more Fw 190s - archive photo scan #37

 

more Fw 190s scanned

Staffelkapitän 2./JG 11 Erich Hondt’s A-5/U12 WNr 410 266 ‘schwarze 13' with the Staffelzeichen on the cowl. Hondt's machine displayed the so-called Schwarmführerstreifen or red diagonal stripes of a Schwarm leader along the fuselage sides appearing as a 'Vee' from above..The U12 Rüstsatz comprised underwing gondolas each containing a pair of MG 151 cannon, one of the few armament Rüstsätze to reach operational status

Ofw. Bigge's 'Black 2' of the Fw 190 nightfighter Staffel 2./JG 2 in the early summer of 1943 in western France seen flipped over after a bombing raid....Fw 190s of this Staffel were finished in overall 76..

 More JG 11 Kanonenboote with the underwing Gondelwaffen

..and from the ongoing Petrick archive ebay sell off.  Oskar Romm's Dora seen in Prenzlau, March 1945. I don't recall this image from Jochen Prien's history of IV./JG 3. A nice find...

Werfer rocket launcher-toting A-7/8s of I./JG 26 getting airborne from a field strip in western France during the summer of 1944. These aircraft were used with limited success on ground attack sorties against Allied armour and road convoys..

Hans-Martin Markhoff JG 52, JG 4

 

Fw 190 A seen in early 1945 in Welzow. Attributed by Peter Petrick to Oblt. Hans-Martin Markhoff, Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 4. Previously published by Peter Rodeike in 'Jagdflugzeug 190' ...note in the lower image the new (and short-lived) 'rigid' steel drop tank and mount installation developed for 'rough field' operations. See Rodeike p300.

Hans- Martin Markhoff  had flown more than 100 sorties on the Russian Front as wingman to one of JG 52's greatest aces, Günther Rall, prior to volunteering for home defence duties in early 1944. Charged with screening the Kommandeur of III./JG 52, his chances of achieving victories in aerial combat were few and having witnessed a bombardment of Berlin while on leave in late 1943 he decided that his duty lay in defending his fellow citizens back home in Germany. He volunteered to be a Sturm (assault) pilot flying in the 'defence of the Reich'. As an experienced fighter pilot, Oblt Hans-Martin Markhoff was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 4 in September 1944 and participated in the attack on B-24s of the 445th BG over Kassel on September 27, 1944 – one of the most serious reverses suffered by the US 8th AF during their bombing campaign of Germany. Post-war he trained as an architect.

 Extract from a 12-page letter written in 1979 - Markhoff describes the 'endless waiting around' for the first combat mission of his new 8.Staffel in II.(Sturm)/JG 4. Depending on the weather the fighter pilots existence revolved around different stages of 'readiness' - 'I no longer recall how often we got airborne and failed to make contact with the enemy, usually because they had already turned for home..' Markhoff's Staffel underwent their 'Feuertaufe' or 'baptism of fire' on 11 September 1944 - '..with good direction from the ground we were guided in behind a formation of B-17s over Chemnitz at around 12:10...'

 

Junkers Ju 188 A-3, III./KG 26, Gardemoen/Norway, May 1945

 

This III./KG 26 Junkers Ju 188 A-3 was photographed in Gardemoen/Norway, May 1945, following German surrender to British forces. Note the WNr. 0326 under the cockpit and what looks to be the variant designation. This Ju 188 was equipped with the FuG 200 Hohentwiel airborne naval search radar. III./KG 26 converted to the Ju 188 A-3 in December 1944 and in early January 1945, with 37 Ju 188s on charge, the unit was transferred to Bardufoss in northern Norway. From here the Gruppe flew a number of attacks against Allied shipping up until late February. Returning to Gardemoen, 30 kms north of Oslo, the unit did not see much action due to fuel shortages. Their final mission of the war was to help evacuate wounded soldiers from the Kurland pocket, after which most aircraft returned to Norway. Reposted from the ongoing Petrick archive ebay sell-off....

Fw 190 D-9 in JG 300

from an article compiled by this blog writer for Scale Aircraft Modelling back in 2003. Artwork by Mark Rolfe.

Stab./JG 300 D-9 seen in Prague post-war. The last Kommodore of JG 300 was Günther Rall - his Geschwaderstab may have taken on charge some D-9s in April 1945 but it is not known if Rall himself ever flew a combat sortie in the D-9.

Click on the images to read the captions

Note 'RLM 83' is now considered by some experts to have been a 'maritime blue' - that '83' was a 'green' is/was a widely held assumption possibly originating in the 1980s in the work of Thomas Hitchcock. According to Kiroff there are different 'distinct 'recipes' for Farbton 81 and 82 - and only one for '83'  - others consider blue '83' to have been a 'test' colour for over-water ops, with only limited 'documentary evidence' restricted to a handful of Ju 88 units operating in the Med. More on this shortly....

