JG 54 von Bonin, Gruppe Philipp Friedrich - archive photo scan series #44

 

Geschwaderkommodore Maj. von Bonin's Fw 190 on a field strip somewhere in the East. Von Bonin was Kommandeur of I./JG 54 for 18 months before taking charge of III./JG 52 - while he scored some 60 victories with III./JG 52, this didn't stop Oblt. Grislawski (9./JG 52) referring to him on one occasion as an 'incompetent bastard' after a screw-up during a combat sortie. Maj. Bonin was subsequently appointed JG 54 Kommodore just before 'Zitadelle' in July 1943.

Below; Gruppe Philipp Bf 109 F-4 with 250kg bomb, spring 1942. The next two photos depict the new Kommandeur alighting from his F-2 at Krasnogvardeisk during March 1942. Major beim Stab markings (<II)

Above; 5./JG 54 StaKa Wolfgang Spate in March 1942. He was awarded the EL in April 1942 for 79 victories. At the same time he was recalled to take charge of Erprobungskommando 16 at Rechlin (Me 163). Below; 'Black 4' of 5. Staffel at Siverskaia during the winter of42-43. The first snow fell on 15 October..

Uffz. Fritz Zander of JG 54 and JG 1

Uffz. Fritz Zander of 5./JG 54 with his 'victory stick' on his Bf 109 F-2 "black 1". His personal emblem "Lia" refers to his wife, Elise. The same personal emblem was carried on a Friedrich, reported as  100% destroyed during an air raid on Siverskaya, probably Bf 109 F-2 WNr. 8905 belonging to 7. Staffel. Zander apparently never flew with 7. Staffel, staying in II. Gruppe and his 5. Staffel. Note the lines on the canopy glazing used as an aid to bomb aiming.

Zander was awarded the DKiG during March 1943 with 31 victories (Saintes, p328 'Les Aigles au coeur vert' Vol II).  

In May 1944 Zander was transferred back to the Reichsverteidigung with III./JG 1. The Bf 109 G-6/AS fighters of this Gruppe appeared on the Wochenschau footage shown in German cinemas on 28 June 1944..

Below; a close-up from the same Wochenschau footage showing Ofw. Zander in the cockpit of his 7. Staffel JG 1 G-6/AS..

 Zander was also later photographed in Normandy, here seen alongside his 'blue 22' of III./JG 1 on the  'Invasionsfront'..

He was KIA on 26 December 1944 over Bastogne as one of the most experienced Ofw. of the unit.

More JG 54 aces and their machines on this blog here

Ostermann's Friedrich - ebay photo find #387

 

Sold as an 'original' photo for 172 euros, this 'white 1' of 7./JG 54 is an F-2 sometimes assigned to Max-Hellmuth Ostermann and is an image previously published in several JG 54 books. Note the 30 black Abschussbalken. Ostermann claimed his 30th on 5 September 1941. click to view large. Via 'Snautzer'

JG 54 Friedrich -archive photo scan #24

 

From the same sequence as the well-known Mütherich and Pöhs Ritterkreuz presentation series. Generaloberst Keller of Luftflotte 1 who made the presentation in August 1941 is seen (left) in conversation with Maj. Trautloft. The II./JG 54 Friedrich in the background  -  possibly 'black 1'- was apparently not the aircraft flown by the Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 54, since Mütherich reportedly flew 'black 10' and was pictured leaning on the horizontal stabiliser of that machine when awarded his RK. According to one author 'black 1' was being flown by Richard Hausmann, StaKa of 8./JG 54. Mütherich was shot down and killed on 9 September 1941. Click on the image for  a 'wide-screen' view. 

