's Ebay sales - new link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/109ling/m.html?hash=item4162455a39&item=280821586489&pt=Militaria&_trksid=p4340.l2562

He 111 H of 4./KG 26 photographed  during August 1940 in Stavanger-Sola. From the left Schops, Mathias Holler BF, - , Observer Fw Lange, pilot Lt. Herbert Kuntz. Flugzeugführer Kuntz was awarded the RK on 14.3.1943

(Above, below) He 111 H 1H + KN of 5./KG 26 photographed on 26 December 1940 at Amiens in night Blitz finish (Nachttarnung)

Below, Herbert Kuntz's Beobachter (observer) Gerhard Lange takes the control column during a long over sea flight between north Africa and Sicily during early 1941. Herbert Kuntz sitting on the cockpit hatch and, bottom, loading an SC 1800.

A history of Jagdgeschwader 53 'Pik As' part 2 Batailles Aériennes 59

Part two of Jean-Louis Roba's planned four-part series on JG 53 is just published by Lela Presse in their Batailles aériennes series of quarterly monographs. This is a very nice 108-page A-4 format softback with over 200 nicely reproduced photos (including 10-15 colour images) and twenty of Thierry Dekker's superlative artworks - all for less than the price of an Osprey. Recommended, even if you don't read French.

Covering the period March 1941 to December 1942 Roba describes and analyses the performance of a Jagdgeschwader that some saw as an ace 'nursery'. Roba in his usual trenchant, even provocative, style begs to differ. During early 1941 the entire Geschwader converted onto the latest variant of the Bf 109, the Friedrich, and returned to northern France to counter the RAF's attempts to 'lean into Europe'. Early April saw Fw. Josef Wurmheller (5./JG 53) claim a Spitfire and a Blenheim in his first combat sorties since coming down in the Channel during November 1940. On 26 April Lt. Wolfgang Tonne (3./JG 53) became an ace, downing a Spitfire south of Boulogne-sur-Mer (the RAF reported this as a 242 Sq. Hurricane). The combats over the Channel up to June 1941 were very much an interlude for JG 53 prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union which nonetheless resulted in the loss of six pilots killed in action. With the launch of Barbarossa I./JG 53 began its run of colossal victory scores - through June, July and August 1941, over 200 for the Stab and I./JG 53, " a figure which is patently inflated ".  The Kommodore von Maltzahn picked up his Oakleaves in July taking his score from 16 to 49 in a six week period although he was nonetheless forced to make three crash landings during the same period. Oblt Hans-Joachim Heinecke went from 0 to 16 and was appointed Staffelkapitän of I./JG 53. It was a similar story for II./JG 53 (minus its 6. Staffel)  Despite the early loss of Kommandeur Bretnuetz, over fourteen weeks and for the loss of six pilots the Gruppe returned some 194 victories " a largely exaggerated figure for just two Staffeln ". The exploits of III./JG 53 over this fourteen week period to the end of September are also detailed. Operating over Heeresgruppe Mitte, this latter organisation seems to have largely abdicated its authority to 'adjudicate' in the claims confirmation process. By the end of the first summer in the East, III./JG 53 had submitted claims for some 373 victories! While its defenders claim Wilcke's Gruppe - established by Mölders - was a nursery for Draufgänger, as evidenced by the three Ritterkreuze awarded in this short space of time, " it is nonetheless a fact that many of these pilots' victory claims were no more than flights of fancy and that they were encouraged to file these claims by a benevolent hierarchy and propaganda media looking for new heroes ".  These 373 claims were made for the loss 31 Friedrich either seriously damaged or destroyed and just three pilots killed, including Ritterkreuz holder Lt. Erich Schmidt, ( RK awarded 23 July for 31 victories) who was downed by Soviet anti-aircraft fire near Dubno.

Erich Schmidt III./JG 53, RK 23 July 1941. Note, above forty seven Abschussbalken, his final tally.

