A small recent 'discovery' that might be of interest to blog readers who know German; German youtube channel Bacuffz.com has published a 'podcast' series based on an unpublished memoir from Johann Twietmeyer who flew in III./ JG 77 during the summer of 1944. Twietmeyer of course also contributed to Jochen Prien's mammoth four-volume history of the Geschwader. Born on 27 September 1924 (Deichhäuser Heide, Delmenhorst) Twietmeyer joined the Luftwaffe in October 1941 and trained at the FFS A/B 33 (Quakenbrück) before passing through Villacoublay and the EJG Süd. In September 1943 he was posted to 7./JG 77 (later 10. Staffel when the Gruppe was 'aufgestockt' to four Staffeln).
On Saturday 10 June a large formation of US- fighter bombers (46 P-38s of the 82nd FG) escorted by 48 1st FG Lightnings raided the Romana refinery in Ploesti. While the Americans managed to drop their bombs on the installations before the fog-machines had swung into action, running dogfights broke out south of Bucharest as the Lightnings flew out. III./JG 77 claimed eleven P-38s downed. Uffz. Twietmeyer of 7./JG 77 remembered;
" On that day I was flying the Staffelkapitän Oblt. Erhard 'Maxe' Niese's 'white 1'. Niese was apparently sick and didn't fly the sortie. As was usual his Gustav had a white rudder, the normal means of identifying the machine flown by the formation leader. I was flying the sortie as no. 2 (Rottenflieger) to Fw. Toni Gutweniger. We closed on a group of P-38s. I saw Gutweniger miss his firing pass on the P-38 he had selected to attack but I was able to open up on his No.2 and shot it down for my first victory. Our small formation had broken apart by now ..but when I next looked behind me a whole gaggle of Messerschmitts was on my tail. No doubt assuming that they had a Verbandsführer (formation leader) in front of them from my white tail these were machines from I./JG 53 ! There were no further encounters with the enemy. Myself and my'formation' finally landed back in Otopeni. As I was climbing down from my Gustav a Leutnant from JG 53 came up to me. No doubt surprised at seeing a lowly 'Unteroffizier' he reacted angrily;
" What are you doing flying this machine?! I'm putting in a report about you..'
My response, 'You'd better talk to my boss about that..'
Niese nearly died laughing when I told him what had happened.."
Below; according to his own account, 'Spatz' Twietmeyer finally 'inherited' Niese's 'white 1' (WNr. 162217) and had another white 1 painted on the aircraft so that his regular machine became 'white 11'. Note the white rudder of Niese's Gustav and two rows of victory markings. The heavy fuselage mottling was characteristic of a Mtt. Regensburg machine produced during early 1944.
In August 1944 Twietmeyer narrowly escaped capture by the Russians when Romania fell;
" On Sunday 20 August, the Soviets launched their decisive attack on Romania - the southern wing of the German front in the East. The first phase began in the Jassy and Dniestr sectors and the Red Army gained ground from the start. Only two fighter Gruppen met the enemy advance, I./JG 53 and III./JG 77. Our transfer orders arrived during the night of 19/20 August. With the Russians breaking the front near Jassy, I./JG 53 and III./JG 77 were sent east to Husi. The technical staff followed in a Ju 52. My Gustav was in the workshop having a new 'clear-vision' canopy fitted so I flew my reserve - a newly arrived pilot Gefr. Fett would transfer my aircraft the next day. Shortly after getting airborne on the 20th we ran into IL-2s escorted by Yaks attacking German ground forces between Jassy and Husi. I closed on a Yak-9 strafing German vehicles and brought it down - hit in the engine and wing it pulled up, did a half roll and crashed on the airfield perimeter at Jassy. My aircraft had also taken hits - in the engine and right wing. Attempting to put down at Birlad, the landing gear of my 109 collapsed and I crashed and turned over on the runway. I was taken to the local hospital with a superficial head injury. Late that afternoon, I looked out of the window to see Romanian soldiers throwing their rifles down at the side of the road. I decided to leave and head for Focsani. Climbing into a damaged German vehicle, we drove to Tecuci. The roads were clogged with unarmed Romanian soldiers but we were greeted in a friendly manner. The roads were littered with all types of equipment. We initially thought perhaps that this was an isolated, perhaps mutinous group of Romanians. It wasn't until we reached Tecuci that we learned what was really going on..."
