Axis Wings volume 4 has landed !

Rich from Chandos Publications shows us Axis Wings Vol 4 and explains the 'bundle' deals available when purchasing this book series over at the Chandos Publications web site. This issue - 184-large format pages- features content from leading specialists such as Richard Dunn, Michael Claringbould, Dietmar Hermann, Alexander Steenbeck, Peter Kassak, Tim Oliver, J. Richard Smith and more.

" I could not love the 109 the way I loved my friend Brewster.." - FA-2 Buffalo - Brewster Model 239

 

Lentolaivue 24 Brewster being refueled in Tiiksjärvi. The Model 239 had two 300 ltr wing tanks

I guess most aviation enthusiasts know something about the FA-2 Buffalo - typically that the USMC, the RAF and other air forces suffered at the hands of the Japanese while north of the Arctic Circle the Finns achieved some success with the type against the Soviets during the Continuation war.

" The Marines on Midway had no combat experience and were fighting IJN pilots with extensive combat experience. The Dutch and British faced similarly experienced IJAAF pilots over the DEI and Malaysia, with limited time in the Buffaloes and experience in high altitude fighting over Europe. Fighting in the Pacific was at lower altitudes and required different tactics. The Finns were all combat veterans of the Winter War and when the later Continuation War began they were also quite familiar with their Buffaloes. They knew their aircraft and their enemy..."

The FA-2 was of course probably not as bad as it is often portrayed. The Finnish B-239s were modified from US Navy F2A-1s, featuring a more powerful engine, no armour, no self-sealing tanks, and extra machine guns. The elite Finnish Lelv 24 claimed 477 victories for the loss of 19 in combat and six more in accidents or destroyed on the ground during the period 1941-44 in their Brewsters. This blog is not about to suggest that the Buffalo - or Brewster Model 239 as the export 'version' was designated - was superior to the Bf 109 G. But by certain criteria it actually was. 

Take for example, 'drag coefficient'.  The drag coefficient is perhaps the most important aerodynamic parameter in aircraft design, representing how "streamlined" its shape is. A lower figure directly correlates to better performance, fuel efficiency and speed. Somewhat surprisingly the stubby, radial-engined, short-winged Buffalo had a lower drag coefficient than the Bf 109 G as this Finnish data table highlights.

The Buffalo had been extensively wind-tunnel tested during its design, while the Me 109 was - in its early variants - usually described as 'kantig' (or 'angular'). The 109 'famously' underwent a 're-design' to a more 'aerodynamic' profile with the Friedrich.  The FA-2 used the same NACA aerofoil sections that were a feature of the later Bearcat.

The Buffalo performed well in Finland. Firstly, it was probably the easiest of the Finnish fighters to handle all round. In the summer of 1941 there were fighter pilots flying it with fewer than 150 total hours. Second, it was quite reliable. It was a sound design, no major faults and it was also "erk friendly". Third, for a significant period of time its performance was adequate (up to late 1942). The Soviets still used lots of I-153 and I-16. Fourth, the enemy pilots in general were not particularly good and especially their aggressiveness left much to be desired. 

Pure comparison accounts are surprisingly few even if most Buffalo pilots continued on to the 109. In the 1990s the-then director of the FAF museum published his 109 book which had a chapter with personal reports. The author had requested accounts from pilots and mechanics for their opinions on the 109. Basically very few were by "the aces" (most had died by then) and most were from pilots who flew it only post-war. There is quite a lot of variance. For example, Eino Luukkanen considered the 109 easier to handle than the Fokker D. 21. But he was one of the most experienced of them all.

Some Finnish pilots actually preferred the Buffalo - or the 239-  over their later 109 Gustavs received from Germany;

SSgt Heimo 'Hemmi' Lampi recounted his attachment to the Brewster to historian Dan Ford;

 

“The old friend Messerschmitt, who was a real hard fighter, was my next plane after the Brewster, but it totally lacked in humaneness.. [..]..I could not love it the way I loved my friend Brewster. Nor any other plane for that matter.” 

Having scored during the Winter War, Lampi became an ace on day 1 of the Continuation War - 25 June 1941 - then later became an ace on the Brewster 239 and added eight more victories in the 109. 

 Warrant Officer Juutilainen (with 34, second-highest scoring ace on the Brewster Model 239) referred to the 239s as “fat hustlers, just like bees. They had speed, agility and good weaponry, too.…We were happy to take them anywhere to take on any opponent.” The top three Buffalo pilots - Lt. Wind (with 39 victories in a Brewster), and 1st Lt. Jorma Karhunen (26.5)—claimed 23 Polikarpov I-16 monoplane fighters, 18 Polikarpov I-153 biplanes and 11 Hawker Hurricanes. Encounters with more modern Russian fighters—Yaks, MiGs and LaGGs—were rare until the Finns began the conversion to Messerschmitts in early 1943.