Profile courtesy of artist Thierry Dekker for this blog. Click on the image for a larger view.
Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (WNr. 6702) assigned to Ofw. Hermann Neuhoff, 7./JG 53, Lepel, early July 1941. Neuhoff was shot down over Malta on 10 April 1942 by a "Hurricane" and taken captive.  He was awarded the RK on the same day for his 40 victories. Neuhoff was most probably shot down by a JG 53 Bf 109.

There followed a period of rest in Holland and conversion onto the F-4 variant, that nonetheless saw the loss of the Kommandeur I./JG 53 Franz von Werra. He was replaced by Zerstörer ace Hptm Herbert Kaminski who was awarded the RK on 6 August 1941. Late 1941 and early 1942 saw JG 53 active in a new theatre of operations - deployed to Sicily. The Mediterranean meant the time of 'easy' victories was over  - the hazards of the Med - long over-sea flights, RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes and the British exploitation of Ultra all saw to that. Some 45 victory claims were filed for combats over Malta during the first two months in the Med - for some 25 actual RAF losses. During the spring of 1942 operations over Malta continued relentlessly. A Jabo Staffel was established under Oblt. Werner Langemann. JG 53 filed over 100 victory claims for this period for 25 pilots lost - the successful pilots, Oblt. Helmut Belser (8./JG 53), Zellot, von Maltzahn, Rollwage had all run up scores in the Soviet Union - few if any 'new' aces appeared.  A claim of note was 6./JG 53 Ofw. Rudolf Ehrenberger's 20th on 31 March - for a Hampden over Luqa. In some listings this has even been registered as a Mosquito ! Roba suggests that it was a Hudson flying in from Gibraltar. On 14 April von Maltzahn was credited with a P-40, another extremely rare type over Malta.

I./JG 53 returned to Russia for the offensives of 1942 and received its first Bf 109 G-2 fighters later that summer. " From the outset the huge victory list accumulated by I./JG 53 simply staggers - 913 victory claims in a 19-week period for only 15 pilots lost at an average of 7 victories/day. "  One of these losses was Kommandeur Kaminski, shot down and wounded on 24 July 1942. (On his return from convalescence during late 1943 Kaminski was appointed CO of Zerstörer Gruppe II./ZG 76) Oblt. Tonne opened this second campaign in the East with 19 victories and finished it with 101 ! A youthful Uffz. Wilhelm Crinius had yet to open his score on his arrival in the unit in February 1942 - on 22 September he had 'achieved' his 100th! By now 'Stalin's Falcons' had learnt the lessons of 1941. Moreover, new, more modern types had made their appearance in addition to Allied equipment supplied under Lend-Lease. " The pilots exaggerated claims were probably not the result of deliberate falsification, but it was self-evident that there was no rigour in the claims validation process whatsoever ". One is tempted to add  - as is so often claimed for the Jagdwaffe !  The author argues that these huge victory totals should be divided by two, three, four or even five to arrive at claims approaching the reality of Soviet losses. I./JG 53 went back to Sicily prior to Stalingrad, while of those JG 53 aces who had run up such huge scores in just a short three-month period, very few would see the end of the war - Uffz. Franz Hagedorn (25 or 37 vics), Uffz. Helmut Peissert (38) and Ritterkreuz holder Walter Zellot (86) would all perish soon afterwards in Russia.

Profile courtesy of artist Thierry Dekker for this blog. Click on the image for a larger view
Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 of 10.(Jabo)/JG 53, Gela, Sicily April 1942. The men of the Jabo Staffel referred to themselves as the "Bomben-Export Langemann u Co. GmbH"




JG 53 Friedrichs at Comiso, Sicily during 1942,  courtesy of Michael Meyer and a recent Ebay auction  - these are not images taken from this installment of Roba's JG 53 history.
Michael Meyer's Ebay auctions can be found here
For more on JG 53 on Sicily on this blog, again courtesy of Michael Meyer, go here

demise of the Luftwaffe blog ?, Lt. Karl-Heinz Kempf, JG 26 at Villacoublay June 1944

