by Gilles Collaveri
"...31 January 1944, Pau, south-west France. Friedrich Kisslinger climbed into the cockpit of a Messerschmitt 109 E coded ‘red 5', an E-3 built by Erla in April 1940, from a batch of 500 constructed between August 1939 and April 1940. According to German archives, it had already been damaged twice, the first time on 29 August 1942, when it sustained 35% damages in northern France, and a second time on 25 March 1943, again at 35%, at La Rochelle Laleu airport [when a plane was damaged, the Luftwaffe recorded the degree of destruction. Thus 100% meant total loss]. Friedrich Kisslinger was 21 years old and had followed the standard curriculum by learning to fly gliders before arriving in Pau. On 31 January he got airborne. Once at altitude, he somehow lost control of his aircraft and was unable to stabilise it. When he finally bailed out he was too low. He was killed on impact with the ground, and his plane crashed nearby. How did the young Friedrich Kisslinger find himself in 1944 in south-west France? Quite simply because in 1943 and 1944, Tarbes, Pau and Toulouse were three major Luftwaffe training bases. These airfields were far from the front line and enjoyed decent weather, ideal for training young pilots. Jagdgeschwader 101 and the Jagdgruppe Ost, Süd and West were based here. Formed at the end of 1942, JG 101 was based in Pau, Tarbes and Ossun, while JGr. West and Ost were based in Cazaux, Biarritz, Toulouse, Mont de-Marsan and Landes-de-Bussac. These training units sometimes opposed Allied raids. On 5 March 1944, for example, Chuck Yeager's P-51 B was shot down by Irmfried Klötz, a young pilot from JGr. West flying the Fw 190..."