The men of Llv 24's 4th Flight putting CO Llv 24' Major 'Eka' Magnusson's aircraft BW-380 in the firing butts, Rantasalmi, July 10, 1941. The fuel drum on which the machine is about to be balanced is just visible. Note tactical number 'black 1'

 

Many have claimed that at 25-to-1 Finnish Brewsters recorded the highest victory-loss ratio of the war. Juutilainen described his combat experiences in the memoir Double Fighter Knight, referring to his two Mannerheim Crosses. He pressed attacks to minimum range to ensure lethal accuracy. Juutilainen recalled one particularly close-in dogfight with a Soviet Hurricane:

" I came in at high speed from above and behind and pulled the throttle back to idle. The target grew in my gunsight. It was a very clean airplane and looked brand new. Now I was approaching the perfect firing range and looked around me one more time. No other enemies were in sight. The pipper on my sight was just slightly in front of the nose of the Hurricane, and my glide angle was about 10 degrees. Now I could count rivets on the target..."

The Buffalo was certainly obsolete by 1941. It could not survive in Western Europe and did not survive in the Pacific. It was heavy and under-powered. Ultimately the Finns were successful with the type because they stripped out as much weight as possible, leading to better performance. It was piloted by combat veterans who knew the tactics of their enemy and in an environment that better suited the aircraft. And for the first year or so of the Continuation War they were also up against ancient I-16s and other obsolescent Soviet types flown by poorly trained pilots.

Captain Ahola's victorious flight crew around their aircraft at Tiiksjärvi, May 21, 1942.

Also on this blog;

The life and times of Finnish fighter ace Veikko Karu

Werner Schroer 8./JG 27 - Bundesarchiv photo report #13

 

Early Gustav on Rhodes seen in January 1943 flown by Werner Schroer of 8./JG 27. Bundesarchiv images may be reproduced on non-commercial sites. Posted here for the Me 109 Group build currently taking place on Britmodeller.. PK images such as these are available in much better quality on the BA web site than they are on sites that just plunder from books and other sites, like Laird's asisbiz pages. Many are beautifully reproduced in the 'Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe' series, in this instance Teil 11/1. See pages 226-237 for several photos of Oblt. Schroer's G-2 trop and other 8./JG 27 machines on/over Rhodes and Crete. The Prien team concludes that the a/c are finished in their original two-colour scheme of 78/79 modified at the unit to suit local conditions, probably with 80. The spinner is black with 1/3 white.

From the 'official' caption;

" German fighter planes have now also landed on the island of Rhodes, close to the gates of Turkey, as part of the increased expansion of the individual bastions of the Axis front in the Mediterranean. The photos show the deployment of a Gruppe. The ground crew, who ensure that the Me 109s are always ready for take-off at the new operational field, also relocate with the fighters. The welcome from the Italian pilots was very warm and they were very interested to see the latest variant of Me 109. Location: Rhodes Island. The German airmen got on very well with their Italian comrades. There is a warm camaraderie. German and Italian air force soldiers are seen chatting next to a Messerschmitt Bf 109..."

Volume 4 of Axis Wings at the printers

As announced by publisher/editor Rich Carrick (Chandos Publications). Volume 4 of Axis Wings is currently at the printers... I had the opportunity to contribute one of the features prominent on the cover and help with proofreading the content. Best issue yet ? Possibly. Well, I would say that wouldn't I ? Don't miss it...

 

new Luftwaffe books - JfV 16/I, 'Flieger Asse' and 'Foto Archiv' from Geramond, 'Das Lehrgeschwader 1' Start Verlag

 

The latest (huge) volume in Rogge Buchverlag's Jagdfliegerverbände series (JfV)  - Teil 16/I - has recently landed! This is the first volume of the Prien team's coverage of 1945- entitled 'Einsatz an allen Fronten 1945' this is a no doubt comprehensive account of the Luftwaffe's fighter force during the first three months of 1945. Although it is almost impossible to 'read' and 'review' and do a meaningful write-up, if you have any interest in the late-war Luftwaffe at all, then you will know to add this to your library. A friend told me he made a decision years ago not to collect this series given his lack of room at home - now 24 volumes later with space on bookshelves shrinking- there are just two more volumes to come. 

