Ogfr. Alfred Papendick, 7./JG 77 - archive photo scan #54

 

The main area of operations for JG 77 in late August-early September  1941 was the Berislav sector. Berislav was a town in southern Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper river. After days of bitter fighting, the German 11th Army occupied Berislav during the last few days of August.  River crossings began soon afterwards with JG 77 flying fighter cover. After the river crossing was successfully forced according to plan, German troops quickly managed to establish a bridgehead on the southern bank of the Dnieper, hold it against the Russian counterattacks that soon began, and even expand it. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in front of the bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnieper near Dnepropetrovsk; the Soviet Air Force was operating in great numbers here, causing significant trouble for German troops, particularly with its ground-attack aircraft. By 01 September the bridgehead on the south bank of the Dnieper had reached a depth of ten kilometres. There were persistent Soviet counter-attacks with tank and air support - JG 77 claimed some 19 victories on 01 September including two for Hptm. Mader and two for Lt. Freytag.  On 3 September the river crossing was significantly delayed by continuous Russian air raids, and in the afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., the pontoon bridge was put out of action for about six hours by a direct bomb hit. However the 'bridgehead' around Berislav was successfully consolidated, paving the way for an operational advance toward the Crimea. On Friday 05 September JG 77 filed seven claims in combats around Berislav. Ogfr. Alfred Papendick downed an 'I-16' for his second victory. It would be his last. Three days later, on 8 September 1941 he was shot down and killed in combat with Soviet fighters six kilometres west of Berislav at the controls of Bf 109 F-4 WNr. 7067 'black chevron+'.

These two unpublished images show Papendick's grave in the small German cemetery at Berislav and the wreck of his burnt-out Friedrich - note two Abschussbalken on the tail and the ship silhouette above these. 7. Staffel was of course Huy's Jabo unit so Papendick likely took part in the anti-shipping sorties flown by III. /JG 77, either around Crete a few months previously or against the Soviet Black sea fleet off the Crimean peninsula ..

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"... und wird nach Luftkampf vermißt!.." JG 77 Bf 109 K-4s lost on 23 December 1944

 

"...and is missing following aerial combat!" by Werner Girbig in Jägerblatt, March 1972

"... Hundreds of reports issued by military units after costly missions ended with this very sentence. One such was Hptm. Armin Köhler’s III./JG 77 which suffered losses on December 23, 1944: two pilots killed or missing and five wounded. When Günter Schmitz drew my attention to the grave of an unknown German fighter pilot in Altenahr in the summer of 1970, neither of us knew that the man resting there belonged to that very same III. Gruppe of JG 77, or that a combination of unfortunate circumstances would delay the resolution of his fate for another 18 months. Above all, I had no idea at the time how much effort it would take to gather the material needed to prove that the fallen airman in the Altenahr cemetery grave could only be one specific individual.

 But it is best to tell the story in order. At least the date and approximate time of the unknown fighter pilot’s crash near Altenahr were known: December 23, 1944, around 3:30 p.m. This information came from the Altenahr gravedigger; long after the war ended, scrap collectors alerted him to wreckage and skeletal remains, prompting him to retrieve the pilot’s body from the woods and bury it in the municipal cemetery. According to his own account, he found and broke the Erkennungsmarke ID tag also found at the crash site, intending to place one half in the grave and hand the other over to the police for forwarding. Furthermore, the incident was officially recorded, and the identification tag number was noted down. Another resident of Altenahr reported finding a data plate inscribed "Messerschmitt AG" near the crash site, though he had subsequently discarded it carelessly. Alongside the pilot's shattered body, a Polish coin and a St. Christopher amulet were found at the time—items that would prove invaluable for further research. Twenty-six years after the tragic events over the "Western Combat Zone," I began tracing the unknown pilot's path using the scant information available. Günter Schmitz had meanwhile secured permission from the municipal authorities to open the grave, allowing us to search for the identification tag half—which we hoped to find there—using a detector on December 1, 1970.