Also on this blog;

Last sorties of JG 300, April 1945

Ofw. Walter Karbstein, 2./ZG 76

 

While researching his history of ZG 76, author Peter Kaššák came across a unique gun camera video from this unit. It was filmed by Ofw. Walter Karbstein of 2./ZG 76 on Sunday 2 April 1944. On this date, Bf 110 Gustavs of I. and III. Gruppe of ZG 76 were scrambled from Ansbach and Öttingen and participated alongside crews of II./ZG 1 in the defensive actions over the Reich as US bomber formations flew a major raid on targets in Austria and Yugoslavia, including the ball-bearing plant at Steyr. Some 28 Bf 110 Gs were airborne at 09:15 and, upon return at about midday, reported just one claim that would be confirmed - Walter Karbstein's attack on a lone B-17. Karbstein was in 2. Staffel, but flew his attack in cooperation with others. His victim was likely destroyed southwest of Linz at 5000 meters at about 11:15. Thanks to the Eric Zemper Collection of the 457th BG Association we can see this action on a short gun camera video clip - Karbstein's Bf 110 closes from astern on a lone B-17 which already appears to have had its port wing set on fire but continues to fly straight and level. Note the picture shake as the German pilot unleashes his salvos; 

 Just a short time after this action ZG 76 converted onto the Me 410 and battled against the 15th USAAF over the south of the Reich area. On one such sortie, flown on 27 June 1944, the Stab flight of Zerstörergeschwader 76 lost two machines - one of them was the Messerschmitt Me 410 B-2/U2 coded 'M8 + chevron 3', which crashed at Bánhida in Hungary. The crew, consisting of pilot Ofw. Walter Karbstein and his Bordfunker Uffz. Ernst Keller, were both killed. 

 A civilian photo of Walter Karbstein taken when he entered military service 

This material does not appear in the recent book published by Peter Kaššák and M. Žatkovič entitled 'Zerstörergeschwader 76 - History of the German Luftwaffe unit 1939 - 1945'. 

Since publication Peter's book has received excellent reviews from Luftwaffe and airwar history enthusiasts - " one of the best texts on a Luftwaffe unit of the past 10-20 years.." It is a high quality 'print-on-demand' title, available at the lulu.com book store and previously reviewed on this blog here. 

The Eric Zemper collection can be found at https://457thbombgroupassoc.org

new Luftwaffe books (4) - AÉROJOURNAL HS N°50, LA KG 26 "LÖWENGESCHWADER"

 

Caraktere are back in action after their recent 'difficulties' - a new 'special issue' devoted to KG 26, the Luftwaffe's anti-shipping Geschwader is just published. For just 15 euros (more expensive outside the EU) this 120-page publication ( 150 photos, 20 profile artworks) written by a good friend of this blog, Bernard Roland, tells the (relatively unknown) story of the Löwengeschwader.

Contents:
- Creation of the ‘Löwengeschwader’ and the pre-war period
- From Poland to France: the time of lightning victories
- KG 26 during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz
- 1941-42: on all fronts!
- Late 1942 - Early 1944: Operations in the Mediterranean
- Facing the landings!
- The last months of the ‘Löwengeschwader'
- Conclusion and appendix

Go here to order      AÉROJOURNAL HS N°50 - LA KG 26 "LÖWENGESCHWADER"

Also on this blog;

An interview with Alexander Steenbeck, author of a comprehensive German-language history of KG 26

new Luftwaffe books (3), DFS 230 combat glider - Eagles of the Luftwaffe 3 (Mortons)

 

" When it came to daring raids, Germany’s airborne troops had a secret weapon during the Second World War: the DFS 230 combat and assault glider. Successful German attacks at Eben Emael, Corinth, Crete and the raid at Gran Sasso are synonymous with the type – which could carry nine fully-equipped troops, dive towards its target at an angle of 80 degrees and land within 20m of it...".

Arriving on the shelves in WH Smiths in the UK now, the latest title in Mortons' "Eagles of the Luftwaffe" series. A comprehensive history of the DFS 230 and its pilots in action, including Eben Emael, Crete and special ops in North Africa, France, Italy and on the Eastern Front. 

Although it was flown by some of the Third Reich's best aviators, there are few accounts in English that have told the story of the DFS 230 or related something of what it was to fly, fight and die in the first combat glider put into service by the Luftwaffe - until now. The text describes the development of gliding in pre-war Germany and the genesis of the DFS 230 and looks at some of the type's major combat deployments, with chapters devoted to Eben Emael, Corinth, Crete and less well-known theatres such as North Africa. The DFS 230's role in the freeing of Mussolini (Gran Sasso) and the hunt for Tito (Drvar) is also covered in detail, as is its deployment against the French resistance in southern France. The last chapter details DFS 230 missions into Budapest, Breslau and Berlin during April 1945 - one way flights to Hell. The text features newly translated first person accounts and many 'new' photos from private collections. Note that the book is considerably larger than indicated in amazon's blurb - page count is 183 and format size is B5 (19cm x 25cm).

More, including free UK postage from the publisher here