Teil 16 Teilband I is a daily chronicle of January-March 1945 covering all Luftwaffe Tagjagd day fighter units in action on both East and West fronts (including Norway) detailed over some 650 pages -  Tagjagdverbände of the Lw.- Kdo. West, Luftflotte Reich (including JG 7 and JG 400) and Luftflotten 1, 6 and 4 covering JGs 51,52 and 54 as well as L.fl 5 (Norwegen). On 1 January 1945 the Luftwaffe still had around 2,200 fighters in service, of which approx 1,500 were listed as serviceable, while there were nearly 3,000 pilots trained and available to man them. Of these organisations Lw.-Kdo West could field over 800 fighters even after the heavy losses of late December 1944 attempting to cover the Ardennes offensive - some 56% of the entire force. Luftflotte Reich comprising mostly JG 300 and JG 301 along with the jet and rocket fighters had at least 300 operational machines, while just 15% of the Luftwaffe's fighter force - barely 300 fighters -were based on the Eastern Front covering a huge area from Courland in the north to Hungary in the south. Lfl 5 had over 100 fighters available. It was proposed to 'bulk' up each Geschwader with a V. Gruppe made up of the EJG auxiliary training unit resources but this did not take place.

While the authors have managed to assemble nearly 300 photo images to illustrate this volume, other scarce 'material' also features. For example, the RLM-Abschussfilme - that had enabled a more or less comprehensive compilation of victory claims in previous volumes -  are non-existent for 1945, with only material for JGs 26 and 27 available to compensate for the lack of films. The authors point out that although there may still be 'gaps' in the claims lists - data for the area covered by Luftflotte 4 in early January is described as 'fragmentary' -  much of what has previously been published has been fully revised and augmented; where this has been done it is footnoted - there are well over 3,000 of these to complement the text! The day-by-day chronicle of the activities of the individual Gruppen is compiled from a host of disparate war diaries (eg KTB Lfl.6), Luftlageberichte, flight logs, strength and loss returns (GQM Verlustmeldungen) and reports, along with ULTRA intercepts; eg an ULTRA report dated 4 January 1945 details that II. and IV. Gruppen of EJG 1 were ordered to send four pilots with at least 10 hours on the Bf 109 to Brandenburg-Briest and Parchim to act as 'targets' for the Me 262s of I and III./JG 7. Details of aircraft abandoned, sabotaged and written off as airfields were evacuated are almost completely absent from German records. Fighter production (including repair) and deliveries (by unit) are covered for all types, including the new variants of the Fw 190 - the D-11 and D-13. There are images and details of a G-6 prototype fitted with wing-mounted Mk 108 cannon (also seen recently on-line from the Petrick archive) and a brutal assessment of the He 162 - it may have been built with non-strategic materials and only used one jet engine, but it could not be flown like any 'conventional' fighter and it consequently killed far more of its own pilots than it did the enemies'. Deliveries for all fighter types in the period covered by this volume amounted to some 6,600 aircraft. With the works at Sorau falling to the Soviets on 13 February 1945 the total of Ta 152s actually built and delivered amounted to just 48 machines of which at least 14 were destroyed on the ground during a strafing attack on Neuhausen, near Cottbus, on 16 January 1945.

The text opens with a statistical reassessment of the 'Bodenplatte' attacks on Allied airfields in the West - over 900 Luftwaffe aircraft took part (perhaps as many as 1,035 according to the OKW KTB). At least 750 of these were fighters. Losses were horrendous - as many as 214 pilots KIA or taken captive, 267 aircraft lost and a further 112 damaged for some 500 Allied aircraft destroyed on the ground. Is it worth pointing out that few of these new Luftwaffe pilots stood no chance of inflicting comparable losses in the air?  And contrary to common belief only a very small percentage of those German aircraft shot down fell to their own anti-aircraft fire. But few Allied airmen were killed while their machines could soon be replaced so the entire enterprise was a 'Fehlschlag'. Countless lives might have been saved had the Luftwaffe fighter forces simply been disbanded at this stage of the war. Since Normandy, air warfare had increasingly turned into a "Materialschlacht". As a postscript (p643-646) a fascinating Lfl.Kdo 6 document considers the pros and cons of a 'Bodenplatte Ost' fighter attack on Eastern Front airfields ahead of the Soviet onslaught about to be launched from the bridgeheads north of Warsaw, but was rejected for the same reasons that nullified the effort in the West at such cost.. 

During early January poor weather in the East saw most activity over the area of Lfl. 4 (Hungary) with II./JG 51 and II./JG 52 active to the north-west of Budapest while on the Western front huge 8th USAAF raids continued virtually unopposed.  Losses continued to accumulate even where no combat  was flown - poor weather, inadequate training levels, rough field strips, Soviet ground fire etc could  bring down as many German Jagdflieger as enemy fighters! While aware of preparations in the East for the forthcoming Soviet onslaught, details of the paltry fuel stocks from the Luftflotten KTBs this early in the year make it clear that this factor alone would hamper any prospect of decisive or effective 'resistance'. 