Fw 190 II./JG 54, March 1944 - Bundesarchiv photo report #7

 

During February 1944 the Fw 190s of II./JG 54 had been particularly active flying freie Jagd and Begleitschutz (escort) for Ju 87s north and north-east of Uman (Korsun-Cherkassy pocket). PK Berichter Richard Kamm took a series of images following a move to the airfield at Petseri (43 km west of Pleskau) in early March, a period during which the Gruppe saw relatively little action, most likely due to the 'Tauwetter'  - or thaw. These photos depict Fw 190 A-5 'black 2' and 'black 7' of II./JG 54 undergoing maintenance during March 1944 - note melting snow. 'Black 7' has a distinctive Mäander-Tarnung (with a dark squiggle/mottle overspray).  A comprehensive account of the activities of II./JG 54 during this period appears in the latest volume from Jochen Prien and his team in the new JfV  -Teil 15/II ('Einsatz im Osten 1.1 bis 31.12.1944', pages 400-497) It was during this period that Lt. Albin Wolf  claimed the 7000th victory of the Geschwader as described in an earlier photo report  (see link below).

Also on this blog;

Wolf and Rudorffer - Horridoh for the 7,000th kill at JG 54

Wolf and Rudorffer - Horridoh for the 7,000th kill at JG 54 - archive photo scan #12

 

a set of (different) low-res images from an ECPA-D photo series file ref KBZ 24 F234.  Six photos from the series were published in Tome 2 of Philippe Saintes' JG 54 history "Les Aigles au Coeur Vert" (Lela Presse) and others more recently in Jochen Prien's JfV Teil 15/II. " Einsatz im Osten 1944" 

Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz" ace Lt. Albin Wolf seen on his return from a sortie flown on 23 March, 1944 in Pechory/Pskov. Kommandeur Rudorffer is seen with Wolf as the celebrations on the 7,000th victory claimed by the Geschwader get under way with the successful StaKa of 6./JG 54. Only a handful of images in this series by PK Reimers actually show much of Wolf's Fw 190. Other images in the series show the pilot being welcomed by his comrades StaKa 5./JG 54 Lang and Heinrich Sterr StaKa of 4./JG 54 while bottles of Pommery Champagne and brandy are opened to celebrate the event. Wolf had also just returned his 135th victory downing a Soviet Yak 1 fighter. The pilot's Focke-Wulf Fw-190 A 6 is seen although none of the images show the Staffel number. Wolf would be shot down and killed barely a week later 20 km south-east of Pskov (Pleskau) - on 2 April 1944 at 09:30 during combat at low altitude with a Yak-9 his Fw 190 A-6 (WNr 551142) took a direct hit from an anti-aircraft shell. Wolf received a posthumous promotion to Oblt. and the Eichenlaub. 

Kurt Pflugbeil, General der Flieger, Oberbefehlshaber Luftflotte 1

 

Reading through the list of the approximately 7300 Knight's Cross winners, you soon notice quite a few Ritterkreuzträger-Familien or 'families' where the Knight's Cross is represented more than once. For example, the following pairs of brothers from the individual branches of the Wehrmacht: Heer: Georg and Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, Luftwaffe: Adolf and Wilhelm Ferdinand Galland, Kriegsmarine: Gerd and Reinhard Suhren, Waffen-SS: Boris and Hugo Krass. However, there are also brothers who did not earn their Knight's Cross in the same branch of the Wehrmacht. These include Generalleutnant des Heeres Johann Pflugbeil (1882-1951) and his younger brother Kurt Pflugbeil (1890-1955), who ended the war as General der Flieger and Oberbefehlshaber Luftflotte 1 - Commander-in-Chief of air fleet 1. The following write-up of Pflugbeil's career is now the most comprehensive and easily accessible on the internet.

