III./JG 2 Fw 190 3 December 1942 - meine Warte und meine Machine (Vannes) -ebay photo find #318

III./JG 2 Fw 190 A-4 with Adlerkopf cowl seen on 3 December 1942 as per the inscription on the reverse of the picture - "..meine Warte und meine Machine (Vannes) .."

A slightly different image from that seen in Erik Mombeek's 'Histoire de la JG 2 Richthofen Volume 4' showing pilots of 9./JG 2 alongside Wurmheller's Fw 190 A-5 'yellow 2' WNr. 7334 - the rudder scoreboard show 78 markings. The photo dates from the evening of 28 June 1943 - 158 B-17s attacked locks and submarine-pens at Saint-Nazaire between 1655 to 1725 hrs. Airborne from Vannes III./JG 2 claimed 13 B-17s, although possibly four of these were duplicates. The 17:17 hrs claim was assigned to Oblt Philipp, the 17:31 claim to Lt Benno Eder, the 17:55 claim to Ofw Ebert and the 17:58 claim to Ofw Friedrich May.

 Uffz. Swat seen first left  has just recorded his second victory, while Wurmheller is fourth left glancing at his rudder. The very experienced Fw. Karl-Heinz Munsche is third left (below).

Kommodore JG 1 Fw 190 Hans Philipp -ebay photo find 317

Fw 190 A-5 WNr. 410 012 'chevron + bars' ('Winkel Strich') flown by Maj. Hans Philipp, Kommodore JG 1 (seen in the cockpit) May-June 1943. Philipp was based in Deelen during this period. Three different views of this machine can be found in part 2 of the excellent two-part feature by Philippe Saintes covering Hans Philipp's career in 'Avions' magazine (nos.224 and 225). Note the FuG 16 ZE antenna under the port wing in the second image..

Marco Meyer's Ebay sales are here

Sturmstaffel 1, IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 - ebay photo find 316

..it is not every day that you come across new Sturmstaffel or Sturmgruppe images. Given the Bf 109 with IV. Gruppe bar these images possibly date from the period April/May 1944. In early May 1944 Sturmstaffel 1 was re-designated as 11. Staffel of IV./JG 3 under new Gruppenkommandeur Hptm Willi Moritz.  IV./JG 3 was to be re-equipped with the Fw 190 and further develop von Kornatzki's assault concept. The Sturmstaffel experiment had patently enjoyed a measure of success - all told some 62 heavy bombers had been claimed shot down between 11 January and 29 April 1944 for the loss of 11 of the original pilot complement killed in action. Their actions heralded a more general expansion of units using these methods with both II./JG 300 and II./JG 4 converting to the Sturm role during the summer of 1944..

The Fw 190 with the bulged cowl cover and the mid-wing pitot tube is an A-7 and is kitted out with 'blinkers', fuselage bands and the 'lightning bolt' emblem on the cowl..

my bids are in ..here

Ju 88 1./Aufklärungsgruppe 121, Fw 189 Aufklärer, NAG 13 Fw 190s - ebay photo find #315

Ju 88 coded '7A + EM' of 1./Aufklärungsgruppe 121 with rudder damage caused by a so-called Taran Rammstoss or deliberate ramming - the rudder clearly shows the wing profile of the Russian machine that hit it..Sestschinskaja August 1943. The lower image shows a large section of the wing skinning torn off by the Russian fighters fire...

Above; Ju 88 Flugzeug Beladung auf Flughafen Charkow Ukraine 1943 3.(F)/Ob.d.L

Piloten vor Arado Ar. 240 Prototyp Flugzeug in Russland ! 3.(F)/Ob.d.L.

..the JG 27 and 53 photos currently offered by kuestenvolk-1 on eBay are actually some more very nice sharp and clear images on offer, all hitherto unpublished, from this seller who I have not noticed before. Of particular interest are the shots showing the aircraft of Hptm. Erich Gerlitz as GrKdr. II./JG 27 ( complete with victory tally ) and Hptm. Erhard Braune, GrKdr. III./JG 27, both taken in Sicily in early 1942.

Focke Wulf Fw 190 Jabo/Schlacht - ebay photo find #314

on offer here

Galland Emil, JG 51 Friedrich scoreboard, JG 3 Gustav Gunboat - ebay photo find 313

JG 3 Kanonenboot in unusual light mottle finish, southern German winter 1942/43