Elsewhere as the Soviets tank divisions started to roll through the so-called Generalgouvernement (former Poland) from 12 January some western-based fighter units began their move to the Eastern Front ( eg JG 77 on 17 January). III./JG 51 was particularly active over East Prussian airspace. At this time orders were transmitted to 'remove' one Gruppe from each JG and to convert them to so-called 'Ruhe- or 'rest' -Gruppen' to create a 'ready reserve' to be maintained at full strength, but by early March 1945 shortages both of personnel and fuel led to numerous unit disbandments. One of these was IV./JG 301, a new fighter unit that in actual fact only flew one combat mission in the defence of the Reich (02 March) losing 14 aircraft. Some 130 of the best pilots in the disbanded Gruppen went to the jet units JG 7 and KG (J) 54 for re-training. The huge US 8th AF raid carried out on 02 March was virtually the last 8th USAF bombing raid that was defended by the Jagdwaffe over the Reich - henceforward most of their efforts would be spent countering the Allied Tactical Air forces..

In the East by mid-March the Soviets were just 15 miles or so south of Danzig and despite the poor weather the Luftwaffe was facing literally thousands of Soviet fighter and bomber incursions - 2,100 in the area of Lfl. 6 and around 1,150 in the area of Lw.Kdo Ostpreussen during 9 March alone, to take one day by way of example. To counter, the KTB of Lfl. 6 mentions just 172 fighter sorties for 26 victory claims in addition to 116 Schlachtflieger sorties. There were also over 50 recce sorties flown. There were in all probability attempting to establish where the front lines actually were. Some 60 sorties were flown as escort for Schlacht aircraft, as well as strafing and bombing missions in small numbers around Stettin and Kolberg. By 24 March - date of the Allied Rhine crossings - German defences in the West were totally ineffectual - not a single German fighter managed to intervene during the crossings in the vicinity of Wesel (p578). On the Allied side over 1,300 gliders and 4,600 other aircraft had been assembled.

As usual in this huge series of books there are numerous photographic highlights - despite the fact that PK images for this period are virtually non-existent. Among these are a selection of images of the Me 109 K-4s of JG 11 (from the Schalk album in the Archive of Modern Conflict) which are superb and mostly very large and very clear. Some were taken as late as mid-March on the airfield at Strausberg, east of Berlin with snow on the ground. As G.d.Jagdflieger, GenLt. Galland's visit to I./JG 300 at Borkheide on 16 January 1945 which was briefly covered in the JG 300 history (Lorant/Goyat) features on pages 110-111 with both 'new' and larger images and there is another image of 'Timo' Schenk's 'red 5''(p397).The Fw 190 'black 3' of II./JG 76 (p212) in white is unusual. The four 11./JG 3 Bf 109 K-4 images (p484-485) are 'new' as well, as are the images of the 'dump' of I. and IV./JG 51 wrecks left at Danzig-Langfuhr (p562-563) in March 1945.

The reader will be particularly impressed with Ulf Balke's maps - the first of these appears on p28 "Tagjagdverbände of Luftflotte Reich, January 1945" followed by similar maps for Lw.Kdo West, and the Eastern Front Luftflotten 6 during January 1945. These are repeated for the month of March 1945. 

With only two more books to go in the series you are unlikely to want to start collecting them all now but if - like many enthusiasts- you are particularly interested in the late-war period this is one volume you cannot miss. For ordering and a full list of contents go to the Rogge Verlag website at http://jagdgeschwader.net

Below; Ofhr Peter Esser entered the Luftwaffe in late 1942. After being trained in JG 107 and 2./EJG Ost, he joined 7./JG 77 during August 1944. During September, he was transferred to 2./JG 53, ending the war in 6./JG 52. He is seen here at Vesprem, Hungary on 18 March 1945 after an afternoon sortie during which he claimed a P-51 south-east of the airfield. Note the 'tulip' decoration on the yellow nose of this G-14..