Thank you for all the kind comments received during the blog’s recent hiatus. I pulled the plug a bit too rapidly perhaps. The ‘end’ of the blog resulted in a bit of fevered speculation on at least one forum - funny how people immediately jump to the worst possible conclusions. As you can see I decided in the end to ‘restore’ this blog, partly to demonstrate to some that Google have not shut this site down for any particular issues, especially of copyright, far from it. Anyway, I'll live with it for a few days and see how I feel. I’m afraid the ‘Luftwaffe blog’ had/has become too much like hard work to be honest. I recognise that there is no way I can really continue to keep doing up-dates of reasonable 'quality' with my 'schedule'; having finished translations of Erik Mombeeck’s JG 4 Vol II and JG 2 Vol II (not yet published) I need a break but I’m still mid-way through a number of other planned publications for various German, Belgian and French authors and with invitations to contribute to two new series on the table currently! One friend recently asserted that I am “the victim of my own expertise”. You are too kind David!

There are obvious problems with regularly up-dating a blog like this. You create something half-decent and it begins to consume all your time and people expect more. Visitor numbers were/are quite impressive, I think, for a private blog, with upwards of 1,200 page views per day. The other (paper) projects demand increasing amounts of attention too. It is always nice to be asked to contribute and difficult to say no, even when it’s Kagero and the half-baked Polish/English text is all but incomprehensible. (Luckily they have upped the quality in leaps and bounds and in Thomasz Szlagor they have a very competent English/Polish writer and researcher). My feeling right now is that this blog will not be updated quite so frequently. Then when time permits I hope to be in a better position to consider again providing more regular updates. Creativity - and energy - ebbs and flows, and right now I'm in an ebb phase with the blog. And besides there are other Luftwaffe blogs and sites out there - see my links and support my friends!

 I am fortunate to have a number of expert friends and fellow enthusiasts to provide material. Chief among these is French researcher/author Jean-Yves Lorant, author of the two volume history of JG 300 (Eagle Editions) and of a ground-breaking study of the Focke Wulf 190 back in 1981 published by Docavia in France (co-author Jean-Bernard Frappé). This was Jean-Yves’ first work, written in the late 1970’s when he was still a teenager. Nowadays he manages the French armed forces photo archive at the Service Historique de la Défense (over 6 million items) from a huge office (big enough to display a genuine Fw 190 propeller) in the opulent surroundings of the château de Vincennes, Paris. A visit there was the highlight of a trip to Paris a few years ago. Jean-Yves was in touch following my recent posting of III./JG 26 Gustavs taxying out and lining up for take-off in front of the ‘Guynemeyer’ hangar at Villacoublay during June 1944. This image was just one of a much longer sequence which featured 9. and 2. Staffel ace Lt. Karl-Heinz Kempf, which Jean-Yves very kindly offered for publication here.

As there is very little information about Kempf on the Net or in books and even fewer images, I am not going to reproduce Jean-Yves' high-res TIFF files here for the usual reasons, but have decided to post some low-res photocopies. Kempf was a former Green Heart Geschwader pilot with some 60 victories over the course of approx 400 sorties by the time of the Normandy Invasion. The pictures show Kempf clambering over a Gustav at Villacoublay during June 1944, possibly ‘white 9’.

He was a rare holder of the Ritterkreuz in JG 26, awarded in Russia during 1942. Kempf survived the hard air combats over the Normandy Invasionsraum and filed a number of additional claims. He was shot down and killed on 3 September 1944 at the controls of a Fw 190 A-8 ‘Black 9’, caught by 55th FG P-51s while taking off with 2. Staffel from Grimbergen, Belgium. (details in Mr Caldwell's "JG 26 War Diary") This flight had been planned as a relatively straight forward ferry flight back to Germany. Kempf’s death was over-shadowed that same day by that of another leading former JG 54 ace and the 170+ victory ace and Kommandeur of II./JG 26, Hptm. Emil Lang.