The Pflugbeil brothers were born in Hütten near Königstein in Saxony as sons of a sawmill owner. After attending school, the younger Pflugbeil brother joined the Saxon 10th Infantry Regiment No. 134 in Plauen as a Fahnenjunker (ensign) on 1 April 1910. Here, after attending war school, the high school graduate was promoted to Leutnant on 23 November 1911. As a platoon leader, World War I began for Lt.Pflugbeil and his regiment on 2 August 1914. As early as 1915 he applied for a transfer to the Fliegertruppe, which was granted at the end of 1915. From then on, he was mostly deployed as a fighter pilot and observer during the war. In the process, he earned the reputation of being "invulnerable" and finally returned home as a highly decorated flight officer. Among other things, he was also awarded the second-highest Prussian war medal for officers after the Pour le Mérite, the Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern zum Königlichen Hausorden von Hohenzollern (Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern). Kurt Pflugbeil ended the war in November 1918 with the rank of Hauptmann.

Postwar the Germans were forbidden warplanes by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Hptm. Pflugbeil therefore returned to his first branch of the service, the infantry. Via the Grenzjägerregiment Zeithain and the Vorläufige Reichswehr, he finally joined the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment on 1 April 1921, whose 1st and 2nd companies stationed in Freiberg/Saxony were official "Traditionsträger" (tradition forebears) of Pflugbeil's former IR (Infantry Regiment) 134. For five years - from 1921 to 1926 - Pflugbeil was the Chef der 1. Kompanie of IR 11 until 1926, when he was able to to refresh his flying knowledge and experience by taking part in longer training courses at the Reichswehr's secret flying training centre at the Soviet airfield in Lipetsk. During this time, he was appointed as a Rittmeister in the 11th (Prussian) Rifle Corps, which was spread over three Silesian garrisons.

With his promotion to Major on 1 November 1931, Kurt Pflugbeil - by now forty-one years old - was appointed Kommandeur of the 2nd Prussian Fahrabteilung, which was located with two 'eskadrons' each in Altdamm/Pomerania and in Rendsburg/Schleswig-Holstein. The plans prepared by the Reichswehr Ministry for a possible re-formation of the German air forces after the abolition of the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles envisaged this Fahrabteilung as the parent unit of future flying formations and, in particular, as a personnel reserve for the training of radio operators and aerial gunners. In fact, from 1933 onwards, Major Pflugbeil's Fahrabteilung 2, initially formed covertly from many individual components, was 'unofficially' run as the "Fliegerersatzabteilung" in the Luftwaffe.

In 1934/35, the experienced World War I Kampfflieger served as "Director of the High Altitude Flight Centre of the German Aeronautical Weather Service" in Lechfeld/Bavaria, a cover name for the first Kampffliegerschule of the future Luftwaffe. Hitler's decree on 26 February 1935 unmasked the "Reichsluftwaffe" with effect from 1 March 1935 and made it an independent part of the Wehrmacht alongside the Reichsheer and the Reichsmarine. Pflugbeil then transferred to the RLM (Reich's Air Ministry) in Berlin as Inspector of Kampfflieger.

On mobilization for the attack on Poland in early September 1939, Major General Pflugbeil was initially appointed commander of Luftgaustab z.b.V.* 16. After the French campaign in the summer of 1940, he then became Commanding General and Commander in the Luftgau Belgium and Northern France on August 1, 1940. Here his main task was to organize the future air defense of this area and to prepare the ground organization for the air forces to be deployed against England. He then took a leading part in operations against England himself, after he had been promoted to Generalleutnant  on 1 September 1940, succeeding General der Flieger Alfred Keller as commanding general of 

IV. Fliegerkorps, which was under the command of Luftflotte 3 led by Generalfeldmarschall Sperrle. Among his units were Lehrgeschwader 1 (equipped with the Ju 88 medium bomber), Kampfgeschwader (KG) 27 (with the He 111, the Luftwaffe's standard bomber) and Stuka-Geschwader 3 (Ju 87). When the war against the Soviet Union (Unternehmen "Barbarossa") began on June 22, 1941, Pflugbeil's IV Fliegerkorps, together with Ritter von Greim's V Fliegerkorps formed Luftflotte 4, deployed in the southern section of the Eastern Front under Generaloberst Alexander Löhr (1885-1947), former Chief of the Austrian Air Force.

