Saturday 8 December 2018

“Mosquitos over Berlin” - a chat with Andreas Zapf; Moskitojagd, Kurt Welter and Me 262 jet night fighters


The history of the two-seater versions of the world's first jet fighter has been somewhat neglected. That has not stopped more than a few 'urban myths' taking root around these machines, especially in their role as 'night-hunters'. However Andreas Zapf has virtually single-handedly corrected this state of affairs with his huge " Mosquitos über Berlin. Nachtjagd mit der Messerschmitt Bf 109 und Me 262 " published earlier this year by VDM. Adapted, built and deployed in virtually the last months of the war from the Messerschmitt Me 262 two-seater training aircraft, the history of this aircraft and its employment by the so-called Kommando Welter against the fast  Mosquitos of Bomber Command - a machine which was all but "invincible" - is described in what will undoubtedly be the last word on the subject - "Mosquitos over Berlin". Andreas recently took time out to sit down with us at the Luftwaffe blog to discuss the book, Kurt Welter, Me 262 night fighters and Moskitojagd !





 “...Late in the summer of 1944, the skies over the Reich were mostly dominated by the Allied air forces. The heavy bombers of the USAAF at day, those of the RAF at night. In addition the fast de Havilland DH.98 ‘Mosquito’ of the Light Night Striking Force roamed the skies over Germany – and with little or no opposition went more or less unchallenged. Besides the ever present Flak, there was not much they had to fear. ‘Not much’, however, is relative. With their fast and agile Messerschmitt Bf 109s, some specialized units such as 10./JG 300 and later II./NJG 11 operated especially against the fast ‘Wooden Wonder’. And starting in December 1944, the first nocturnal missions using the Me 262 jet fighter were added to the threat. Starting out as ‘Kommando Welter’ and being taken into regular operations as 10./NJG 11 later, a handful of skilled pilots flew the single-seater Me262 A and later the Me 262 B-1a/U1 twin-seater to counter the nightly Mosquito attacks. A new book by German author Andreas Zapf book shines a light on the almost untold story of the Nachtjagd with the Me 262. 596 pages, 160 b/w photos, 69 reproduced documents, 24 maps and flight maps are adding to a story reproduced from material hidden in archives around the world, flight logs, written accounts and many hours of personal discussions with those involved. Enjoy the untold story of a unique unit and their nocturnal stalking of the famous ‘Mosquito’...”

Hello Andreas. Congratulations on the publication of your impressive new book ! I've reproduced the jacket blurb above by way of an introduction to our discussion. Firstly, how did you come to research and write the story of “Mosquitos over Berlin”?

Hello Neil – and “thank you very much for the flowers!” – and of course, thank you very much for taking the time to have this little talk about my book and our mutual hobby.

As for choosing the topic, that was pure coincidence – I took over a collection from a fellow researcher some years back who has been writing his books on the German Nachtjagd and other topics a few years back in the 1980s. Contained within the lot was a copy of a Luftwaffe Flugbuch (“flight log”) showing nocturnal flights with Messerschmitt Me 262 B-1a/U1. And there have been letters between the original owner of the files and a variety of pilots that flew the Me 262 with “Kommando Welter”.

This sparked my interest and I started to comb the available literature, just to find out that it was an absolute “stepchild”, hardly mentioned at all and where it was, with a variety of “truths” that were not backed by any sources one could fall back to. In other words: I was unable to say if the previous authors worked on fact, fiction, or hearsay. So I set out to improve and update the story – how difficult could it be? One small unit, a few aircraft, only a couple of months towards the end of the war… naïve and foolish, I can tell you…

Being a Bundesluftwaffe officer, a wreck recovery archeologist and airfield series author, I guess your father inspired your interest in WWII Luftwaffe ?

I think, any boy growing up and and developing a love for books sooner or later raids his father’s “library”. I don’t know what other boy are finding – but besides the usual suspects, my hunting grounds were filled with books about air war, the Luftwaffe and all that. Not a few books but plenty of them. I remember having read Werner Girbig’s “Die nicht Zurückgekehrten” and Toliver/Constable’s “Holt Hartmann vom Himmel!” amongst the first ones… it just caught up with me later, I guess. So yes: inspiration certainly came from that side.