 Yet, we had no luck that day. Although even the tiniest screws from the aircraft were present and detectable in the grave—the pilot had been recovered from the crash site along with many small fragments of his machine and buried in Altenahr—not the slightest trace of an identification tag could be found. The specific file folder containing the records was also missing. Shortly after the war ended, officials from some military authority had appeared to confiscate specific documents, and since that time, the file folder had vanished. The fate of the fallen airman could now only be determined through indirect means, so I immediately set to work reconstructing the combat events of December 23, 1944. 

 With the help of the WASt in Berlin, I eventually had a good dozen pilots on my list who had been missing since December 23. Naturally, a bit of luck is required in such matters, and Günter Schmitz managed to find several rounds of 30mm ammunition as well as a fragment of an aileron 'horn' —a part specific to the Bf 109. The ammunition and various other distinctive aircraft components confirmed to us that the plane must have been a Bf 109 K-4. Returning to the pilots missing from December 23: some could be ruled out immediately because they had flown Focke-Wulf aircraft that day; of the remaining six Messerschmitt pilots, three flew the G-14 model and the others the K-4. One of these K-4 pilots—a member of III./JG 77—hailed from Teschen in Upper Silesia, and I immediately thought of the Polish coin, given Teschen’s location in the German-Polish border region. Both in terms of time and location, the evidence now pointed strongly toward the JG 77 non-commissioned officer, as the other pilots belonged to units deployed elsewhere on the morning of December 23. The unidentified fallen pilot, however, had crashed around 3:30 p.m.—precisely the time when the III. Gruppe of JG 77 was engaged in aerial combat over the Ahr Valley in their Bf 109 K-4s. Hptm. Köhler himself landed in Cologne at 3:15 p.m. following the mission. Uffz. Silwester was the only member of this unit still missing as of December 23, 1944. I was able to compile enough information to hand it over to the WASt (German Federal Archives). It took weeks before I could submit all the documents. For me, it was already clear that the dead fighter pilot in Altenahr could only be Uffz. Walter Silwester of 12 Staffel of JG 77. All the information converged at one point. Would the WASt also be able to close the case based on my "circumstantial evidence"? As the months passed, I learned from Josef Kleber, former Adjutant of III./JG 77, how the Gruppe was unexpectedly attacked by Allied fighters (P-47s) over the Ahr Mountains on December 23rd during their outbound flight and suffered the well-known losses. Since December 1944, losses among the German fighter forces had been rising rapidly. Leadership errors and inadequate training could not be compensated for by the self-sacrifice of the fighter pilots alone. During the fierce and dramatic air battles in the West in the final days of 1944 (December 23-31), hundreds of aircraft were shot down. Even today, 83 German fighter pilots are considered effectively missing in action there, and the fact that the entire fighter force still lists well over 2,000 missing pilots can easily be seen, in part, from the existing loss lists. The area of the so-called "Western Combat Zone" will be the immediate focus of my next investigations. Uffz. Silwester was one of those missing from the Ardennes Offensive, and the clarification of his fate, in which Günter Schmitz also played a significant role, will hopefully not be the last success..."

 To conclude, here again is the loss report of III./JG 77 from December 23, 1944 including details of 11. and 12. Staffel Bf 109 K-4s..

Uffz. Hasso Fröhlich 11. Staffel verw.

'yellow 16' WNr. 330200

Lt. Martin Ludwig 12. Staffel verw.

'blue 8' WNr. 330205

 Uffz. Willi Meyer 12. Staffel verw.

'blue 6' WNr. 330217

 Uffz. Karl Reinberg 12. Staffel verw.

'blue 13' WNr. 330197

 Fw. Hans Rössner 12. Staffel, gefallen (zunächst vermißt)

'blue 3' WNr. 330177

 Uffz. Walter Silwester 12. Staffel,  gefallen (zunächst vermißt) 

'blue 11' WNr. 330164

 Lt. W. Wildenauer 11. Staffel verw.