The achievements of Pflugbeil's IV Fliegerkorps during the first months of the campaign in the East received official recognition on 5 October 1941 with the award of the Knight's Cross. On 31 October 1941 Pflugbeil was mentioned by name for the first time in the report of the OKW (Wehrmacht High Command). This mention was to be followed by three more in the next few years. With his appointment as commander-in-chief of Luftflotte 1 in the summer of 1943 as successor to General Günther Korten, who had been appointed chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, the career of General der Flieger (since 1 February, 1942) Pflugbeil reached its high point. He remained at this post practically until the end of the war, even as Luftflotte 1, deployed throughout in the northern section of the Eastern Front, was renamed "Luftwaffenkommando Kurland".

On 28 April1944 General Pflugbeil was the 562nd soldier of the German Wehrmacht to be awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross - on 11 April 1944 the OKW report stated that his air fleet had played an outstanding part in the success of the defensive battle south of Pleskau near Lake Peipus. About four months later, Pflugbeil's brother Johann received the Knight's Cross as Lieutenant General of the Army and combat commander of Mitau.

The  defensive battles of the Kurlandfront  were General der Flieger Kurt Pflugbeil's last wartime missions. Events at the turn of the year 1944/45 were described in the OKW report of 1 January1945 as follows;

"... In eleven days of heavy fighting ... Army units, Waffen SS and Latvian SS volunteers, excellently supported by flying units and anti-aircraft units of the Luftwaffe under the leadership of their commander-in-chief, General der Flieger Pflugbeil, defeated the onslaught of 46 rifle divisions and 22 tank and assault gun units. Thanks to the high performance of leadership and troops, the front in Courland remained firmly in our own hands, except for insignificant losses in terrain."

Relentless Soviet offensives in Courland (the sixth was launched on 16 March 1945) gradually resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of sorties flown by the defending fighters of JG 54 given the general shortages of fuel and machines in the ever-shrinking pocket. Their primary mission was as escort for the rocket-toting Fw 190 ground-attack machines operated by SG 3 against Soviet armour. Only then were ‘free hunts’ against the Soviet medium bombers authorised. Oblt. Gerd Thyben, Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 54 remembered;

“..Fuel for the Heeresgruppe Kurland – and thus our fighters – came to us, if at all, by sea. ‘Papi’ Kurt Pflugbeil of Luftflotte Kurland only occasionally ordered sorties and then only with the orders ‘ An die bomber!’

Below; Two Ritterkreuzträger photographed at Cirava, Courland during March 1945 having just received their decorations from 'Papi' Kurt Pflugbeil (right). Staffelkapitän 8./JG 54 Lt. Hermann Schleinhege (left) with his  comrade Lt. Hugo Broch.

Pflugbeil's organisational talents could not of course avert final defeat but did enable him to send home large numbers of the Luftwaffe soldiers under his command before the official surrender. As the Red Army closed on Windau, where the " Befehlshaber der Luftwaffenkommando Kurland " (commander of the Kurland Air Force Command) had his headquarters, he himself declined to use the He 111 available to him to return west and entered Soviet captivity. After months of imprisonment in Moscow and Ivanovo, he was sentenced to twenty-five years hard labour on 8 June, 1950. Seriously ill, the now almost sixty-four-year-old general was released early on 5 January 1954. He survived the return home only by seventeen months. Kurt Pflugbeil died on 31 May 1955 in  hospital near Göttingen..

( A detailed account of JG 54's flight out of Courland appears in this blogger's "Luftwaffe Fighters -Combat on all Fronts" Volume I) 

Lt. Helmut Biederbick 7./JG 54 - ebay photo find #363

Photos of Lt. Helmut Biederbick posing for snapshots on his 7./JG 54 Friedrich have appeared in a number of publications including "Luftwaffe Fighters -Combat on all Fronts " Vol I and Philippe Saintes two-volume history of JG 54 published by Lela Presse.  These show him taking a snooze under the wing of his Bf 109 F-2 ‘white 5’ some time during the summer of 1941 and posing with his 1.Wart (first mechanic) on his 7./JG 54 Bf 109 F-4 ‘white 7’. This 'new' Ebay find shows us that it was 'white 5' that featured the inscription ‘Kabänes’. 