Back to Mosquitos. I'm intrigued to know just how big a problem they were for the Germans. Did you work out how many raids Mosquitos actually flew against Berlin during the war? I read somewhere that they were overhead on 36 consecutive nights? 

One of the last things I did before wrapping up and getting the book ready for the printers was a trip to Los Angeles to meet one of the nicest guys I have ever had the honor to meet: Jorg Czypionka. Jorg was a flight instructor with FFS A/B 115 in Austria for most of the war, then was posted to 10./JG 300, stayed with it when II./NJG 11 was formed from it, and finally was posted to 10./NJG 11 in March 1945.

When he read the manuscript, his comment was “ ..so much on the Mosquitos and in comparison it almost looks like we didn’t even fly anymore!” . That hurt a little because I knew they did everything to do their job in a world that was rapidly falling apart around them – so I went and did the math – and amended a chapter in my book, so let me quote myself:

“..Taking March 1945 as an example, we can review the entire set of morning and evening reports of the Luftwaffeführungsstab Ic which lists the missions flown against Mosquito bombers attacking Berlin. They are listing 33 missions with Me 262, spread out across 13 nights. An additional 8 flights with the Ta 154 ‘Moskito’ – also hunting for the fast twin bomber – are documented. Plus seven aircraft of an unidentifiable unit. All in all, a total of 48 missions.

The Light Night Striking Force in return has reached full strength and weather denied flying only on two occasions. Without looking at the early returns, dropouts for other reasons, etc. the Mosquitos mounted some 2,280 missions to Germany. The Luftwaffe pilots were hopelessly outnumbered.

From September 1944 to May 1945, 180 missions against Mosquitos to Berlin are documented, around 60 of them for the jets. During that time frame, the Light Night Striking Force mounted more than 11,000 combat missions to Germany.”

I think, these numbers give anyone of us an idea of the odds during those final months of the war. And yes, the more squadrons the Light Night Striking Force assembled, and the more Mosquitos were readily available, the more flights they managed to pull of – and indeed, the prime target became Berlin. It was rarely the only target during the nightly missions – but it was regularly on the target list and yes, 36 consecutive nights sounds about right.

I'm sure many think that the Me 262s deployed as night fighters were bomber killers as they were by day. This isn't the case though is it? Did the Kommando regularly fly by day as well? I know Becker has one recce Lightning Abschuss? 

Initially, the Me 262 of “Kommando Welter” and more importantly the later 10./NJG11 were primarily tasked to intercept and shoot down the Mosquitos bound for Berlin. And only those. Jorg Czypionka told me that on more than one occasion, when the raids were targeting other cities, even close by, they were not given permission to engage. It was Berlin only. Different story during daytime though – here, the otherwise “useless” jets were indeed tasked to intercept Mosquitos and F-5Es on recce missions. Becker got one that is confirmed and I think, I can pin another F-5E on Fritz Reichenbach. But all in all, not on more than maybe 5 – 10 days.

Because the jets were so fast even hunting Mosquitos was fraught with difficulty wasn't it ? - high-closing speeds, no way of slowing down to accurately aim and fire?

Yes, the Me 262 was fast, sometimes too fast. Combined with the relatively low speed of the Mk108 rounds, this gave the pilots not more than one or two seconds to actually aim and fire. Karl-Heinz Becker misjudged and had to fly through the debris of ‘his’ F-5E, subsequently belly landing his bird. Lt. Herbert Altner tried to reduce thrust too quickly on his first flight with the Me 262 B-1a/U1 and experienced a flameout with subsequent loss of the twin seater. It was not an easy attack, especially not at night. You need to remember: despite the Me 262 B-1a/U1 being “the symbol” for Welter’s night fighting activities, only one pilot ever flew her in combat. The others were flying barely modified Me 262 A single-seaters… no speed brakes, a somewhat fragile engine control, darkness all around… today, we would call any pilot flying under these conditions a “reckless flyer”.