'yellow 13' WNr. 330144

Below; previously unpublished image of Lt. Martin Ludwig seated on his 8./JG 77 G-2 'black 9' in the late spring of 1944. Note the Gustav in the background with underwing 'Werfer' rocket launcher. Born 13 July 1923 in Mellenbach. Coming from EJG Süd, he was posted to 8./JG 77 in October 1943. In June 1944 he transferred to 7./JG 77 and in October 1944 joined 12./JG 77. WIA 23 Dec 1944 in combat with P-47s. After recovering from his injuries he did not return to JG 77 joining a ground unit. 3 claims. (via Brouez)

Establishment of II./JG 77 - Oberfeldwebel Georg Ries (Stabskompanie JG 77) - archive photo scan #52

 

Ofw. Georg Ries seen in Norway during 1940 with II./JG 77

 In 1934, the Kriegsmarine had formed a Staffel in Kiel to protect the German Bight (Deutsche Bucht) region: 1./JG 136. This naval air unit was subsequently split in two, and the unit became a Gruppe with a third and even a fourth Staffel. The Gruppe, based mainly at Jever, was taken over by the Luftwaffe. Its Kommandeur was Major Carl Schumacher, a former artilleryman from the Great War who had joined the navy and then, in 1934, the Luftwaffe. In 1938, the Gruppe abandoned its He 51s to fly Bf 109 Bs. Leaving Jever for Fürth and Weiden, the unit, now stripped of its fourth Staffel, was renamed II./JG 333. Like the future I./JG 77, II./JG 333 was based for a time in the Sudetenland, being stationed in Pilsen in 1939. In May of that year, II./333 was renamed II./JG 77 and received Bf 109 Es. At the end of August 1939, the Luftwaffe High Command transferred the Gruppe to Nordholz on the Baltic Sea, an area well known to many of its pilots. Its Staffelkapitäne at the time were Oblt. Helmut Henz (4./JG 77), Hptm. Alfred von Loijeswski (5./JG 77), both Legion Condor veterans, and Hptm. Franz-Heinz Lange (6./JG 77). 

Below; II./JG 333 (renamed II./JG 77 in 1939) received its first Bf 109 Es in May 1939. Well camouflaged under netting and foliage, the Gruppe Adjutant’s aircraft is seen with its engine covered with a tarpaulin bearing the aircraft’s WNr. (609). 

Click on the image for a full-screen view.

Georg Ries had joined the Kriegsmarine in 1930 and served on the cruisers Leipzig and Köln before taking a position on Göring's 'yacht' 'Carin I'. For 'personal reasons' he decided to leave the navy and trained as an aircraft mechanic before being posted to Jever as an Unterfeldwebel and joining the Stabskompanie of JG 77 via a spell in Spain with the Legion Condor.  By the time of the invasion of Norway during 1940 Ries was - in his own words - " ..responsible for all of II./JG 77's aircraft." This Gruppe was the only single-engine Luftwaffe fighter unit sent to Norway. Ries served as Werkstattzugführer in Stavanger and Trondheim. 

His Gruppe initially assembled on Norwegian soil at Kristiansand/Kjevik. The first few days were quiet: the outgunned Norwegian fighter forces mainly flew Gladiators, which were vastly outclassed by the Bf 109s. But the RAF soon appeared in Norwegian skies. On 12 April, in poor weather, twelve Hampdens from No. 44 (Rhodesian) and No. 50 Squadrons made an incursion in search of German ships, appearing at around midday over the port of Kristiansand. German anti-aircraft guns opened up and downed two Hampdens. Several II./JG 77 Bf 109s managed to get airborne and caught up with the bombers. A fierce dogfight ensued in which six RAF bombers were claimed by the fighters - among the victorious pilots were Staffelkapitän Lange and Fw. Robert Menge – the latter had recently been transferred to 5./JG 77 from 6./Tr.Gr.186. British records partially confirm these losses: two twin-engine aircraft from No. 50 Sq. were shot down by anti-aircraft fire; three others (one from No. 50 Sq. and two from No. 44 Sq.) were shot down by Bf 109s. Below; wreckage from one of the Hampdens shot down over Kristiansand/Kjevik on 12 April 1940.

Above, a II./JG 77 Emil following a 'Kopfstand'. A good view of the 'classic' 1940 scheme.