Storming the bombers Volume II - first review. JG 4 Sturmgruppe Defending the Reich

During March 1945, high-ranking Wehrmacht officers undertook a number of tours of Luftwaffe aerodromes with the aim of relaying the following exhortations emanating from the Reichsmarchall Göring and Genraloberst Stumpf:

" The battle for the Reich, for our people and our homeland is entering its decisive phase. In blind hatred the nations of the world have come together to destroy us. We must draw on our last remaining forces to resist this evil tide. Never in our history has our German homeland been threatened with such total destruction from which there will be no rebirth. We can resist this danger only by manifesting the highest qualities of German combativeness. This is why I am turning to you in our most decisive hour of need: save the nation through the sacrifice in battle of your own life! I call upon you now to one last taking up of arms from which there is only a small probability of return. Those who respond to this appeal will immediately enrol for a flying training programme. Comrades - a place of honour awaits you in the roll call of the Luftwaffe's most revered fighting men. By your sacrifice you will give the German people renewed hope of victory and become an example for future generations in this hour of their greatest danger." (s) Göring

Several dozen pilots responded to this appeal - among them senior and experienced pilots from diverse backgrounds. It was explained that they would be called upon to dive their aircraft onto those of the enemy, as well as troop concentrations, pontoon bridges and other kinds of strategic objectives. Many of the contingent of volunteers were to train for the 'suicide' mission mounted by the Sonderkommando Elbe mentioned previously, while other volunteers were kept in reserve for other types of Selbstopfer – or 'self-sacrifice' - operations. For many of them life itself had already lost all meaning following the death of loved ones and the destruction and loss of all their possessions. Having lived since a young age in the Third Reich, they had in all likelihood been convinced by the Nazi Party propaganda machine of the superiority of their nation and their race. Many doubtless considered that their own fate was indivisible from that of the nation. If this value system was to collapse then everything they held dear would be destroyed for ever. For most the only possible outcome was to die in action - to go down with the Third Reich in its death throes.

Those remaining members of JG 4 who had some contact with the activities and operations of these suicide pilots - usually as a result of being assigned to escort them into action - would remain deeply affected by the experience. Lt. Ewald Kraas, of the Stab III./JG 4 recalled;

" In early April 45 - as the Soviet advance along the Oder front was showing signs of stalling - there were a number of discussions on the subject of suicide missions at the level of the Geschwaderstab in JG 4 - we had become aware that a group of volunteer pilots were being called upon to fly their aircraft - packed with explosives - into the pontoon bridges that had been thrown across the Oder. During this period of inflammatory calls to the German fighting spirit it came as no surprise that some of our pilots were coming forward to undertake these kinds of 'self-sacrifice' missions - after all there had never been any shortage of volunteers for the Sturmstaffeln in our Geschwader. However a Rammjäger always had the option of bailing out at the last minute after ramming an enemy bomber - but these Selbstopfer pilots were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, diving their fully fuelled fighters onto enemy targets..

During the middle of April our Kommodore, Obstlt. Michalski, accompanied by several staff officers paid a visit to Jüterbog/Altes Lager - the aerodrome where the suicide volunteers were assembling. On his return he described the situation there to Hptm. Gerhard Strasen- I was present during this conversation. Michalski had seen eighty volunteers - pilots of all ages, ranks, backgrounds and experience. There was even an Oberfeldwebel among their number who had been decorated with the Ritterkreuz. The discussion turned to the motivations of these men and what drove them to want to sacrifice themselves in this way. Michalski turned to me and said : "well, Lt. Kraas, would you ever consider putting yourself forward to fly this kind of mission?"

Without hesitation I replied: "Herr Oberstleutnant, frankly - not at all!" _" No, neither would I" he admitted..