How did Welter manage to persuade the powers-that-be that he warranted his own 'Kommando'? Because of his success in 10./JG 300? He was after all still relatively unknown and a junior officer wasn't he ? We hear so much about Hitler wanting the 262 as a bomber and yet here he is apparently authorising the type to fly at night as a fighter? And can you explain what 'Objektjagd' was - the 'Objekt' being Berlin I assume?

Well, that’s a bunch of questions there. First of all, let’s clarify “Objekt”. Yes, the “Objekt” was the to-be-protected target, for the Me 262s mostly Berlin. In other words: rather than hunting free, the night fighters were bound to the Objekt where they used the searchlights to guide them to their prey.

The question about how Welter got to his “Kommando” is an interesting one. Honestly, I never found an answer. There are different stories told, some of them range from “possible” to “bullshit”. Unfortunately, the war may have erased all documented evidence and time certainly has obscured the memories of those that talked about it in the recent years.

The only thing that I know is that Welter got his Knight’s Cross in October 1944 – and documents from Rechlin show the first preparations of their Me 262s (which Welter initially was allowed to use for his trials) around End of October/early November 1944. And on December 12, 1944, Hermann Göring authorizes the trials formally, initially with 3 Me 262 (Welter) and 3 Arado Ar 234 (Bonow). But the first ideas of using the Me 262 (and also the Arado Ar 234) as night fighters dates back to a time before Welter got the Knight’s Cross.

So all I can say is that it looks like he got the “Kommando” the formal way – not, as some are suggesting, by pulling off a stunt flight then then being summoned to Göring. And he may have gotten it because he was in the right place at the right time. After all, he was a successful and skilled night fighter, he got a high decoration and he was eager to improve his success rate.

In your reading and research did you get a better idea of Kurt Welter, the person and the pilot - he was presumably the gifted night fighter that some say but perhaps a little obsessive and 'difficult'? I read in Peter Cronauer's article in Flugzeug Classic (2014) that Welter avoided flying from around mid-March 1945 and drank a lot. And of course filed many unfounded claims?

One of the predicate rules of me writing is “in dubio pro reo” – “if in doubt, for the accused”. Of course, when you deal with Kurt Welter, the first thing you come across is the classification as blunt liar and as an over-claimer. But I think, the story is not that straight forward. But let’s start with the beginning of your question: yes, I learnt a great deal about Kurt Welter and I am happy to say that it was enough to dedicate an entire chapter of 25 pages to his biography.

He certainly was a gifted night fighter and someone described him as a man with “cat’s eyes”. My friend Jorg claims his landing skills were about average but in the air, he was a gifted fighter and skilled marksman. Those that knew him in their letters (and Jorg in person) describe him as “demanding” and maybe a “womanizer” but I have not heard a bad word about him from all that I got from Karl-Heinz Becker, Herbert Altner, and Jorg Czypionka.

He also was what we would call ‘quick-tempered’ today. On the other hand, it seems he also was an ‘organizer’, a man that could get things done. I never met him, obviously, but what I am seeing is a man that – like so many others – went through a war, aged before his time and most certainly suffered the consequences from a world falling apart around him.

Did he drink? I would guess so – but many of them did and as one of the night fighter pilots told me: ‘We never knew if we had another day to live so hell, yes, we drank as if there was no tomorrow.’ – and some of them certainly drowned their fear and despair. But for all I know, he was not the alcoholic that some describe him today.

Did Welter avoid flying? Another good question – again, those that knew him said he always was the first to fly and if there was only one aircraft available, it would have been his. I know he was grounded for some time in February. I know he never flew the twin seater in combat. But did he duck out and put the others in harms way? I did not find a single piece of evidence for that. He was certainly flying in March – when the unit lost their home base, Burg near Magdeburg, after the USAAF raid on 10 April 1945, they supposedly were able to save most of the aircraft and bring them to Lübeck – but there are also intercepted messages about low combat readiness. In general, not too many flights were flown from Lübeck, as it seems – and maybe Welter was busy on the organizing side rather than the combat side.