A glimpse of a 'White 1' flown by Paul Schalk of 5./JG 11 from the latest Prien team 'Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe Teil 16/1'. According to the caption this machine is a G-14/AS but others have identified it as an Erla-built G-10. See the latest Anders Hjortsberg artwork here

Two recent 'FlugzeugClassic' 'Extra' titles from the team behind Geramond's monthly magazine. 'Flieger Asse' ( 'Air Aces') features a selection of lengthy extracts from the published works of 296 Verlag who are now sadly defunct. I don't have all of their titles by any means so this compilation is very timely, possibly the last chance to become acquainted with some of these books which will undoubtedly become rather rare, most notably Roderich Cesscotti's (KG 30, KG 100, JG 301) memoir 'Langstreckenflug'. 'Foto Archiv' appears to be a selection of the 'Foto album' pages from the magazine 'FlugzeugClassic' there's not an awful lot of text in this one, just 100 pages of rare images from the personal albums of bomber and fighter pilots, maintenance 'black-men' and similar as previously published in the 'Foto album' pages of the monthly magazine. If you've not seen 'FlugzeugClassic' before most of these images will be new to you. My particular favourites concern Gerd Neuhaus who was a Ju 88 nightfighter pilot in NJG 4 before volunteering for II./JG 4. Both of these Geramond monographs can be purchased via amazon.co.uk for around £12 which is a bargain.

The new title from Start/Urbanke is published. "Das Lehrgeschwader 1 -  Mediterranean deployment  1941-42 in rare colour images"

 " ..Christmas came a little early this year. Thanks to my wonderful (and most importantly, partner in crime) wife, I received the long-awaited Start Verlag volume on the LG 1. It's an excellent volume, packed with beautiful colour images, accompanied by a comprehensive text, maps, and beautiful color profiles by Simon Schatz. The final section is also very interesting, with biographies of the war correspondents who took the photos, people about whom little or nothing is generally known. It would be wonderful to have a similar volume covering the years 1943-44 in the near future; who knows! Highly recommended!.."  Giampiero Piva

And a quick mention for 'Defenders of the Reich', Robert Forsyth's latest hardback for Osprey, recently reviewed by Victoria Taylor in the Daily Telegraph.

Eduard 1:72 Bf 109 G-10 JG 300 - Michel Wilhelme

 

"..The 156th is finished. Another Eduard Bf 109 in 1:72 (Royal Class box set). Always perfect, I never tire of these Eduard kits, there are always lots of cool schemes for them too. This latest model is a G-10 belonging to JG 300 and found outside a hangar in Prague. The camouflage is rather different from what we're used to seeing. It's a late-war scheme where it was better to have dark colours so as not to be seen by Allied fighters. The paint is either AK, Mig or Vallejo, which in my opinion are the best colours..."  Michel Wilhelme

 

Elements of JG 300 flew into Prague-Gbell during the period 03-05 May 1945 having been ordered there from Salzberg Ainring. This is one of their machines from 11. Staffel (blue-white-blue bands) seen after arrival in Prague. No other JGs were ordered to Prague -there was a TG in Rusin and an SG Gruppe somewhere north of Prague. The last situation report from Luftflotte 6 dated 7 May 45 confirmed the 'transfer'...as for the Staffel number, it should be green although Eduard's 'yellow 7' looks quite 'green'! Note III. and IV. Gruppen of JG 300 did not use a Gruppe marking aft of the cross..

"...It is difficult to establish an exhaustive list of all JG 300 pilots who managed to fly to Prag-Gbell, then Saaz and finally Eger. Among those who reached Prag were Lt. Meichsner, Kapitän of 11./JG 300, as well as Feldwebeln Hans Gerich and Günther Borchert of the same Staffel, and Lt. Reinhardt Weiss of 12./JG 300; in II. Gruppe, Gruppenkommandeur Oblt. Waldemar Radener and Ofw. Fred Dohms (8./JG 300). IV. Gruppe was better represented, at least five pilots reaching Prag, including Oblt. Heinz Förster (Staffelkapitän 13./JG 300), Fw. Hermann Berdelmann and Uffz. Eugen Maier (14./JG 300), as well as Fw. Walter Ehmer (16./JG 300). Two IV./JG 300 pilots, Lt. Burger and Ofw. Gräfner (13. Staffel), died in the street fighting in the Czech capital, most probably during the afternoon of 4 May 1945..." 

AIMs Me 109 data plate and engine stencil decals for the Airfix 1:24 Gustav

 

Blog post #109 for 2025. John at AIMs has been hard at work to produce a variety of (decal, resin and etch) enhancements for the new Airfix 1:24 scale Bf 109 G. Available now are a set of manufacturer data plate decals along with stencil detail decals for the cockpit and DB 605 engine. AIMs also have resin and etch sets forthcoming for a G-5 (pressurisation kit) and a G-6/U4 (camera control and fairing). And more decal schemes for a variety of JGs. These sheets include a number of 'wilde Sau' options - Dieterle's machine will look especially striking in this larger scale. Contact John at aimsmodels1@gmail.com