Ries departed Norway in late 1940 for Brest, II./JG 77 covering those Channel front fighter units returning to the Reich for rest and refit as the 'Luftschlacht um England' petered out. The advance detachment of II./JG 77 left Norway on 10 November, passing through Kiel, Charleroi-Gosselies and Paris before reaching Brest. Bad luck was to mark the transfer: on the 16th, one of the two Ju 52s carrying ground crew crashed near Brest, killing around ten men. The ground crews were accommodated in buildings on the airfield at Guivapas. 

Ries participated in all of JG 77's early campaigns including the Balkanfeldzug and Barbarossa. He departed the Eastern Front in March 1942 posted to a training school as 'technischer Leiter'. In his correspondence dated 1989 he mentions that much of his documentation was lost at the end of the war, but that he still had a few photos from Norway and the pre-war period.  Some of these show Ries (below, centre) supervising the dismantling and loading of Me 109s onto trucks for recovery back to Germany and/or onward rail transfer to Brest in France.

Ries' 'Bestallung' document appointing him to the rank of 'Feldwebel' (below). Note that 'Unterfeldwebel' was an NCO rank in the Wehrmacht, admittedly not a common one. Many or most in the Luftwaffe - especially flying personnel - went from Unteroffizier directly to Feldwebel, skipping Unterfeldwebel, a rank that seems to have been reserved for 'specialist' technical personnel. (a reviewer on amazon.com mentioned in his 'review' of my 'Day Fighters Aces of the Luftwaffe' (Casemate, 2021) that he had read all of Caldwell's books and had never encountered this rank before, suggesting somehow that this author must have made an error. Well, no.)

Fw. Albert Ullrich - an ace in 6./JG 77 - archive photo scan #51

 

Albert Ullrich was born 24 April 1920 in Sandweier (Baden-Württemberg). He enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1941 and was in various flying schools (Marienbad, Karlsbad, Danzig and Magdeburg) before joining the EJG Süd (Orange). In August 1943 he was posted to 6./JG 77 then based in Italy. The Italian 'change-of-sides' took place shortly thereafter and II./JG 77 took on charge a full complement of Macchi Mc 205 fighters to make up the slow deliveries of Bf 109s that had been briefly interrupted. The Macchi 205 Veltro (or 'Maggie' as Ullrich referred to it in his correspondence..) was a 'more difficult' machine to fly ('schwieriger zu fliegen') and there were several losses - certain manoeuvres had to be flown with more speed and altitude than was usual in the Bf 109.  The 'narrow' cockpit meant that pilots could not fly with German parachute packs and had to use Italian chutes - after one bad incident it was discovered that these had been 'sabotaged' after being 'treated' with acid...

Fw. Albert Ullrich (6./JG 77) in the cockpit of a Macchi 205. Ullrich achieved his first victory  on 11 November 1943 - a B-24.

In his correspondence (dated 1991, letter #7) he described his first victory, achieved at the controls of a Macchi 205, a B-24 downed in PQ 75673 (south of Turin) on 11 November 1943;

"..a Schwarm was scrambled ('Alarmstart') under Lt. Ahlers. We were not in radio contact ('Funkverbindung') as the German sets could not be fitted in the Macchis. When I spotted the enemy aircraft I signalled this to Ahlers with hand gestures - which he appeared not to have understood. I dropped out of our formation and closed on the Viermot alone, setting one engine on fire with my bursts. On my second - and final - pass, the crew bailed out of their machine. Some six or seven men hanging under their chutes. Their Viermot went down in the vicinity of Cuneo. I do not know if the other Staffeln achieved any victories with the "Maggie" but this was the only enemy machine shot down by my 6. Staffel in the 205 .."