A link to Adam Norenberg's review of "Storming the Bombers - Vol. 2".

" ...The rare oral testimonies found here are backed up by excellent photographs from pilots and crew’s private collections. Credit must go as well to Neil Page who has produced the translation of the text and has made sure the book is never just a dry account of history as many books are when translated into the English language..."



http://www.themodellingnews.com/2012/01/review-storming-bombers-chronicle-of.html

Guideline Publications "Combat Colours" - An illustrated guide to the colour schemes and markings of the Focke Wulf Fw190 in WWII

Guideline Publications "Combat Colours" series returns with No. 7, An illustrated guide to the colour schemes and markings of the Focke Wulf Fw190 in WWII, "compiled" by Neil Robinson and illustrated by Peter Scott. Based on articles that have appeared in 'Scale Aircraft Modelling' magazine - most notably my articles - ie the 'Aircraft in Detail' features devoted to the A-series fighter variants (Vol 24 no. 9 November 2002) and the Sturmgruppen (Vol 23 no. 1 March 2001)  - Combat Colours no. 7 is a nice 82-page A-4 format softback of Fw 190 profile artwork. This title was planned about eight years ago but shelved back then - in fact looking through I recognise much of the text; entire paragraphs have been lifted from my articles. A credit would have been nice. Still Robinson has done some work on the captions it would appear and artist Scott has exploited the latest Luftwaffe colours/image research and photo discoveries. The work has around 25 pages of sub-type variant description and operational history and features an interesting if largely unexceptional selection of photos courtesy of Barry Ketley. 'Interesting' is the best comment I can come up with for the artwork to be honest. While of decent quality and generally 'accurate' in his interpretations ('Yellow 17' usually associated with Willi Unger of IV(Sturm)./JG 3 being a rather unfortunate exception)  the profile artist favours a 'flat' style with no weathering, shadowing or highlighting that is a little too neutral for my tastes if truth be told. The images themselves are also a tad on the small size. Overall I guess around one hundred machines are illustrated, most A-variant types, although there are a few pages of F & G Jabo and Schlacht machines. No Doras though. If you have Scott's 'Battle of Britain Emils' title in the same series you will know exactly what to expect. Do modellers prefer this style or would they prefer to be inspired by Sundin's or Dekker's large scale  'life-like' images?  I guess you get what you pay for  - and that pretty much applies here. Slightly more expensive than an Osprey, artwork of similar quality to John Weal's, ie not up the standard of a Hector or Laurier, but, depending on your point of view, very good value for the amount of info presented.

While similar in concept and execution to the 'Histoire and Collections' illustrated Fw 190 profile book, this new Guidelines title is far better than that absymal effort from the French publisher (distributed by Casemate).  For a book of profile artwork, the aircraft has to look 'right' and that is certainly the case here. Like that H&C Fw 190 title this book features pages illustrating stencil placement but includes additionally a nice selection of good quality emblem illustrations and around ten machines have been selected for a four-view treatment. The 'meat' of this Guidelines title though is the detailed profile captions which must amount to many thousands of words. In fact it occurs to me that this book could usefully be read alongside Rodeike's 'Jagdflugzeug 190' bible if you have this German title and do not read German. Recommended with the odd reservation.

http://guidelinepublications.co.uk/

And some more considered comments on this work from Luftwaffe colours Experte David E. Brown;

" ..I offer a few comments on this publication, a copy of which I received a few days ago. Neil has made a number of observations on it that I concur with and I will not repeat, though I will share a few thoughts. In my opinion, there are a few discrepancies and omissions of note.