Which brings us to the last topic and my apologies for the lengthy answer: his claims. First and foremost, I have deliberately denied my book a “scoreboard”. There is too little evidence to create one. But if you search the Internet, you will find more than once place that lists the claims attributed to Welter.

The most interesting question is: where did those claims come from? For Karl-Heinz Becker, we have the Abschussmeldungen. Also a single one for Herbert Altner. But I have yet to see anything for the others, including Welter. I know that Hans Ring and Emil Nonnenmacher compiled their list of Luftwaffe claims and I know that all the dates for Welter are contained in a shortened list of their research which I have a copy of. BUT: no sources given. And what distinguishes these entries in their list from all others: they only got a date but never a time.

You can also use the morning reports of the Luftwaffe-Führungsstab Ic which at least list the claims – but never attribute a claim to a specific pilot. So from my perspective – and that is what I did – we can trace the claims and numbers but except Becker and Altner, we have a truly hard time to put names to most of the other claims.

Then you need to imagine the situation: dark, clouds, no radar, an excess of speed – you fire at your opponent and the Mosquito corkscrews (which was their evasive maneuver) – what does the pilot think and report? It happened to Karl-Heinz Becker and I was able to get in touch with the son of his “victim”. The 30 mm rounds almost severed the tail of the Mosquito…almost. The bird limped home and Becker claimed a kill. It was not on purpose.

Other way round: Welter in his famous letter says he brought down a Mosquito by ramming it. We all went “..bullshit, that’s a clear fake!”. Yet, for one of his early claims while with JG 300 a Mosquito crew files a combat report for exactly the same place Welter claimed and almost exactly the same time: they reported that a Bf 109 (Welter was flying Bf 109 with 10./JG 300 at that time) rammed them and took off parts of their wing so they lost control temporarily before being able to fly home…

All in all: there is evidence for “over-optimistic” reporting – but I doubt that Welter bluntly lied. And I am not even sure that all the reported “claims” are actually claimed by him…

In Manfred Jurleit's book Kurt Lamm talks about a dispute and a falling-out that he had with Welter. How did his pilots regard Welter himself?

As I said: “in dubio pro reo” but Kurt Lamm’s account in Jurleit’s book and in one or two letters that I have copies of is not in line with any evidence I was ever able to find. I don’t want to judge a man that I don’t know and who cannot defend himself anymore – so let me kindly say: I think, Kurt Lamm’s account on Welter might be more “shining a light on Kurt Lamm” than “giving an honest account of Welter”.

As I said earlier: his other pilots – especially Karl-Heinz Becker and Kurt Altner who may have known him best amongst those that we have accounts from never had a bad word to say about the man. Yes, 'womanizer', yes, “quick-tempered”, yes, “demanding.” – but I never heard “coward”, “drunk”, or “liar”.

What was the significance of the 27-28 March 1945 Berlin raid? 

That night is – from a personal and non-personal point of view – maybe the single most interesting night to look at when looking at the history of Me 262 night fighting.

From a distance, it is a night at the end of March 1945 which was the most successful and busiest month for Welter and his pilots. Especially in the second half of the month, the conditions improved and they regularly were able to deploy multiple machines night after night. It is a glimpse at the “what if” scenario – if they had more men and machines available, if they had not lost their base early April 1945, if…nobody here wants that “if” but it also shows that the night fighting activities could have been scaled up and what it could have looked like. Then, of course, the date marks the first operational nocturnal flight of the Me 262 B-1a/U1 – the first-ever combat mission of the radar-equipped Me 262. Everyone else was flying on Mosquitos caught in the beams of the search light – but Lt. Herbert Altner and his radio operator, Uffz. Reinhard Lommatzsch, were able to roam free… until their engine flamed out, costing the unit “Rote 12” and Reinhard Lommatzsch his life.