American troops entered the Italian capital on 4 June 1944. The next afternoon six 'waves' of B-24s and medium bombers attacked Ferrara, Forlì, and Rimini. The Bf 109s of II./JG 77 engaged them in combat from their airfield in Ferrara and claimed victories. Ullrich was airborne from Poggio-Renatico with his 6./JG 77. He encountered Liberators with fighter escort and downed his third B-24. He landed at 13:40. On 13 June  6./JG 77 was up from Poggio at around 08:20 to intercept more formations of escorted B-24s. Fw. Ullrich claimed his fourth victory against a B-24. His Staffel landed at Lavariano. By evening, the repaired runway at Ferrara allowed the two Staffeln - grounded since the bombing of 5 June - to rejoin 6. Staffel at Poggio Renatico. However, as early as the 16th, fearing a partisan attack, the Bf 109s temporarily left Poggio for Lavariano. This field was better situated for intercepting raids toward Austria. According to his own Flugbuch Ullrich downed his 5th B-24 on 22 June.

An image from Ullrich's album of Staffel comrade Lt. Franz Nägele (6./JG 77), a veteran of Russia and North Africa. Nägele claimed around 17 victories but was killed in combat on 9 June 44 at the controls of his G-6 'yellow 3', possibly this machine displaying the inscription 'Betty'.

On 11 July, during a “free hunt” JG 77 were engaged by Spitfires escorting a force of Marauders heading for a fuel depot in Piacenza. Uffz Richard Kurz (4./JG 77) was wounded at Isola Dovarese. Hampered by a drop tank he was unable to jettison, Ullrich was easy prey for the enemy fighters and had to bail out of his burning machine. Such an ordeal should have earned him two days’ rest, but given the circumstances - his Staffelkapitän Deicke was out of action having been wounded in the foot - Ullrich participated in the next day’s mission. At 09:00 the Bf 109s took off to engage a formation of B-25 Mitchells. Their defensive fire struck Fw Ullrich’s canopy. Wounded in the face and half-blinded, the Feldwebel made a belly landing near Ferrara. Sent to the military hospital, he was sidelined until September. 

A poor quality but rare image from Albert Ullrich's album, presumably showing the ace -given his preference for flying 'yellow 6' - at readiness and studying a map prior to a possible sortie. The engine cowl and wings are still covered ..

below left, long-time Staffelkapitän of 6./JG 77 Hptm. Joachim Deicke 

Ullrich shifted to the Eastern Front with his Staffel early in 1945. By now Staffelkapitän Deicke had been appointed Kommandeur of I./JG 77 and Ullrich was a seasoned ace whose experience was indispensable in 6./JG 77. He shot down his first Soviet fighter, an La-5, on 23 March 1945. He downed two Il-2s on 29 March. Ullrich left 6./JG 77 in April 1945 to be trained on the Me 262 at Lechfeld. He survived a transfer flight to Prague Rusin at the controls of a Me 262 and with a group of comrades 'absconded' in a truck as the Russians approached the city. He surrendered to American forces and was released by the French in 1947.  J. Matthews credits him with 11 'claims', six of these over Italy and five in the 'East' during the last two months of the war.

Ullrich's sorties in the East - he transferred a Bf 109 G coded (presumably) 'yellow 14' from Liegnitz to Bereschau on the afternoon of 27 January 1945 and flew this machine subsequently for the majority of his Feindflüge during February 1945. During March 1945 he flew 'yellow 1'

Ullrich logbook extract covering his last sorties on the Eastern Front through March-April 1945 - he notes a 12th Abschuss ('Abs') flying out of Eckersdorf on 3 April. Figures to the left indicate that his regular machine was '6'. Click on the image to access a larger slightly more legible version...

Lt. Ernst-Günther Behling - JG 77, SG 2 - archive photo scan #48

 

Two images from the album of Lt. Ernst-Günther Behling. Below; an early F-4 in an interesting scheme, probably a machine of the Geschwaderstab JG 77. Note over-painted yellow rudder and the partial yellow engine cowl - an interesting alternative scheme for the new Airfix JG 77 Friedrich (1:72nd) . Günther Behling was born on 9 Nov 1919 in Halen (North Rhine-Westphalia). He trained in JFS 4 and joined the EJG 77 in July 41. Then in August 1941 he was posted to 7. (and later 8.)/JG 77. He transfered to 2./SG 2 sometime in April 1943 and, but for a short period in JG 102 (June 44) excepted, he flew only in Schlacht units (I./SG 10 in Jan 44 and Sch.G. 151 in Feb 45).

Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 - a brief combat history (Part 1)

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 was the final production variant of the 109, the ultimate refinement of the long-serving 109 design, which had first flown in 1935. 

The K-series (Kurfürst - or maybe Konrad according to 'new' evidence, or perhaps Karl ) was introduced in late 1944 as an attempt to standardize the numerous earlier G-series sub-types (G-1 through G-14), which had become increasingly complex to produce and maintain. Production started in Regensburg during August 1944 while the various Gustav sub-types continued to be manufactured in parallel, including from September 1944, the G-10. Production and assembly was soon widely dispersed in the Bavarian forests while completed airframes were flight tested at two main centres, Amberg-Schafhof and Obertraubling. The K-series machines were planned as 'complete' aircraft - most of the Gustav 'options' were considered as 'standard' on the K-4, so 'add-on' Rüstsätze sets were basically limited to the R6 automatic pilot PKS 12. The K-4 was the only version of the K-series to enter mass production, as other planned variants (K-2, K-6 etc.) were only built in very limited numbers - perhaps just one prototype in the case of the K-6. Around 1,200 examples of the K-4 were delivered. The design featured a more refined fuselage/cowling with a fully retractable tall tail wheel, the larger vertical tail with bigger main wheels with new gear doors and amended wing bulges, all for better stability, along with a standardised Erla Haube for better visibility and MW 50 power boosting - the filler point of which is moved forward on the starboard fuselage. Other (external) recognition features could be the position (on the port side) of the fuel filler point, moved forward by one frame - as is the radio access hatch, also now higher up on the fuselage in comparison to the Gustav, while the DF loop is moved back one frame. Internal detail differences were numerous, including a new fuel circuit and instrument panel based on that of the Me 262. The K-4 primarily equipped Gruppen of Jagdgeschwader JG 4, JG 27, JG 52, JG 53, and JG 77.  The idea that the K-4 could be a dangerous machine with its excellent climb rate and speed is difficult to prove in the face of overwhelming Allied air superiority, especially from P-51s and P-47s.

Having already given up a Staffel - 9./JG 77 - to the 'defence of the Reich' earlier in the year as well as pilots and aircraft to I./JG 53, III./JG 77 under Hptm. Armin Köhler abandoned their remaining Gustavs and departed Hungary during mid-September for rest and refit in Germany, transiting via Vienna to land in Neuruppin, Berlin on or around 13 October 1944. By the end of the month they had taken on strength a full complement of brand-new Bf 109 K-4s, around 75 machines. V./KG 2 was incorporated into the Gruppe as a fourth Staffel  (see Prien JfV Teil 13/VI, page 46).

By 1 November 1944 around 155 K-4s had been delivered; in addition to III./JG 77, both JG 4 and JG 27 had K-4s. III./JG 27 were scrambled for the first time against a huge USAAF raid on 2 November. Ten K-4s were lost, along with nine pilots (four KIA) - only Uffz. Arno Mittmann (11./JG 27) filed a claim, a P-51 shot down south-east of Aschersleben. The first K-4 'victory'...

During the 'calm' that followed in November,  III./JG 26 received some 35 K-4s and a further similar number went to III./JG 4 at Alteno. Intercepting a force of 200 B-17s raiding hydrogenation plants at Merseburg and Leuna on 21 November, the K-4s of III./JG 4 accounted for four Viermots but lost at least four to the P-51s, including 'black 5' (WNr. 330321) flown by Uffz. Rolf Langestroer of 10. Staffel. On 26 November III./JG 27 up from Grossenhain (east of Leipzig on the Elbe) intercepted another huge USAF bomber formation raiding fuel installations in central Germany, well over one thousand aircraft including some 500 escort fighters. Some 13 K-4s were lost, four pilots were KIA while ace and Staffelkapitän 12./JG 27 Oblt. Emil Clade who had only recently returned to combat after injury was downed by P-51s but managed to bail out over Vechta. In his memoir he recalled;

"I was hanging from my parachute, but the wind was spinning me around and this pendulum motion threatened to slam me violently into the ground as I descended at about eight metres per second. But it stopped just before I hit the ground - I landed in a trench with soft soil. Once again, I had been lucky. That same evening, I was back with the unit and noticed the many empty spaces within the Gruppe. The next day we went back into battle..."

