SKG 210 Bf 110 - Ebay Luftwaffe find #100

SKG 210 in France according to the seller - Messerschmitt Bf 110 E Zerstörer 2./SKG 210 (S9+MK ?) crash landed, Eastern Front 1941. Click to view large and currently on offer here

" Unsere Kondor, unser Pilot " - Fw 200 Condor images KG 40 RK winner Jope Cognac/Bordeaux- the sinking of the Empress of Britain

...six original photos of a KG 40 Fw 200 taken on an Atlantic-coast Flugplatz dating from autumn 1941 depicting Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor" coded 'F8+EL' of Kampfgeschwader 40 - pilot was Knight's Cross winner Oblt. Bernhard Jope. Jope's RK was awarded on 30 December 1940 for his attack on one of the biggest ships in the world at the time, the liner the "Empress of Britain" on 26 October 1940.

In his book on the Fw 200 Condor Jean-Louis Roba wrote;

" ..On 21 October, Major Petersen was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his effective command. Another would soon be awarded when, on 26 October, an Fw 200 struck a blow against the Royal Navy, an episode that would forge the reputation of the Condor and make the rounds of the German propaganda outlets. That day, the crew of Oblt Bernhard Jope on patrol spotted an imposing-looking ship off the south-west coast of Ireland. Jope turned towards this potential target while his men went to their battle stations. It was the Canadian Pacific Airline luxury liner Empress of Britain, leased to the British Ministry of Transport. It had left Cape Town several days earlier and was approaching Liverpool, its destination. On board were some four hundred servicemen and twenty-three passengers, as well as seven hundred tonnes of various cargoes (including sugar). Relying on the ship's speed, British officials had neglected to provide an escort (which would probably have had difficulty keeping up). The ship was of very modern design and offered its passengers a high level of comfort (including a swimming pool, sumptuous Renaissance-style lounges and radio in the cabins). Jope wasted no time and, having identified his target as an enemy transport ship, dropped his bombs with precision while his machine gunners emptied magazine after magazine (there was only one bullet wound sustained on board!). When fire broke out in the ship's holds, Jope set course for Mérignac, the nose of his aircraft having been damaged by a defender's return fire. As the Empress of Britain was quickly evacuated, there were few casualties. The wreck (where the fire had been contained) was taken in tow but was finished off the next day by a torpedo fired by U-32 (itself sunk two days later). This loss struck a chord with public opinion on both sides. The daily Völkischer Beobachter, the official organ of the NSDAP, even went so far as to write: "Das Schiff der Plutokraten schwimmt nicht mehr" (The ship of the plutocrats will sail no more). For this action, Jope was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 30 December 1940..."

For more rare Fw 200 images on this blog go here

Ergänzungsstaffel Fw 190 '6Q+VX' - ebay photo find #98

.. shown here courtesy of Oliver Rogge's Kurmark Antik ebay.de sales, here is the best view yet of this nice Ebay find ... currently on offer here

provisionally identified (cheers Marc..) as Fw 190 A, W.Nr. unknown "6Q+VX",  Ergänzungsstaffel St.G.2.  

The bulged MG cowl cover and wingtip pitot point to this being an A-8, mid-1944. Click to view the full image..

..and from Nick Beale

"... The eBay photo you posted rang a bell. There was a profile of it in Jiri Rajlich's "Luftwaffe in Detail — Air War over the Czech Lands" (Wings & Wheels, 2000). Trouble is that (as far as I can see) there's no corresponding photo in the book. He must have had sight of this shot at some stage, though. He had it captioned as a III./SG 151 machine, which I'd agree with since I've lots of early 1944 examples of SG 151 JU 87s with 6Q codes from a Flugbuch, ULTRA and Sigint, 

e.g. http://www.ghostbombers.com/NSG%209/communications.html.

 Rajlich gave the location as Pardubice...."

" Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich " and " Aces of the Luftwaffe " - Pen & Sword free UK shipping weekend

72 hour offer! Pen & Sword free UK shipping weekend to 14/09/14 inclusive.. Don Caldwell's " Day Fighters " reduced from £35 to £15...quote "ENCFREESHIP" on UK orders only (due to an on-line glitch this is a phone offer, number on the link below )

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Day-Fighters-in-Defence-of-the-Reich-Hardback/p/3320


A new release by the P&S imprint Frontline is Peter Jacobs' title " Aces of the Luftwaffe " - and yes they did remove the 'n' from Jagdflieger in the title on the final jacket version ...but didn't take up the offer of a 'peer review' so I've no idea what the contents are like...

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Aces-of-the-Luftwaffe-Hardback/p/7222

More I./ JG 300 Gustavs, Tante Ju, JG 52 Friedrich/Gustav Ebay photo find # 97

More JG 300 rarities on offer again from sammel-experte06 here

I've seen this labelled as  Lt. Erwin Stahlberg, Staffelkapitän 1./JG 300 -  it's not unfortunately. Photo dates from summer 1944, Bad Wörishofen, southern Germany

General der Jagflieger Galland on an inspection visit to I./JG 300 at Borkheide during October 1944. Here he is looking over Gruppenkommandeur Stamp's G-10. More on I./ JG 300 at Borkheide on this blog here

http://www.ebay.de/sch/richlint-2011/m.html?item=311072953281&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

on offer here

Me 110 Wespengeschwader ZG 1 Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 - Ebay photo find #96