Finally, it is the night that my good friend Jorg Czypionka shot down “his” Mosquito – a fact that he regrets to this day because it cost the life of the Mosquito’s pilot. I did a separate article (which I intend to translate to English and publish as an eBook like the JG 3 article of mine currently available on amazon) – it’s a perfect night to shine the limelight on men of both sides, the fate of those that perished and those that survived and had to live with the burden of the survivor.




Is there an English translation of 'Mosquitos over Berlin' coming do you think? Your own English is so good you could probably do it yourself. How did you get to master English so well anyway?

When I published the book through VDM, I sat down with Heinz Nickel and discussed the language – we agreed on German being the first shot. However, we both know that a good portion about the book is also about the fate of the airmen of the Light Night Striking Force. And I have been in touch with some of the families who all were very interested and eager to explore what their fathers or grandfathers were up against.

Personally, I want an English version – and sooner than later, because I know about the interest in the rest of the world. We are working on it but we need to find a publisher that we can liaise with. The ball is in VDM’s field so to say – but I know, they are after it and I hope, we can see development in spring next year.

In fact, I have also discussed doing the translation myself and then publish an English version through VDM. The problem is marketing and distribution, especially distribution: if you ship a book of 2.5kg from Germany to any buyer outside Europe, the postage is excessive. Which in return would reduce the sales because barely anyone would be able to pay almost the same for postage than for the book itself. Which makes it financially unattractive to any publisher without international distribution channels.

You also need to consider: an eBook is unfortunately not an option – I tried that in English and with amazon’s self-publishing platform with my much shorter story on JG 3’s adventures on the Eastern Front in 1941 and that worked well. But the Mosquito book is far more complex in layout and won’t work as eBook…so back to the drawing board with finding a suitable publisher.

My English – well, that is a story for itself, but I can safely assume my old English teacher would be somewhat amazed. It has to do with the way foreign languages were taught in school at the time I still went there (back in the 1980s and early 1990s): text, grammar, full stop. Mostly not even talking the language throughout the lesson. When I started my professional career though, I was placed in a multi-national project team with an American project leader… they made sure my language skills improved rather quickly. And I hade the great chance to spend 5 months in the Bay Area and California in 1996, working with our consultants in their office. That did the job but some people claim you can still hear a trace of a Californian accent…

What projects do you intend to work on next? 

Nachtjagd somewhat is a burnt topic now – my friend Theo Boiten is just releasing his updated series of Nachtjagd-Books and it is just great. Jean-Yves Lorant and Richard Goyat did a wonderful job on JG 300 and the Mosquito hunters of 10. Staffel. I still have a lot of Mosquito material but for the moment, I am caught up with something else.

Initially, I wanted to work on my own grandfather’s story  - he was with a heavy artillery unit, first in the West, then later at the Siege of Leningrad. In preparation, I looked at the operations around Maastricht and Eben-Emael on 10 May 1940 – which included a lot of Stuka activities. At this point, I am gathering data but it might well be that I switch from one of the fasted aircraft of World War II to one of the slowest. And it might well be the Stukas that are going to receive my attention over the next few years!

Thanks Andreas,  there's a link to your site below with more on the book and ordering information. All the best for the book and your future projects!

https://www.nachtjagd-me262.org/


Ostfront Junkers Ju 52 Feldflugplatz Nachschub - #ebay photo find #298




Ostfront Junkers Ju 52 Feldflugplatz Nachschub  - some 'atmospheric' views of  a Ju 52 resupply operation somewhere in the East.





Thursday 6 December 2018

Focke Wulf FW 190 "mein erster Bruch, Jagdgeschwader Mölders", Wartung am Motor - ebay photo find #297











via Oliver Rogge - scenes from Værløse airbase, Denmark Me 109 12./JG 5 according to the seller








Below; two from the Harder family album



More on this blog;
Bundesarchiv photo report Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 53 https://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2015/09/bundesarchiv-photo-report-series.html

Monday 19 November 2018

Exito Decals order arrived ! "Gustavs over the Balkans" and "Wulf Pack" - Luftwaffe models