27 November saw another large-scale USAF raid  (1149 bombers accompanied by 900 escorts).   Luftwaffe fighter losses totalled some 81 machines. Both II. and III./JG 27 lost K-4s as did III./JG 26 - WNr. 330372 'white 21' flown by Oblt. Gottfried Schmidt of 9./JG 26 came down near Münster, the 4th victory of 356th FG P-51 pilot Cpt. Ray Withers. Having lost most of its K-4s III./JG 26 converted onto the D-9 during January 1945..

Below; III./JG 4 Bf 109 K-4.  Visible in this poor-quality image are the outer main gear doors, retractable tail wheel, tall tail, Morane antenna and the vertical bar of III. Gruppe on the RV bands.

In III./JG 77 the mostly new pilots were virtually straight out of flight training  and flying under the guidance of a handful of experienced 'mentors'. There were relatively few losses during conversion training  -  which given the Luftwaffe 'fixation' on the 'Big Blow' was largely focused on 'group' takeoffs and flying in large formations. On 27 November Lt. Ottmar Zieher (flying 'gelbe 8' WNr. 330 176) and Ofw. Karl Gabriel in 'gelbe 3' (WNr. 330 221) collided during a training flight and were killed.

III./JG 77 was declared 'operational' ('einsatzbereit') with 55 serviceable Bf 109 K-4s (68/55) and 58 pilots (62/58) at the end of November 1944. The first combat sortie of the 'new' III./JG 77 was flown in concert with the rest of the Geschwader on 2 December  -  scrambled against 8th AF bombers attacking rail targets in the south-west of the Reich, Fhr. Willi Schmitz of 10./JG 77 flying  'red 2' (WNr. 330 151) crashed attempting to get airborne from Neuruppin while Obfhr. Bartholomäi had to belly-land WNr. 330 185 with engine damage. The Gruppe subsequently shifted to Düsseldorf  to support the imminent Ardennes offensive.  

At the end of the November, III./JG 3 had received its first 10 Bf 109 K-4s. Eleven more arrived in December - the first loss was an 11. Staffel machine, WNr. 330455, reported on 2 December. 

Below; Bf 109 K-4, WNr. 330 230, "white 17" assigned to the newly reconstituted 9./JG 77 in Neuruppin, November 1944. Visible is Lt. Hans-Werner Renzow, leader of 10. Staffel (in cap) leaning on the windscreen. This early K-4 (note antenna mast on canopy) was lost on 1 January 1945 with 10./JG 77 pilot Uffz. Heinrich Munninger at the controls. (shot down and killed north-east of Antwerp).'White 17' is just one of the subjects on the new AIMS decals 'Bf 109 K' decal sheet designed for the Kotare 1:32nd Bf 109 K-4 kit.

Below; Uffz. Alfred Nitsch - former recce pilot and instructor - in the cockpit of his 12./JG 77 'blue 3' at Neuruppin, late October 1944. The aircraft is K-4 WNr. 330 177. Note the antenna mast on the folding hood section, a feature of an early series machine.  WNr 330 177 was lost during the Ardennes campaign on 23 December at Houverath with Fw. Hans Rossner at the controls. 

Below; seen in Neuruppin during November 1944 Kapitän of 11./JG 77, Lt. Heinrich "Heinz" Hackler led III./JG 77 on the January 1st Bodenplatte operation in his Bf 109 K-4 "gelbe 10". 56-victory ace Hackler was hit by anti-aircraft fire while attacking Deurne airfield near Antwerp and failed to return.

 

Note the 'C3' fuel-filler stencil indicating that the K-4's DB 605 D has been uprated to take 96 octane fuel in conjunction with MW 50 power boosting. Note on the lower part of the engine fairing one of the four fixation points for the transformer powering certain cockpit instruments. WNr of Hackler's machine may have been  330 196. Another 'gelbe 10' WNr. 331 503 was lost on 26 December near Liege, pilot Uffz. Benno Kobsch KIA.

