new book title - " 16 June 1944 " by Peter Kaššák

 

"  AUSTRIA: Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attack a number of oil depots and refineries in the Vienna area through extremely heavy and determined opposition, including waves of rocket-firing Ju-88s. While covering the bombers during the penetration, target, and withdrawal phases of the mission, pilots of the 1st, 31st, 52nd, 82nd, and 325th Fighter groups down 40 GAF fighters between 0935 hours and noon.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attack oil-industry targets around Bratislava.."

Eric Hammel in 'Air War Europa'.

Books describing a single day's events in the long war in the air have been popular since the classic Ethell/Price "Target Berlin" and perhaps even before that with the Middlebrook-penned "Schweinfurt-Regensburg". This is Peter Kaššák's second book covering one particular day - his previously released "Ordinary Day" related in detail the events of March 2, 1945 one of the last major battles of the air war over Germany. In  his new self-published title, "16 June 1944" the author relates the story of the US 15th AF attack on Vienna's petroleum refineries (Floridsdorf, Kagran, Schwechat) and the supplementary mission mounted on the same occasion against Bratislava'a 'Apollo' fuel refinery. Both raids were notable firsts in the campaign against Axis oil and the recently posted CO of 8.Jagddivision (formerly JaFü Ostmark or Austria) Obst. Gotthard Handrick (J 88, JG 77 etc etc ) could deploy only meagre resources, a handful of Gruppen from JG 302, ZG 1 and ZG 76 assisted by the Hungarian JGr. 101 and the Slovakian 'emergency flight'. Other units from 7.Jagddivision such as I./JG 300 based in southern Germany also participated in the air battles. 

The bulk of the text and images recount events as seen by the attackers as some 170 B-17s and nearly 500 B-24s were dispatched over the targets from bases situated along the 'heel' of Italy's boot, while the German and Hungarian defenders response is detailed in the text and then summarised in the last 15-20 pages of this 150-page title. Each Bomb Group's sorties are analysed in their own 'target' chapter with exciting personal accounts, a treatment extended to the escorts with chapters covering the actions of the 1st and 82nd FG P-38s and the P-51s of the 31st, 52nd and 325th FGs. Chapter 12, " Yellow-tailed Mustangs in action" recounts the 52nd FG's only loss during the raid - a P-51 B shot down by a P-38! This was the only escort fighter lost on the Bratislava mission and after 12 days in Budapest prison pilot 2nd Lt. Fred Crawford ended up in Stalag Luft III. The raid on the Bratislava refinery  - situated on the Danube just 33 miles from Vienna -  was flown by around 160 B-24s of the 98th, 450th,  479th and 376th BGs. Although small, the Czech petroleum industry supplied high grade oils and gasoline for the German war effort  and the author's account is probably a first in English.

" ..Suddenly the nose gunner's voice crackled the expected dreaded news - 'German fighters, 12 o' clock high, closing fast...' With adrenalin flowing I was no longer cold. The German planes hit like Thor's hammer, all guns firing. More went through the formation than broke short. I tried to hit them as they roared past but failed. I couldn't swing the heavy machine gun fast enough..Luckily for us they were concentrating on the first section. The first wave of fighters left us. I reloaded, shovelled empty cartridges overboard and prepared for the next attack. Then the slower German machines arrived - Me 410s, Bf 110s and Ju 88s - a second attack wave. ...[..]  out of the cloud layer above us and from the left a single Bf 110 fired rockets on our first section..it was caught in the cross fire and set alight..burning fiercely it rammed into a B-24  and both planes exploded.. the single Bf 110 was followed by a wave of Bf 110s...."

This vivid personal account is 'interrupted' by the author to  be 'dissected' and analysed - the reader even discovers who was flying the single rocket-firing twin out in front. Some of the most vivid accounts from the bomber crews concern the 459th BG - one B-24 released its bombs through closed bomb bay doors setting the big heavy on fire. The text highlights many more notable combat actions and incidents as crews were downed and then either rounded up on the ground or helped to evade by partisans. One downed 460th BG crew got into a firefight with the Germans hunting them but reached the Yugoslav coast just five days after being brought down.