We first mentioned Exito Decals of Poland earlier this month on the Luftwaffe blog. My first order via their website just arrived! The web site itself is very easy to use and payment options include Paypal which makes the whole process even more straightforward. My order arrived in a stout A-4 card sleeve and the decals are backed by thick card. The placement instructions feature on one side of each A-4 sheet  and include colour three-views and photos of the actual machines on one side while high quality profile artwork  (both sides of the machine) from one of the leading artists in the digital environment is printed on the other - that's each decal subject on a separate thick card sheet. These are bound to become highly collectable! If the company manages regular releases these artwork sheets will build into an pretty neat album. The only downside I can see is that it seems a shame to start cutting the decals up, but as I particularly wanted a JG 77 G-6 on my shelves it will have to be...

http://www.exito.site

Exito Decals enters the market with two sets available both in 1/48 and 1/72 scale. The decal sheets are printed by industry leader, Cartograf of Italy, which ensures top printing quality and ease of application. These are complemented by instructions that differ from the plain market standard. What you get are essentially high quality posters with accurate and inspiring illustrations created by Janusz Swiatlon. Each subject is presented on an A4-sized sheet, with large side aircraft profiles printed on the front, and the remaining artwork, photos and all necessary information laid out on the rear side. This way you not only get some cool decals for your model kit, but also attractive posters to adorn your man cave, at the same time!

The first decal set I ordered is entitled “Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6, Gustavs over the Balkans” and covers three quite unusual machines:
  1. Bf 109 G-6, ‘White 12’, flown by Uffz. Anton Riemer of 7./JG 77, Mizil, Romania, January 1944.
  2. Bf 109 G-6, ‘Black 5’, 2./JG 53, Borovo, Croatia, May 1944.
  3. Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 166133; flown by Capt. Constantin “Bâzu” Cantacuzino, San Giovanni near Foggia, Italy, 27th August 1944.



The second set is entitled “Wulf Pack Vol.1” and includes markings for three different early Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, just in time for the recent Eduard kits:
  1. Fw 190 A-3, ‘Yellow 7’, flown by Oblt. Detlev Rohwer, Kapitän of 6./JG 1, Woensdrecht, the Netherlands, late spring 1942.
  2. Fw 190 A-4, W.Nr. 0799, coded ‘SK+OU’, probably belonging to I./SG 101, France, 1943.
  3. Fw 190 A-5, ‘Yellow 5’, flown by Fw. Karl ‘Charly’ Willius of 3./JG 26, Dno, Soviet Union, early April 1943.
None of these aircraft have been available in decal form before. ‘Yellow 5’ is the only documented Fw 190 with victory markings that served on the Eastern Front. Decals include bonus ‘Andrehkurbel’ stencils, which are missing from the majority of kit and aftermarket Fw 190 stencils.

Sunday 18 November 2018

Ju 87 Stuka He 111 Bomben Beladung - Ebay photo find #296



..die Maschinen wurden aufgetankt, mit neuen Bomben beladen und flogen zurück zu ihrer tödlichen Mission....














Saturday 17 November 2018

Herbert Huppertz, Josef Puchinger JG 2 September 1943


Following my post on Herbert Huppertz (see below) two correspondents have already taken the trouble to contact the Luftwaffe blog.  Thank you!


 " Dear Neil, ... please find attached another image of Herbert Huppertz, taken in September 1943 by PK-photographer Harry Gehm with Oblt. Werner standing on the right hand side, apparently a non-flying officer. This photo is part of an impressive PK-series which is currently on auction at Ratisbon’s for a starting bid of € 10 K, also comprising substantial photo and Propaganda text material covering Army units in Russia in 1942/43 and a couple of shots showing a/c and pilots of I./SKG 10 and III./JG 3 in Normandy in June 1944, although unfortunately only one well known image of a Bf 109 G-6 from III./JG 3. The JG 2 lot comprises some 20 very nice and mostly unknown shots of Fw 190s from Stab I./JG 2 with numerals between „20“ and „26“ as well as some images from III./JG 2, among them two well known shots of Wurmheller and his Fw 190 with the victory tally on the rudder. Another sequence shows Egon Mayer inspecting a downed B-17; some of these images can be found in Paul Müngersdorff’s album. Also part of this lot are several contact stripes containing negative size images, including some very interesting ones but it’s difficult to come to reasonable results from them. I have attached one sample for you to see what I mean...."