Leutnant Biederbick returned 14 victories with JG 54. He returned his first victory, an SB-2 on 23 June, 1941, the second day of Barbarossa. On July 6, 1941 flying ‘white 11’ he collided with ‘white 3’ flown by Uffz. Theodor Steinwendtner during a hard fight with SB-2s of 41 SAD. Both pilots were able to jump clear. Biederbick downed two Soviet aircraft on July 10, 1941; an SB-3 and an I-18 and scored two Soviet P-40s on July 19, 1942. 

He moved back to the West in October 1942, posted to IV./JG 1. He served as an instructor from December 1942. He flew as Staffelführer with 2./JG 1 from February to June 1944. His 15th victory was a B-24 (HSS) on April 8, 1944. His 16th was a P-51 five km north-west of Klötze on April 8, 1944. His 17th was a B-17 (HSS) on April 13, 1944, no location. On April 22, 1944 he downed a B-17 west of Rothaargebirge. He moved to JG 101 in July 1944. 

In February 1945 he was appointed Staffel kapitän of 5./JG 101 in February 1945 and survived the war credited with 19 victories. He died on January 10, 1996.

Hasegawa Bf 109 G "White 2" (WNr. 412605) of IV./JG54 - Eastern Front, winter 1943-44

 

The latest model from Duncan Black as seen on britmodeller is well worth 'reposting' here with Duncan's permission.

" This is my first completion in over 18 months!! It originally started as a quick build to try out the hairspray technique for making a winter distemper finish. Hasegawa kit but I used some spare parts from an Eduard kit for the propellor, spinner, wheels and some cockpit parts which help add some extra detail. Painted with Mr Hobby acrylics to depict W Nr. 412605 'White 2' of IV./JG54 some time in winter 1943/44 on the Eastern Front..."

 

What an amazing finish. It totally captures the look of a heavily worn winter whitewash. Great job Duncan!

Duncan's build just happened to coincide with the publication of a photo-series of the same machine in the latest volume from the Prien team (JfV Teil 15/II - Einsatz im Osten). See also Vol II of Philip Saintes superb history of JG 54 published by Lela Presse; the images below show 'white 2' being prepared for a sortie (freie Jagd or Begleitschutz für Schlachtflieger) and getting airborne from a base on the northern sector of the Eastern Front, west of Leningrad (possibly Idritsa or Dno).  

At the turn of the year 1943-44 IV. Gruppe comprised a Stab flight and two Staffeln, 10. Staffel and 11. Staffel. Gkr. was Hptm Rudolf Sinner and the Staffelkapitän and ace of 10 Staffel was Oblt. Robert Weiss while 11. Staffel was led by Oblt. Erwin Leykauf. While serviceability and readiness levels were low during January 1944 with some sorties flown being broken off because of poor weather, Weiss ('white 10') filed four claims on 15 January, a further four on 17 January and four more on 25 January to reach 94 victories. Other 10. Staffel pilots of note included Obfw. Karl Brill (29th on 24 January) and Obfw. Kurt Olsen (42nd on 6 February). A matter of months later the unit would be transferred back to Germany and a third Staffel added to the Gruppe. 

Correspondence from JG 54 Fw 190 pilot Karl Bytomski (dated 26 March 1998) and the death of Otto Kittel

 

" ....I completed my pilot training in Châteauroux, France during the summer of 1943. But following a crash I was hospitalised for a year. I was making a turn in the circuit when I hit two telephone masts running along a road. My aircraft went straight down, chopping through seven trees along the way. Both my wings were torn off and my engine ended up some eighty metres away. I was catapulted out of the cockpit still strapped to my seat and hit the ground in a field. I suffered many fractures. Two Frenchmen carried me to a farm. I woke up with a farm girl lifting my head and giving me sips of brandy.