 

On 16 June 1944 the German and Axis defenders flew at least 200 sorties and in both JG 302 and ZG 76 there was a certain amount of satisfaction at their performance. While ZG 1 made no claims their actions contributed to the break-up of the bomber formations. 'Stories' such as Hammel's "rocket-firing Ju 88s" are assessed and other 'myths' that crop up in the literature are closely examined (black-painted Bf 109s ? - quite possibly, yes). The descriptions of combat are backed up with the usual array of Appendices detailing claims and losses and include a German fighter Gradnetz  grid chart for the zone of operations. A final 'conclusion' details what happened next at the installations hit - the Schwechat refinery was not hit again until September but was regularly raided into 1945, while at Floridsdorf there were more raids in June 1944. The air battle of 16 June 1944 was just the beginning of a series of huge clashes in this central European region while the 'battle for oil' was only just getting underway.

 This is a very worthy and well-done 'print on demand' book from a well-known researcher.  Peter Kaššák has written and produced this book single-handedly and his exhaustive research has resulted in a very readable account. The text is loaded with photos - not just portraits either - and print and paper quality is good. An excellent little title to add to your WW II airwar library! 

Peter Kaššák "16 June 1944" via lulu.com. Click here for more info and orders

Below; jacket illustration of Peter Kassaks' "16 June 1944". Top image shows a formation of 4./ZG 76 Me 410s on June 16.

" Mersu " - Messerschmitt Bf 109G Suomen ilmavoimissa - Finnish Bf 109s/ Bf 109s of JG 302 in Finland -Einsatzkommando Helsinki

"Mersu" - the spoken term in Finnish usually for Mercedes-Benz. In the case of the aircraft, "Mersu" is short for Messerschmitt and is the title of Kari Stenmann's book devoted to the type in Finnish service. Sadly only available in Finnish, Stenmann's opus is subtitled " Messerschmitt Bf 109 G in the Finnish Air Force" and that sums up nicely what this book is all about! Larger than A4-format, 400 pages, 479 b/w- and 6 original colour photos, 24 colour plates by Karolina Holda and Thierry Dekker, 32 line drawings in 1:72 and 1:48 scales. Hstory of each machine, kills and losses.. Note that the last flight of the type in Finnish service was 1954.  See below for a short three-part video review courtesy of JJ.

The Finnish Air Force received its first Bf 109s in 1943. A total of 162 aircraft of this type were to be purchased and the first aircraft landed in Finland on 13 March 1943. In total, 159 aircraft were taken into service, as two G-6s and one G-8 were destroyed en route to Finland. Forty-eight of these were G-2s, 109 were G-6s and two were G-8s. The Bf 109 is still the aircraft type that has served in the largest numbers in the Finnish Air Force. The aircraft carried the designation MT and a 3-digit identification number. With the arrival of the 109s, the Finns could match the latest Soviet fighters. The last of the purchased aircraft arrived in Finland on 20 August 1944, just before the armistice with the Soviet Union.

Below; colour image from the book  - HLeLv 31 Mersuja at Utin in 1953

Above; Kapteeni Veikko Karu, Mannerheim-ristin ritari. Immola 1943.01.15

Below; two shots of SSgt Erik Edward Lyly, an ace in the Continuation War. He flew in the LeLv 24 and LeLv 34 (HLeLv 34), the two most successful fighter squadrons of the Finnish Air Force, often flying as a wingman for the most proficient Finnish ace Air Sergeant Master Ilmari Juutilainen. He achieved a total of 8 air victories during the wars.

SSgt. Erik Lyly with his Bf 109 G 2 at Utti AFB, summer 1943. A good view of the Flettner tab on this tall-tailed Gustav. For more on the tall-tailed Bf 109 with adjustable trim tabs and the handling difficulties inherent to the type go here  Contending with Torque

Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. 164 950 "MT 449" 2./HLeLv 24, 1Lt Olavi Puro, Lappeeranta, before 28 June 1944. Source: SA-Kuva 155496.