..and another correspondent writes;

   " .. finally, after a long wait, a photo of Hptm.Josef Puchinger. Puchinger was posted MIA on 17 December 1944 over Upper Silesia as a member of the Stab IV./JG 300. He was likely shot down at the controls of Bf 109 G-14/AS 'blue 3' countering a 15th AF raid on the Blechhammer and Odertal petroleum refineries in the vicinity of Breslau. He is still listed as missing. This photo where he is in the life jacket I have had for a long time, but it was not certain he was the only person mentioned, that he was an unknown Leutnant...."

Wednesday 14 November 2018

Herbert Huppertz JG 2 6-8 June 1944, Jean-Bernard Frappé's revised "La Luftwaffe face au débarquement " published by Heimdal


from the publisher's blurb - a Luftwaffe blog translation

" ....More often than not nowadays it is a celluloid version of history that determines how we may perceive real events! Who has not seen the now-famous scene from Darryl F. Zanuck's film "The Longest Day", when two Luftwaffe fighters, alone and confronted with a huge Allied naval and air armada, came in low for a brief firing pass along Sword Beach, leaving several hundred startled Tommys as dumbfounded as they were amazed, before heading back home eastwards unscathed to their base north of Paris. For many years this enduring image has helped to condition the idea that the Luftwaffe was particularly absent from the skies of Normandy on 6 June 1944 when the liberation of France and the annihilation of the armies of the Third Reich were at stake....

In 1999 Heimdal published a superlative history compiled by Jean-Bernard Frappé -"La Luftwaffe face au débarquement "- detailing the actions of the Jagdwaffe in the skies of Normandy and the Ile de France region around Paris and then again in Provence, after the Allied landings on the Mediterranean coast. With a wealth of detail and photos the book presented an exhaustive panorama of events. And while compared to the 15,000 sorties flown by American and British aircraft during D-day itself, the Luftwaffe had only been able to organize a little over 300, four days later no fewer than 1,300 Luftwaffe machines, including nearly 500 fighters belonging to some 20 fighter Gruppen were able to mount combat sorties. With the Wehrmacht in headlong retreat the largest number of Luftwaffe fighter sorties on the Normandie front was recorded on 20 August with 580 Focke Wulf 190 A and Messerschmitt 109 Gustavs present. Fighting against overwhelming odds of 10 to 1, German fighter pilots paid a heavy price in blood for their interventions - more than a thousand of them were shot down over the course of many hundreds of air battles against USAF Mustangs and Thunderbolts and RAF Typhoons and Spitfires. In return for these terrible losses, these same German pilots carried out their duties to the limits of physical and mental endurance - more than 1200 claims for victories were filed between June 6 and August 31, testifying to their determination and courage.

The success of the first edition of  Jean-Bernard Frappé's tome "La Luftwaffe face au débarquement " - June 6, 1944 to August 31, 1944 - found a ready readership and nowadays has become difficult to find at a sensible price. Therefore, some twenty years after the first printing Heimdal Editions have chosen to offer to a new generation of readers, a revised, corrected and expanded reissue, with extensive photo coverage - some images previously unpublished-  enriched with dozens of colour profiles representing the Focke Wulfs and Messerschmitt 109s that saw action during that terrible summer of 1944....."




Kommandeur III./JG 2 at the time of the Normandy 'invasion' this is Herbert Huppertz on the left. Photos of this pilot appear to be quite rare aside from the usual RK portrait. To the right is Josef Puchinger. Note Huppertz is wearing the officers Fliegermütze or side capknown more colloquially as the Jaegerschliff ...





Hptm. Herbert Huppertz was Gkr. III./JG 2 on 6 June 1944. He was one of those veterans that David Clark in his history of the Normandy air battles "Angels eight" qualified as a 'super-ace'. Having claimed his first victory, a Spitfire, over Dunkirk on 28 May 1940 with 6./JG 51 his victory total at the start of June 1944 was around 70 confirmed.