My first sortie in JG 54 took place on  July 30, 1944. On August 7, I shot down my first Il-2 (near Jakobstadt-Nirzi). On October 27, I shot down a second Il-2 near Skrunda. On October 30, it was a Pe-2. On 17 November, I finished off a Jak 9 near Windau.

In the East we lived in tents. Food supplies were always adequate and our aircraft were excellent. The only disaster for us was the meagre supply of fuel. It meant that we could not support our ground troops sufficiently and only took off to counter the opposing bombers. And that was usually with only one Rotte. From sunrise to sunset, one Rotte was on alert, its two pilots being relieved every two hours. During an alert, we had to be in the air within sixty seconds.

On  February 16, 1945, we took off in Schwarm formation to conduct a free hunt over the Dschukste sector. In bad weather we started a low-level fight with twenty-three Il-2s escorted by fighters. My Rottenführer was Oblt Kittel. Shortly before the fight, Kittel's aircraft went off at an angle of 30 to 35 degrees and hit the ground. I suspect he must have been hit fatally by flak.

During my short flying career I made seven belly landings and bailed out twice. On one occasion, during a landing, my aircraft caught fire due to a broken fuel line. I was travelling at 160 km/h and chose to jump. It was a mad decision - more of a reflex action: jump or burn. As luck would have it, I was lucky to escape with a simple leg injury.

When I reflect back I can only say that I was very lucky in my life. In fact, I should never have been a fighter pilot at all. My reaction times were pretty slow and I had difficulties with orientation and my sense of direction. In flying school, I was only passed out with a grade 5. I was known in the unit for rarely being able to locate the airfield. Luckily, whenever I was late back, signal flares would be fired off which would guide me back home......"   

Karl Bytomski

Karl Bytomski's Rottenführer Otto Kittel (at head of table) and the men of his Staffel enjoy the traditional, classic 'Kaffee und Kuchen' in the field..

correspondence from Karl Bytomski courtesy J-L Roba/Philippe Saintes. The superb photo-laden two-volume history of JG 54 authored by Philippe is still available from the Lela Presse website in their 'unit history' series. PDF extracts can be downloaded. 

also on this blog;

Last flight of the Luftwaffe -  JG 54's evacuation from Courland here

I./JG 54 Friedrich - Wintertarnung

 

an unpublished image from the album of Hans Girke, a Wart in I./JG 54. Girke contributed to the Lela Presse two volume history of JG 54 (Philippe Saintes) reviewed elsewhere on this blog. Reproduced large across the screen to maximise details of the winter  finish. A yellow (?) Kennziffer is just visible as is the green heart (?) under the canopy.

perhaps a different view of the same machine as it is pushed back into its 'shelter'

 

Ostermann's Friedrichs, May 1942 - new JG 54 decals from AIMS and new Bf 110 conversion and update sets

 

During May 1942, as he was approaching 100 victories, Helmut Ostermann flew - and crashed - two different Friedrichs in quick succession, one on 10 May and the other on 12 May 1942 - this is a matter of record. The two different aircraft were crash landed within two days of each other, one after the other. Only one of these machines appears to feature in photographs and it has been generally thought up to now that it had differently finished fuselage sides  - the starboard side was apparently left in the original paint scheme – the exact colours of which are a matter of conjecture but most probably 74/75 – whereas the port side of the fuselage was completely sprayed over in what is usually said to be a light gray, resulting in a marked difference of the appearance of the two sides of this a/c. I spoke to John MacIllmurray at AIMS who has an interesting theory about Ostermann’s machine(s) and who is currently preparing a new JG 54 decal sheet for release early in the New Year which will feature markings for Ostermann's Friedrichs.

