The long life of Werner Mölders' Bf 109 F-1 WNr 5628 - 85th anniversary of the first combat flights of the Bf 109 Friedrich

 

written and researched by Dom Massard (with additional material by FalkeEins)


On 9 October 1940 - as the Battle of Britain was drawing to a close - the leading ace on the Channel Front, Maj.Werner Mölders, Kommodore of JG 51, flew his first combat sortie ('Frontflug') out over the channel from Pihen, south-west of Calais, at the controls of a Bf 109 F.  He flew a second almost hour-long sortie in the new machine that same afternoon. More of the new Friedrichs continued to arrive through the month. At I./JG 51 Kommandeur Brustellin was photographed in the cockpit of one machine, just prior to being transferred to I./JG 53 to replace Hans-Karl Mayer who disappeared on 17 October. Meanwhile Mölders brought his 'score' up to 49 at the controls of his 'old' Bf 109 E-4 (WNr. 3737). His first victory in the Friedrich was returned during the afternoon of 22 October. That day the Kommodore was airborne from Pihen at 15:00 (CET) at the controls of Bf 109 F-1 WNr. 5628 with his Geschwader on a Jabo escort mission over Kent.

The Luftwaffe fighters were intercepted by 605 Sqn Hurricanes some 40 minutes later. According to the written annotation in his 1940 Flugbuch, ".. Major Mölders accounted for three Hurricanes north-west of Maidstone, Kent for his victories 49, 50 and 51. "  Mölders repeated this feat on 25 October, with two more RAF fighters apparently downed. This second sortie was flown with his wingman and friend Hptm. Hans Asmus, who  'famously' came down in England in Mölders' Emil.  It is therefore entirely probable that during the early afternoon of 25 October 1940 Mölders was flying Bf 109 F-1 WNr. 5268 with 53 victory markings on the rudder scoreboard alongside his own Emil with its 49 victory markings on the rudder! (as depicted, below, by Bruno Pautigny on the cover of Many Soufan's now-defunct "Aces" magazine issue no. 14)

To complete the story of the early combat history of the Friedrich, Kommandeur Brustellin had been replaced by the StaKa of 1./JG 51 Oblt. Joppien who was in turn replaced by Oblt. Georg Claus. Up to 8 December when JG 51 shifted back to Germany Joppien returned some seven victories. Claus claimed three but was lost over the Thames estuary on 11 November flying Bf 109 F-1 WNr. 5635 (SG+ED) - the first Friedrich lost in combat. Meanwhile Mölders completed some 15 sorties at the controls of a Friedrich before the Geschwader went back to Germany for rest and refit on 8 December 1940.. 

Most writers discussing the early career of the Bf 109 Friedrich stop here. However Dominique Massard recently had the opportunity to access one of ace Werner Mölders' Flugbücher covering the period from February 1941 up to Barbarossa  – available via the website of the NASM archive (thanks to Jasmine Faye for help accessing the Flugbuch...) . 

Dominique continues;

"...When reviewing Mölders' Flugbuch for early 1941, I was surprised to discover that his preferred machine during early 1941 on the Channel front was not the recent Bf 109 F-2 tested during December 1940 and received during January 1941, but his older Bf 109 F-1 WNr 5628… that he first flew  during October 1940 !

The Flugbuch data speaks for itself - I've looked at the data for the six-month period from December 1940 to May 1941:

- Bf 109 F-1 WNr 5628 was flown on 105 missions (70% of missions of this period), the last one on May 7th, just after having scored twice on this plane, on May 4th and 6th (his 66th and 67th victories)

-Bf 109 F-2 WNr 6060 was flown on 10 missions only (9,5%): 1 or 2 flights only per month, from December to May, except for the months of March and April when the ace flew no sorties in this machine…

- More surprisingly perhaps, during late February 1941 Mölders flew sorties in an 'old' Bf 109 E-4/N WNr 3819. He later flew another 7 missions on another 109 E-4 WNr ? “Black 6” … and even returned victories on both of these “old” Emils ! He also flew  five missions on the spare F-1 WNr 5629 during April 1941.

As a result, during this six month period he claimed;

 

- eight victories on the F-1 type : 

- five victories on WNr 5628, and three on WNr 5629 

- four victories on the old 109-E : two on WNr 3819, and two on  'weisse 6'

- a single victory only on his new 109 F-2 WNr 6060… 

Strangely enough, this Bf 109 F-1, easily recognizable with its over-painted factory code letters "SG + GW" and absence of Kommodore markings, was rarely photographed. His Bf 109 F-2 appears to illustrate most of the published images showing his Friedrich and is thus often confused with this F-1 and vice-versa, having very similar victory scoreboard displays on their rudders….."

Below; a rare view of Mölders’ Bf 109 F-1 WNr 5628, with the factory code "SG + GW" still visible, despite being roughly over-painted. Image dates from around December 40 - January 41 (55 victories on rudder). The lower half of the rudder still appears to be painted in yellow. Mölders’ scored his 54th victory on 29 October 1940 - at the controls of an Emil. (D. Massard photo)

With the help of the National Air & Space Museum the following further commentary by Dominique Massard is the most complete analysis of  Werner Mölders combat career in the Bf 109 F over the Channel front yet published. Indeed up to now the only published Mölders log-book extracts have been taken from the 1940 book. These extracts from the ace's 1941 Flugbuch are reproduced here with permission of the NASM.

below, Page 43 of Mölders’s 1941 Flugbuch shows that Bf 109 F-1 WNr 5628 was regularly flown in February 1941 rather than his F-2 (three flights only); a single victory (his 56th) was claimed on WNr 5628 on 10 February 1941. This clarifies a note in the "Aces" magazine feature which stated ".. it is not known whether Mölders' 56th victory on 10 February was returned on his F-1 WNr. 5628 or his new F-2 WNr. 6060 delivered in late-January 1941 in Germany.."

 Page 44 of Mölders’s Flugbuch : From 19-22 February 1941 Mölders even flew an old Bf 109 E (“Weisse 6”)…. and claimed his 57th and 58 victories ! (the existing pictures of Mölders on this plane, were therefore certainly taken this day)

 Page 45 of Mölders’s Flugbuch :  during March, Mölders flew his 'old' F-1 WNr 5628, and claimed his 61 and 62nd victories.

 Page 49 of Mölders’s 1941 Flugbuch : On  15 and 16 April, Mölders claimed a total of three victories on his spare F-1 WNr. 5629 (his 63-65). Again not on his F-2 ! Colour period images showing 65 victories on a yellow rudder usually state that the aircraft concerned is Bf 109 F-2 WNr. 6060. This appears increasingly unlikely as he was not flying this machine...

Same page 49, bottom : In April and May 1941, his F-1 WNr 5628 was still his preferred plane, with two more victories claimed in this machine (66th and 67th victories) He flew his F-2 (WNr 6060) only during his final two sorties on the Channel Front, flown on 8 May, claiming his 68th victory, a Spitfire off Dover. (Note WNr. transcribed as 6660!) His subsequent victories were claimed on the Eastern Front, during Barbarossa.

Thanks to Dominique for sharing his research. He adds that his next research 'step' will be to identify which plane flew Mölders one month later, during Barbarossa… If anybody has a copy of the second Flugbuch from 1941, we would very much like to take a look! Maybe some other surprises to discover ? 

Below; Mardyck, just west of Dunkirk, on the Channel coast, probably late April 1941 - 65 victories on the all-yellow rudder. The Friedrich is probably his F-2 WNr. 6060, but the Kommodore was only very occasionally flying this newer machine. (via Roba)