Below; Huppertz (right) with JG 51 on the Channel coast.."..am Kanal gegen England "



 At noon on 6 June 1944, Obstlt. Kurt Bühligen (who scored his 100th victory on 7 June 1944) and Huppertz participated when 29 Fw 190 attacked at least 24 Thunderbolts (of US 365 FG) and Typhoons (of RAF 183 Sqn). The Germans claimed to have shot down six Allied fighters - including two Typhoons in less than two minutes by Huppertz - for a single loss. Actual Allied losses in this engagement were five (two P-47s, three Typhoons). (Clark, “Angels Eight”, p. 42.) That same evening, Huppertz caught eight Typhoons of 164 Sqn and shot one down, with F/O Roberts KIA. (David Clark, CD “Daily Data tables of the Normandy Air War Diary”, 6 June 1944.)

In the course of another sortie late on 6 June, Huppertz engaged the numerically superior formations of Allied aircraft which by that time filled the skies in the area (on 6 June 1944, the USAAF and RAF conducted 14,674 sorties over the Normandy area - against only 319 Luftwaffe sorties). During this single mission, Huppertz was entangled in combat with several Allied fighter units, involving both Mustangs and Thunderbolts, but in spite of the odds he claimed a Mustang and a Thunderbolt. David Clark has identified the former as one of the 352nd FG’s losses.

Huppertz thus returned five victories in a single day, 6 June 1944.

8 June 1944 was a black day for III./JG 2. At around 0915 the Gruppe was airborne with around ten machines and were engaged by Mustangs and possibly Thunderbolts around Caen. Hptm. Wurmheller claimed one Mustang, while three Fw 190s were shot down - two of the JG 2 pilots were killed  - including Gruppenkommandeur Huppertz. The WASt. loss report gives the time of this action as 10:30.

 (JfV Teil 13/III Einsatz im Westen 1.1 bis 30.9.1944 Prien/Stemmer/Bock)

Also on this blog;

Seine bridgehead 22 August 1944 - the Jagdwaffe vs. US anti-aircraft artillery at Mantes
SKG 10 - first Luftwaffe unit in action on D-Day
Two pilots in Normandy - Hans-Ulrich Jung III./JG 3
Priller's Jutta - Fw 190 A-8 'black 13'

Friday 9 November 2018

Ritterkreuzträger Ernst-Christian Reusch Fw 190 F-8 Kommandeur II./SG 1 -ebay photo find #296







Several 'undoctored' images from the Ritterkreuzträger II./ SG 1 Ernst-Christian Reusch photo series last seen one year ago on ebay. The F-8 of the Kommandeur was 'double chevron A' (small letter'A' just visible in the small chevron) with wing-racks faired over, universal wing (outer wing cannon bulges, no outer wing armament fitted). A single click on the image to view LARGE.






More 'new' and informal images on offer here. Reusch on the right in the second and third photos below.





Exito Decals - "Gustavs over the Balkans" and "Wulf Pack"



Ever heard of Exito Decals?

No, me neither. It appears that Exito Decals is the new 'baby' of profile illustrator Dariusz Światłoń who has taken over from Thierry Dekker as the artist entrusted with illustrating the next volume in Erik Mombeeck's 'Luftwaffe Gallery' series which is due soon ( as usual English language text by this blog writer )

Exito have just launched a superb new line of Luftwaffe fighter decals. Taking subjects seen in previous " Luftwaffe Gallery Special " unit volumes from Erik Mombeeck each sheet features three mostly new and occasionally unusual machines with high-class profile illustrations featured on an A-4 sized 'fact-sheet' for collectors. A step up from the market standard.

Decals are printed by Cartograf.






Thanks for the heads-up to Adam at the 72nd scale blog here

Exito decals are here

For news on the latest forthcoming 'Luftwaffe Gallery' go to Erik's site http://luftwaffe.be