"...The first Friedrich (W Nr. 13088 in 'standard' gray-greens) crashed on 10 May 42 ripping off the tail aft of the III. Gruppe symbol. The second machine - lost on 12 May two days later - was W.Nr 13125. Here the crash-landing also tore off  the tail - on this occasion though in the middle of the III Gruppe bar!  The photo report that appeared in Luftwaffe in Focus (5/2004 edition) actually mixes up photos from the two crash-landings! What was striking about the 'second' aircraft was the 76 overspray on the fuselage sides. Yes, RLM 76 sprayed over the fuselage sides and, yes, the photographs show two aircraft which look similar but they are not the same at all. Not surprisingly modellers and model companies are confusing them. What was the reason behind the 76 overspray? Well, most people imagine that this colour is a faint white or gray overspray - but what would be the point of that in mid-May? It is clearly much darker than the white of the fuselage Balkenkreuz or the white outline of the numeral. My theory is that this may have been an attempt for concealment. Obviously high-altitude combat as such didn't occur in the East, but in painting over the fuselage sides in 76, Ostermann may have been looking for altitude concealment from low-flying Sturmoviks or even ground personnel/troops when flying his long-range strafing sorties behind the lines.." 

See the Luftwaffe Gallery JG 54 'Special' for an account of these types of long-range strafing sorties flown by Ostermann. In the event the 'blue' machine, WNr. 13125, was only flown by Ostermann for two days before it crashed on 12 May 1942...

to reprise the differences on the two machines as seen in the various ‘crash’ photos that have been published;

Ostermann's 'gray-green' F-4 (W Nr. 13088) - 'wet' crash location, no straw under nose, no mud on top most prop lower area, different angle of half and half RLM 70 / white painted spinner, different damage to spinner tip, different painting of rear section of spinner, different damage to rear fuselage - ripped off aft of III Gruppe symbol - lower engine cowl ripped off in the crash. See clearly right side photo and small photo of left side!

Ostermann's 'blue' machine (W.Nr 13125)

High up demarcation 74/76 machine, 'dry' crash location, straw under nose, mud on upper prop, angle of white/RLM 70 spinner different, painting of spinner different, tail ripped off near beginning of III Gruppe symbol and the lower engine cowling intact and in situ. Note too the 8th Staffel bird may well be also in a different place on the two aircraft - 13088 has it near the front of the cowl, 13125 it is in the centre as per normal. 

Bf 109 F-4 – WerkNr. 13 088 – was covered in detail in JFV 9/III, JG 54 Luftwaffe Gallery and various editions of Luftwaffe im Focus and pictures published thus far are usually thought to show an aircraft with differently finished fuselage sides. This highly unusual scheme could be seen on a number of 8./JG 54 Bf 109 F-4s in the spring of 1942, apparently being some kind of intermediate scheme during the spring thaw. (III./JG 54 was only some 50 km south of Leningrad)

But, as is evident from John's comments, it may well be that we have actually been looking at two different aircraft, one of which was 13 088, the other 13 125....over to John again;

"..Regardless of the similarities between 13088 crashed on the 10th and 13125 crashed on  12 May the fact remains that the crash photos from the left show 13125 and the photos from the right show 13088. The photos show two aircraft with two different tail rips, two different spinners and one with lower cowl ripped off and one without - two different crashes - two different aircraft - two different locations - regardless of similarities. It is perhaps a little odd that 13088's 74/75 fuselage is only ever seen from the right and bizarre in the extreme that 13125 in the 'high up' RLM 76 is only ever seen from the left but that is what we have been left with! Since the crash photos show one side only of both aircraft it cannot be proven that work was started to paint the left side of 13088 RLM 76 nor can it be proven that 13125 had the RLM 76 finished on the right for that matter but the head-on photo of it on a dry sunny day (LiF 5/2004) would suggest that it is more finished than un-finished...."