Below; Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. 164 920 "NY+AJ " "MT 439" Kapt. Hans Wind, 3/HLeLv 24, Lappeenranta, 19 June 1944. Source: SA-Kuva 155482.

Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. 411 902 "MT 417" HLeLv 34, Maj. Eino Luukkanen, Immola, 15 June 1944.

Below; Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. 411 902 "MT 417" HLeLv 34, Maj. Eino Luukkanen, Immola, 15 June 1944.

Photo reproduction courtesy Finnish war-time archive SA-KUVA  (creative commons licence)
Click on the video header title to go to the video on youtube or watch here with a single click - three 30 second clips looking at Kari Stenman's "Mersu" - the Bf 109 in Finnish service





Much more on Finnish Bf 109s and Finnish aces in this highly recommended book with English text via Claes Sundin's Centura Publishing here

Below; Bf 109 G-6/R6 W.Nr unknown "Rote 26", 2./JG 302, Helsinki-Malmi, 28 February 1944. Note black lower surfaces on the starboard wing and the flame-damping exhaust covers.  This night fighter detachment of JG 302 was based in Helsinki during early 1944.

 ..Elements of wilde Sau night fighter Gruppe I./JG 302 were based at Malmi/Helsinki during the period 13 February 1944 to 15 May 1944, as Einsatzkommando Helsinki (Jafü Ostland). Some Einsatzkommando Helsinki machines displayed a yellow 'Eastern Front' fuselage band, see below.

Takeoffs and landings at night on dimly lit airfields in a single-engine fighter for a sixty-minute sortie on instruments in often atrocious weather conditions required considerable feats of airmanship and accidents were a frequent occurrence. This I./ JG 302 Bf 109 G-6 has come to grief on landing during the unit's Helsinki deployment....

Above; Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. unknown "Rote 29", 2./JG 302, Helsinki-Malmi, Finland, March 1944.

EagleCals sheet 171 Bf 109 G-6, “Red 7” & "Red 11" 2./JG 302, Jüterbog, Feb 1944 - Defence of the Reich fuselage bands

" convincing research has confirmed this was more likely Red 11 "

Since it is so difficult to be dogmatic about colour interpretations from black and white photos it would be interesting to know exactly what this 'research' is - unless of course it is the loss returns of 2./JG 302 during this period, which do indeed indicate red Kennziffer. And not black. Black was the colour of 4./JG 302. But since when has JG 302 used a yellow Rumpfband?**** So JG 300 'borrowed' machines in the early wilde Sau period that featured on occasion a yellow band (and in at least one instance a blue fuselage band). As Aufsitzer  - ie they did not have aircraft of their own - they used the machines of their host Geschwader most notably JG 11. But the photos on which these EagleCals illustrations were presumably based date from mid-1944 and the 'Defence of the Reich' day fighter period. During late August 1944 machines of I./JG 302 were based in Vienna-Götzendorf ( 8.JD ) countering 15th AF raids coming up from Italy - on 21 August 102 B-24s escorted by 46 P-51s hit Hungarian airfields and on the 22nd a much larger force of over 600 bombers hit fuel hydrogenation plants (Blechhammer and Odertal) in the south-east of the Reich, I./JG 302 losing most notably their Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Lewens in combat with P-51 Mustangs (..incorrectly given as the 20th in Reschke's account) Four images of 2./JG 302 Gustavs are published in the Prien/Stemmer/Bock account of these dates in JfV 13/II 'Reichsverteidigung 1944' - captions read as follows;

".. mechanics working on a Bf 109 G-6 of 2./JG 302 seen on an airfield in the Reich during 1944. Note the Staffel badge which features on both sides of the nose on the engine cowl. Three further images show 'black 11' and 'black 7' - details of note are the wide white propeller spiral and the red Rumpfband visible around the rear fuselage. Both aircraft sport the Staffel emblem of 2./JG 302.  Note the absence of flame damping shield over the exhaust on the starboard stack as normally seen during the night fighting period.."