First, as a book that heavily emphasizes colours, there is no colour key to relate to all the colour profiles! Certainly this is needed as there are no colour call-outs adjacent to any of the profiles / plan views. For example, there is no observable difference between RLM 65 and RLM 76, yet both colours are discussed. Furthermore, the dark blue grey is presumably RLM 75, yet it is darker than RLM 74 which to the knowledgeable is the reverse. Other colours are given a similar treatment: RLM 02 appears as RLM 83, RLM 83 appears too light and looks more like RLM 82, etc. The RLM 24 blue looks violet in my copy of the book. Regardless of any limitations in offset printing, the colour key would facilitate the reader’s understanding and identification of the colours and convey the intent of the author. There is enough confusion with regards to identifying Luftwaffe colours, not to mention the repetition of ancient errors and misinterpretations. This publication does nothing to help the situation when it really could have been a positive contribution.


Second, with regards to the colours on early A-1s and A-2s, the authors cannot seem to make up their minds on whether they were 02/71 or 74/75. The following might help.


There is a fascinating example of a transition aircraft on page 4. This aircraft, Fw 190 A-2, “sw.8+-“ of 5./JG 2 was taken in the summer of 1942. A slightly better quality image of the bottom photo appears on page 116 of Smith and Creek’s latest book on the Fw 190 A (Classic, 2011), and this is the one I will refer to.

At first blush one would think the scheme was 74/75, but a closer inspection reveals that the aircraft received an overspray of RLM 76. The fin Hakenkreuz was obviously masked over and the underlying fuselage and underside colour RLM 65 is clearly as a darker shade. The painter appears to have started at the tail and with his painting left ‘negative mottles of the original RLM 02 and RLM 71 mottles. In some cases, the mottles are merely patches of RLM 65 left unsprayed. As he moved forward, the overspray became less dense and by the time he reached the engine power-egg the 76 appears as light-coloured thin wisps and swirls. One can actually see where he followed the top of the exhaust staining and did not bother to clean the fuselage. However, the underside appears to have been given a very solid application of RLM 76, and one of the maintenance instructions on the port wheel door was masked off such that the darker 65 is preserved (seen in the middle photo on page 4). A very quick job but one that preserves important camouflage information. (One would like to see more photos of this kite!)

My belief is that this aircraft was given the new colour at it operational base but left its original 71/02 uppersurface scheme that is visible in the Smith and Creek photograph. Indeed, A-2s were being manufactured between August 1941 and August 1942 and later concurrently with A-3s, so probably more than half of all A-2 have been in the original scheme with the remainder transitioning to the new grey colours RLM 74, 75 and 76 from March-April 1942. (Colours RLM 77, 78, 79 and 80 started to appear perhaps a month later.) The main take-away is that this aircraft might be a very important clue regarding the RLM’s L.Dv.521/1 instructions of November 1941 that have so far defied explanation about finishing fighter and Zerstörer aircraft in “Farbton 74, 75, 76, 65” that Ken Merrick and others have puzzled over for years. I’ll have more to say about that in another discussion.

Thirdly, it is certain that the late A-2s and A-3s were finished with the new grey scheme of 74/75/76, but even here there were variations. An interesting example appears on page 8 (bottom) of the book. This is an outstanding overhead view of Fw 190 A-4 “sw.12+I” of 8./JG 2. Certainly the wing scheme cannot be 74/75. Here is another example of the use of RLM 77 Hellgrau that when one looks closely is seen to appear on an increasing number of Bf 109s and Fw 109s. The grey tone of the lighter and darker colours is far too light to have been 74/75, though in this case was 77/75.

Finally, the photographs in the book lack any indication as to their source / attribution, and, there is no list of references. In many of the captions there are suggestions that the authors consulted some books but the reader is left to wonder which ones. This information could have been conveyed in the captions to allow the reader to consult the available references to study the photographs themselves and compare with / validate the authors’ interpretations..

despite these lapses, the amount of information presented in this package makes it a bargain given the purchase price ..."

Order your copy from  http://www.guidelinepublications.co.uk/

Thinning my Luftwaffe library

Up-dated with more items available on "buy-it-now", UK sales only please due postage costs. There are some heavy books here..!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sturmgruppe/m.html?item=230725088455&viewitem=&_trksid=p4340.l2562