Below; overall white winter camouflaged Wintertarnung Me 110 E "S9+AN" of  ?./ ZG 1 somewhere on the Eastern Front after a belly landing during the winter of 1941-42. Coded 'A', this is the aircraft of the Staffelkapitän, possibly Günther Tonne of 6./ ZG 1 (?) Note Tonne was appointed Kommandeur of II. Gruppe during February 1942. Note also what appear to be victory Balken on the tailfin..

photos offered on ebay.de at the time of writing here

More SKG 210/ ZG 1 on this blog; translated extracts from Johannes Kaufmann's memoir 'Meine Flugberichte'

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/schnellkampfgeschwader-210-may-1941.html

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/me-110-e-zg-1.html

JG 11 Gustavs defending the Reich 1943, Jochen Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände series

Two Bf 109 G-6/R6s of 9./ JG 11 seen in Oldenburg during the summer of 1943. Above, unidentified pilot climbing out of "Gelbe 4" on his return from a sortie. The aircraft wears the heavily mottled three greys scheme and is displaying the tiger head emblem of III./ JG 11 under the cockpit. The spinner appears to be yellow. Note the underwing cannon gondola

 Below, identified in Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände 10/III as probably being WNr. 15 534,  "Gelbe 3" was assigned to Lt. Gerd Hollmann of 9./JG 11. Hollman was shot down and killed in this machine on 30 July 1943 during the course of an 8th AF raid against the Fieseler works in Kassel. Following an Alarmstart at 09:36 the Gustavs of III./ JG 11 ran into B-17 Pulks over the border of Holland and Germany. The Gruppe was almost certainly taken on by the US fighter escort, reporting four aircraft lost and/or damaged after emergency landings due to combat damage while a fifth Messerschmitt made a belly landing after running out of fuel. Hollmann was the only III./ JG 11 pilot killed during this engagement. Note the Gondelwaffe under the starboard wing.

Source; expired Ebay auctions. Note both images are reproduced on page 7 of Jochen Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände 10/III and credited to 'Archive of modern conflict'

scenes from the Nahaufklärungsgruppe I./NAG 12 - more Messerschmitt Bf 109 recce Aufklärer

The Nahaufklärungsgruppen (NAG or NAGr) flew recce sorties over the battlefield and by mid-1943 these sorties were being flown with unarmed reconnaissance Gustavs. Fitted with Rustsätze comprising the RB 12.5/7 or RB 32/7 camera installations prior to the appearance of the dedicated G-8 recce variant, the Gustavs of  I./NAG 12 - based at Herzogenaurach in southern Germany during the spring of 1943 - were deployed to the hot spots of the European theatre. The following images from the collection of Jean-Louis Roba for 'FalkeEins- The Luftwaffe blog' depict various scenes from NAG 12 Tannenberg. 

The fifteen aircraft of this unit’s 2. Staffel were deployed to the Balkans in the autumn of 1943 and were initially based on the field of Berat (southwest of Tirana) from where they flew sorties alone or in Rotte strength (two machines). The Staffel operated a mix of Gustav variants, having on strength at various stages the G-4, G-5, G-6, G-8 – a dedicated reconnaissance variant - and G-10 sub-types. The unit later deployed to Sarajevo and flew sorties from this base during early 1944 over US-held airfields and ports in Italy.

Unidentified pilot of 'black 7' on his return from a landmark mission, the celebrations continuing in the hut that served as the airfield 'Bierschwemme'

Above; plaque designed to mark the 3000th sortie flown by 2. Staffel of NAG 12 and, below, pilots of the unit commemorate a fallen comrade..

During late 1944 and early 1945, the sixteen Bf 109s of 2./NAG 12 were deployed to Hungary and flew constant sorties from Tapolca as the Russians completed their encirclement of Budapest, threatening the Reich’s last oil fields in southern Hungary. This huge Kesselschlacht (literally ‘cauldron battle’) lasted some six weeks and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 recce Aufklärer were in almost constant action. By April 1945 the Staffel had flown at least 3,000 sorties.

Above; 'new' image of Oblt. Heimo Emmerstorfer climbing into the cockpit of his ‘White 14’.

Below; celebrating the 2500th combat sortie; these images reproduced here courtesy of Jean-Louis Roba and some expired Ebay auctions.. Bf 109 G-6/R2/Trop W.Nr. unknown, Lt. Troebs, 2./NAGr. 12, Mostar .

 'Heimo' Emmerstofer's 'white 14' on this blog

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/bf-109-g-8-wnr-200-weisse-14-oblt-heimo.html

Hptm Borris JG 26, Macchi 202 JG 77, Ebay find # 95

Currently on offer from Robert Perlhofer here - 5 original Fotos aus Fotoalbum: Hauptmann Borris (JG 26) mit Kameraden und Flugzeugen (FW 190) in Woensdrecht 1943-   inscription on the reverse of the photos „Woensdrecht 1943“

Macchi fighters equipped with DB engines served with JG 77

Wurmheller JG 2, Sperrle Junkers Ju 52 - Ebay find # 94

Currently on offer via Julia and Marco's Ebay sales (koelsch333)


(1) labelled Jagdgeschwader Mölders Messerschmitt Bf 109 Flugzeug Piloten Orden JG 51 - 

pilot second left with Ritterkreuz appears to be 'Sepp' Wurmheller  (RK September 1941) seen here with 'White 10' of 1./ JG 2 early 1942..

(2) labelled as Offiziere der Luftwaffe Hugo Sperrle und JG Pilot Clausen Ju 52 Flugzeug

(2) Motorenwechsel Junkers Ju 52 Flugzeug Werkstatt

Junkers Ju 52 Flugzeug Kesselschlacht Soldaten Ostfront Ukraine