Elsewhere there are a number of II./JG 302 photos published that show a yellow Gruppe bar on what is quite clearly a red band. And while a number of Geschwader used coloured bands in the defence of the Reich, that colour was predominantly red; ie JG 1, JG 53 (as well as black), JG 300 (from late December 1944 blue/white/blue) ..and JG 302.

****

" ..1./JG302 was based at Malmi/Helsinki during the period 13 February 1944 to 15 May 1944, as Einsatzkommando Helsinki (Jafü Ostland). Finnish air observation company (Ilmavalvontakomppania 7) has recorded "red 7" as one of the planes. Einsatzkommando Helsinki planes did have yellow east front fuselage band according to the photos. That might be the explanation for the "Red 7" band. It would be nice to see EagleCals sources, especially if a photo. I did contact them when the sheet was published offering Finnish data for the numeral colours, but no reply..."

 Kari Lumppio

"wilde Sau und Moskito Jagd" - The Luftwaffe's single-engine night fighters - Mike Grant's Eduard Bf 110

Part 1 of my two-part feature on single-engine Luftwaffe night fighters is published in the June issue of "Model Aircraft" magazine in the UK (SAM Publications). Entitled "wilde Sau und Moskito Jagd" my 6,000 word article features the recollections of JG 302, NJGr.10 and NJG 11 pilots Fritz Gniffke and Walter Schermutzki, some 25 rare photos from the collection of Jean-Yves Lorant and exclusive profile artwork created especially for the piece by Anders Hjortsberg.  You may recall that I had started to translate the Gniffke memoir elsewhere on this blog, a number of Jean-Yves' photos are unpublished anywhere and Anders' artwork is simply exceptional!

  " ..Welter had downed two Lancasters during the night of 2-3 December 1943, bringing his total to 11, all returned on wilde Sau sorties. On the night of 21-22 January he had run into a Mosquito north of Magdeburg, but the English pilot had managed to get away..Welter was our role model - we certainly didn't have any others.."


Also not to be missed on UK news stands this month, a full build article of the 1/72 Eduard Bf 110 E by Mike Grant which appears in the June 2014 issue of Tamiya Model Magazine. Fabulous!

"Red 2" Bf 109 G-6/AS wilde Sau ace Friedrich-Karl Müller 1./NJGr 10 Moskito hunter, July 1944 - model by Jean Barby

This time last year I was preparing a post on the aircraft flown by wilde Sau ace Friedrich-Karl Müller of 1./NJGr 10. Thanks to the generosity of M. Jean-Yves Lorant in loaning photographs of the actual aircraft, Anders Hjortsberg was able to recreate Müller's G-6/AS "Red 2" Moskito hunter as seen during July 1944.

 That post (link below) has subsequently become one of the most viewed on this blog and has inspired a number of expert modellers one of whom is Jean Barby.

 In France Jean Barby's work has appeared in Wingmasters and Avions magazines and here he shares images of his 1:48th scale model of  Müller's G-6/AS "Red 2" based on the photographs and Ander's profile artwork.  The base kit is the Hasegawa G-10 and Jean has used the MDC resin conversion set to produce a G-6/ AS; as Jean put it " what inspired me to produce this model was simply Anders' superb profile artwork.."

 Click on the images to see a full-screen view,

This 1./NJGr 10 Moskito hunter as flown by Friedrich-Karl Müller during July-August 1944 is a Bf 109 G-6/AS  "Red 2". WNr. is not known.  Given the camouflage and the stencil below the canopy we surmised that this machine was probably built by Mtt. Regensburg. Jean has finished the lower surfaces in black - judging from the other photos that I have been able to study this appears the most likely option. The Kennziffer '2' is confirmed as red from Müller's log book. The aircraft features a red fuselage band (just visible in one image), pointing to this as being an ex-JG 300 aircraft. All of Müller's aircraft can be assumed to have sported a rudder scoreboard, from his Fw 190 'Green 3' to his final K-4 - here he has 22 victories (July 1944)- the 23rd resulted in the award of the Ritterkreuz. Beautiful rendition Jean.. superbe maquette Jean et merci mille fois pour les images..