On the evening of the 23rd, on the advice of some of his close friends, Romanian King Michael I (King Mihai) summoned Prime Minister (Marshall) Ion Antonescu and had him arrested. The violently anti-communist Antonescu - who had aligned Romania with the Germans - was the only obstacle between the Romanian government and Stalin. The King and those close to him believed they could make a deal with the Soviets and save the country. In fact the King could not even save his throne. In a radio message, the new government announced the arrest of the Marshall and ordered the Romanian troops to stop fighting so that the country could negotiate a separate peace. In several officers' messes, Germans and Romanians were having their evening meal when they heard the King's proclamation. Stunned, the Romanian officers apparently stood up and saluted each other before departing to get their orders. Historian Lukacs has described these events as the most successful 'coup d'etat' of WW II, presumably since the Axis alliance started to 'unravel' from this point on.. The 24th saw the first fighting between Romanian and German forces.
Uffz. Twietmeyer (10/JG 77) recalled ;
"Comrades were attacked by Romanian Bf 109s. However, we were forbidden to retaliate by order of General Alfred Gerstenberg, commander of the German forces in Romania. We were reminded that only a small proportion of Romanian airmen were against us. The majority remained on our side.."
The King's proclamation, however, changed this view drastically. On the 24th, III./JG 77 - or what was left of it - returned to Mizil. According to Twietmeyer;
"No one knew what was really happening and all kinds of rumours spread rapidly. All German aircraft in the theatre started to gather in Mizil from the Go 145 to the Gigant (Me 323). H.-U. Rudel's Geschwader was there. In the early hours of the 24th, I flew a sortie over Bucharest with Lt Riedel. We were attacked by eight Romanian Bf 109s. After landing, we finally received permission to return fire. Immediately, III./JG 77 and I./JG 53 took off to strafe Boteni airfield. Uffz. Jochinke encountered a Romanian Bf 109 and shot it down.."
At Otopeni, two Me 323 "Gigants" landed to disembark two companies of SS troops tasked with protecting the Germans in Bucharest. The aircraft were to take the female auxiliaries to Hungary. Six members of 10./JG 77 sent to Boteni, Bucharest failed to arrive. The last sorties were flown from Focsani on 25 August - Fw Wilhelm Skreba, a veteran of 9./JG 77 failed to return from a sortie. The last III./JG 77 Bf 109s reached Mizil and Targsorul on the 26th.
Meanwhile a number of recce sorties were flown during which Ohfr Bruno Duwe (10./JG 77) was wounded. The last US raid on Romania took place on 26 August. That afternoon Major Harder took command of a column of vehicles bringing together scattered elements of I./JG 53, II./JG 301, IV./NJG 6 and various other units. They evacuated Targsorul Nou and reached Hungary after much fighting. On 28 August III./JG 77 carried out a recce of their 'retreat' routes to ensure that they were still free. The ground personnel departed by road to Hungary. Throughout the morning, the last 109s took off and headed north, each pilot taking along his first mechanic (as during the evacuation of Africa). At 10:00, Lt. Hans Renzow's Schwarm took off. The pilots got lost and had to land at Maros-Varsahely, stranding the eight men (four pilots and four mechanics) for four long days. It wasn't until a He 111 in difficulty landed and the airmen were able to pump out its fuel tanks that they could set off again in the direction of Senndorf. There they met up with the remnants of their Gruppe which was assembling at Vienna/Seyring. Wounded pilots in Romanian hospitals (Büttner, Pichler) were handed over to the Russians on 30 August. Pichler did not return from captivity until 1950. Having undergone an amputation Uffz. Herbert Büttner (WIA 28 July 1944) could not work and was returned home sooner.
On 1.1.45 Twietmeyer flew the 'Bodenplatte' mission at the controls of his Bf 109 K-4 'red 7'. Hit by ground-fire while strafing an American road column during the raid on Antwerp (Deurne) he made a forced landing in a field (Rosendaal) and escaped unhurt. Post-war he did not fly again until aged 75! He qualified on gliders, passed the medical and made another 400 flights until age 88. He passed away in 2019 aged 95. He wrote his experiences in his diary and copied them down for his family in 2012 - there is a fair amount of (no doubt) half-remembered 'dialogue' but interesting nonetheless. In total he filed at least five claims. Bacuffz.com has split his diary into fourteen parts. Part 9 below