Preview image of just some of the subjects on the forthcoming AIMS JG 54 decal sheet

A final word from John at AIMS;

".. if I'm wrong about this then that's cool too - I am happy to be wrong and thankfully it does not in any way change the decal designs - just the instructions. Okay so the identical paint scheme on the tail plane and wings of both aircraft could be a 'problem for sure but less of a problem - in my mind - than believing all the crash photos are the same aircraft. It would not be the first time an aircraft crashed in an unfinished condition but rare none the less..."

AIMS is also almost ready to start taking orders on a new Bf 110 conversion set - a Bf 110 G-2/R1 conversion for the 32nd Dragon C-7 kit. There are also new 1/72 and 1/48 update sets for the Eduard G-2/R-1 or G-2 kits in the pipeline ..

The Bf 110 G-2/R1 sub-type was a Pulkzerstörer for defence of the Reich duties mounting the imposing 3.7cm Bordkanone Flak 18 under the fuselage. After trials this variant first equipped ZG 76 in late 1943/early 1944. Some of these machines were also equipped with WGr. 21 rocket launchers under each wing. Below, decal sheet extract depicting ZG 76 machines

"M8+NP" a Bf 110 G-2/R1 seen in Wertheim in late 1943. FF Uffz. Herbert Stengel on the right. Note the lower fuselage fairing/housing for the cannon rather resembled the 'Dackelbauch' fitting seen on the Bf 110 D. The cannon muzzle brake was perforated.

More photos and data on the Bf 110 G-2/R1 Flak 18 on this blog here

new Luftwaffe books

 

Currently on the 'to-read' pile;

Part II of Philippe Saintes’ history of JG 54 Grünherz has been published in the series "Histoire des Unités" by the French-language specialist publisher Lela Presse. Despite being a soft-cover this is a fine book. It features 333 densely filled pages, both in terms of text and illustrations. There are eleven chapters, organised both in chronological order and according to the geography of the theatre of operations, with a Gruppe in the West and two Gruppen in the East in Courland. Final operations with the Bf 109 are detailed followed by the transition onto the Focke-Wulf 190 and the arrival in service of the first Fw 190 D-9s. Each chapter ends with a partial conclusion and a summary of casualties. More than 800 photographs, both black & white and colour, and some thirty profiles illustrate the text - personal accounts and captions are in blue-ish green and blue to differentiate them from the text in black which makes reading a lot ‘easier’ if you can handle the French.  The footnotes are also coloured in olive green. A general conclusion gives way to a copious thirty-page appendix listing all JG 54 pilots. Acknowledgements, sources and references and two pages of errata from Volume 1 wrap up this excellent two-volume history of the Grünherz. All kudos to the author, his contributors and Lela Presse for producing these excellent volumes - a shame there are no equivalent productions in English in the works currently (..unless you know differently). I believe the author is currently writing/researching another Jagdgeschwader history so look forward to that.

From the ‘Military book collectors’ page on Facebook

Go here for the review of these books on the britmodeller forum

Recently published by Mortons in a very nice hardback format is Dan Sharp’s ‘Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe - Jet Fighters 39-45'. This is a fine production of over 300 pages and 600 photos on glossy paper with plenty of drawings, diagrams and conference translation transcripts describing the convoluted genesis of the German jets. 'Luft 46' and paper projects- featuring some designs based on only the sketchiest details or the odd drawing - are not really my ‘thing’ but author Sharp has dug deep into the archives and provides new developmental histories of well-known types such as the Me 262, He 162 and Me 163 which feature 'new' information and more accurate developmental timelines which go a long way to correcting previous histories. Much of this new information sheds additional light on many of the lesser or unknown jet projects that were under development or attained operational status during the period 39-45. This is an important work for enthusiasts interested in aviation history during a period when technology and innovation propelled flight into new dimensions.

Coming soon, part 1 of " The Luftwaffe in France - From the Phoney War to the invasion of the Unoccupied Zone" (a first Luftwaffe book from French specialist Éditions Arès) a new Luftwaffe Gallery from Erik Mombeeck and a new Osprey....