" ..following two months rest and convalescence I resumed combat flying during July 1944 and was posted to Nachtjagdgruppe 10 in Bonn where I met up again with my old comrade Kurt Welter. By this time he had accumulated 22 victories and in two sorties on 18 and 19 July had even managed to add three Mustangs to his tally.. NJGr. 10 flew the latest model of the Bf 109 - the folding hood no longer featured the heavy metal framework of previous versions. However even better for us was the improved supercharger which enabled higher top speeds and a ceiling of some 14,000 metres - during a check flight on 3 August 1944 I reached a speed of 680 km/h at more than 6,000 metres altitude. I had never flown at these sorts of speeds in a 109! On 13 August 1944 our Staffel moved to Rheine and at 23h27 I was scrambled to intercept a Mosquito. The controller gave me a vector that took me over the Ruhr where I orbited at 9,000 metres. I was given constant changes of heading - our radar posts evidently had their work cut out trying to pinpoint the English pilot. The night sky was exceptionally bright - visibility was at least 5 km. After 60 minutes of fruitless orbiting I returned empty-handed to Rheine. Here I learned that Kurt Welter had just brought down his first Mosquito following a chase that had taken him north of Hanover. This feat was of course celebrated in due fashion as the occasion warranted - certain pilots including our Kommandeur Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller were soon very much the worse for wear and took the best part of a day to get over their hangovers. As a rule we tended to drink far too much....."

Fw. Fritz Gniffke  of 1./ NJGr.10

(interview with Fritz Gniffke of 1./ NJGr.10 by Jean-Yves Lorant, translation copyright Neil Page..more from Gniffke on this blog  )

Photo of 'Red 2' and the profile artwork of Anders Hjortsberg

More exceptional work from Jean Barby on this blog

Moskito hunting in the Luftwaffe (2) (Bf 109 nightfighters -wilde Sau)

The following is a translation of an article - with some additional material - that appeared in the late 70s in the French magazine 'Le Fana de L'Aviation' written by 'Le Fana' staff writer Jean-Yves Lorant. Translation copyright retained. ..

The De Havilland 98 Mosquito - of wooden construction and aerodynamically pure lines - was the scourge of the Luftwaffe fighter force during the last two years of the war. Powered by two Rolls Royce Merlins, capable of out-running the latest Luftwaffe fighters and hauling a bomb load of 1,800 kg - even a lone Mosquito could send entire city populations to the air raid shelters and proved a real thorn in the night defences of the Reich. From the summer of 1943 special units were formed to combat the Mosquito menace - Hermann Graf's JGr. 50 enjoyed a spectacular lack of success against the fast British twins. The Wilde Sau units, JG 300, 301, and JG 302 claimed no more than a dozen Mosquitos shot down during the first half of 1944 - but then these specialist night-fighters were largely turned over to the day fighter role during May 1944 under the pressure of the US Air force bombing offensive. Luftwaffe commanders were to place their hopes in the formation of a specialist anti-Moskito night fighting unit during the summer of 1944 - NJG 11 flying the latest high-altitude and high speed models of the Bf 109. On paper at least, these G-14/AS and G-10 variants possessed a turn of speed which enabled them to catch a Mosquito - provided they were loitering at high altitude along one of the many 'corridors' through which the Mosquitos penetrated German air space. We recently met and interviewed two former NJG 11 pilots. Their accounts shed new light on this little-known aspect of the night air battles over the Reich ...

Feldwebel Fritz Gniffke  ".. I was born on 28 Decmber 1920 in Danzig and spent a year as an instructor at the A/B 9 flying school in Grottkau where I acquired a little night flying experience. In August 1943 I was posted to the wilde Sau night fighter training school at Altenburg where I achieved the three blind flying Scheine -'licences'- qualifying me for night ops on the Fw 190 and Bf 109. It was while I was undergoing this training that I learnt that new single-engine night fighting Staffeln were being set up and that recruits were being sought from the ranks of flying instructors and other experienced airmen. On 10 September 1943 I received my first operational posting - to 6. Staffel JG 302 stationed in Husum. There we were told that being able to pinpoint English bombers over cities on fire didn't require any super human qualities - their silhouettes were readily visible and in any event the searchlight batteries would assist us. On clear nights lighting conditions were similar to those that might be encountered by day. I'm afraid all this left me rather sceptical. On 23 September 1943 I was airborne at 21:53 for my first combat mission at the controls of Fw 190 A-4 "Yellow 9" - as luck would have it the sortie proved to be a complete fiasco.. The controllers ordered us to orbit for thirty minutes but when the call came through for all 'wilde Sau' to proceed to Mannheim - the actual objective of the British bombers - I was much too far to the south. By the time I arrived over the city I could see several fires blazing on the ground while the searchlights continued to sweep the skies - but there was no sign of any English bombers...in the end I managed to put down at Lippstadt at 23:03 after narrowly avoiding a collision with a Bf 110 in the circuit..my knees were trembling as I climbed down from the cockpit and made my way over to the control room to find a telephone and report that I had landed safely. It was pouring with rain.."  (to be continued)

Below; Fritz Gniffke -seen here on the left- with his 6./ JG 302 Bf 109 G-6 'N Yellow 7' in which he claimed a B-24 on a day sortie, 11 April 1944  (note; not 12 April as I previously captioned this image, apologies!)

This image has appeared in a number of books (eg Brett Green's 'Augsburgs Last Eagles' by Eagle Editions) - but is not always correctly captioned. 'White 11' of I./NJG 11 was regularly flown by Fw. Fritz Gniffke and this scan is via Lorant/Gniffke. The aircraft is a G-10 with Erla canopy and exhaust flame dampers, rare for a G-10. The pilot head armour appears to have been retained which in itself was also unusual for a 109 Moskito hunter. Camouflage was the standard grey scheme. Gniffke flew sorties in this aircraft up until 14 January 1945 - picture was taken on 27 September 1944 at Bonn Hangelar.

Elsewhere on this blog, part 1 of my 'Moskito hunting' pieces  - Kurt Welter's 10./ NJG 11

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/mosquito-hunting-in-luftwaffe-1-me-262s.html

Focke Wulf 190 nightfighters - Kurt Welter 5./JG 302

Seen here in Ludwigslust (Mecklenburg) during January 1944 Ofw. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 302 poses for a snapshot in front of his Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 A-5/U2 'Porcupine' with his mechanics. Note the rod antennae of the FuG 217 radar protruding from the upper forward fuselage and the flame damping shields over the exhaust slats.

From Jean-Yves Lorant's interview with Fritz Gniffke (6./ JG 302) in the late 1970s

" ..Welter had downed two Lancasters during the night of 2-3 December 1943, bringing his total to 11, all returned on wilde Sausorties. On the night of 21-22 January he had run into a Mosquito north of Magdeburg, but the English pilot had managed to get away..Welter was our role model - we certainly didn't have any others - there were very few if any other wilde Sau pilots who had managed more than two victories at that time.."






Seen during the spring of 1944 at Werneuchen a FuG 218 radar equipped Fw 190 A-6 of Nachtjagdgruppe 10. (Classic Colours Nachtjäger volume captions this as a FuG 217) Both photos are extracted from Jean-Yves Lorant's Fw 190 Docavia book with the author's permission. On P235 of this volume there is picture of a line-up of Nachtjagdgruppe 10 machines. Most of the pilots and machines seving with NJGr. 10 during early 1944 were seconded from I./JG 300 including Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller.  Click on the pics for a better view..



More Fw 190 nightfighters on this blog here, including Klaus Bretschneider's FuG 217 Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 A-7 seen at Rheine during early 1944