All fighter Gruppen flying the Bf 109 K-4 were in action on the Western Front from 17 December in support of the German 'Wacht am Rhein' ground offensive through Belgium. III./JG 4 lost five K-4s in combat with 366th FG P-47s, while III./JG 27 lost three K-4s and two pilots. At least 20 Bf 109 K-4s were lost on 18 December, including ten III./JG 27 machines. III./JG 77 lost its first K-4s on operations during the course of this second day of the offensive. Victories were increasingly rare. From 2 November to 29 December, only three Luftsiege were awarded to 12./JG 27, two of which were credited to StaKa Clade: one P-47 on 25 December and another on 26 December, both Thunderbolts shot down during defensive patrols by III./JG 27 in the Saint-Vith sector.  Operating over this front no fewer than 12 III./JG 77 Bf 109 K-4s were lost on 23 December in combat with 373rd FG P-47s.  Lt. Hans Renzow, StaKa of 10./JG 77, claimed two P-47s. That same morning Maj. Karl-Heinz Langer's III./JG 3 claimed three B-26 Marauders west of Liège. After the guns of his K-4 jammed, Fhr. Adolf Tham of 10. Staffel (Bf 109 K-4 WNr. 330456) voluntarily rammed the 574th BS B-26 coded 4L-P (s/n 42-107597 flown by 1st Lt Ralph Lesmeister). Tham's wing sawed into the tail of the B-26 instantly killing the tail gunner. The rest of the American crew bailed out and were taken captive. Despite having his port wing torn off in the collision Tham himself managed to take to his chute and thus also survived the attack..he re-appeared at Lippspringe several days later with it under his arm..

On the last day of 1944 and following recent aircraft losses, particularly during the bombing of Düsseldorf/Lohausen, a group of pilots from III./JG 77 left for Regensburg to pick up new aircraft. A few new recruits arrived from Neuruppin to fill the gaps in the pilot ranks. Although still 'top secret', the next day's operation 'Bodenplatte' did not prevent offensive patrols from being flown;

" On the afternoon of 31 December, 20 Bf 109 K-4s from what remained of our III./JG 77 were airborne under the command of Lt Hackler (StaKa 11./JG 77). Our mission was hunting enemy fighter-bombers attacking ground targets. We were then to land at Dortmund. Visibility was very poor: the cloud deck was at 300 m, while wisps of fog and cloud descended to the tree tops. Uffz Heinrich Munninger was my wingman. Over Münster, Spitfires dove down on us through a break in the clouds. Two Bf 109s were shot down." (Uffz Johann Twietmeyer, 10./JG 77)

During the two-against-one combat, three JG 77 pilots were in fact downed.. Ofhr Fritz von Rath (10./JG77) was killed near Memer, Lt Gerhard Eck (11./JG 77) was reported missing in the Münster sector; finally, Fw Karl Böttner (11./JG 77), a veteran of North Africa and an ace with 25 victories, was wounded in the leg. He was able to jump clear of his K-4, but the shock of the parachute opening caused him to lose a fur-lined boot and he hit the ground with a partially frozen foot. He did not return to the front..

Below; Fw Karl Böttner in Bf 109 K-4 'yellow 6' at cockpit readiness  Note antenna mast on folding hood.. Born 11 Aug 1921, Hanover. In 1942 in EJG Ost. Went to 8./JG 77 in Jan 1943. Claimed his 25th victory on 23 Aug 1944. Was at that time in 11./JG 77. Shot down by Spitfires in 'yellow 2' (WNr. 330196) and WIA on 31 December 1944 and in Lazarett until 8 May 45. Deceased in 1995.

For more on the K-series see Jochen Prien, Peter Schmoll ('Me 109 Produktion und Einsatz'), Christophe Cony and Jean-Louis Roba - the four-part series on the Bf 109 K in issues 242-245 of 'Avions' is one of my preferred reference sources on the type.

JG 77 Herz As in the 'East', January -February 1945 (Bf 109 K-4)

From the Luftflotte 6 KTB, 25 January 1945

.. a partial listing of just some of the units transferred to and/or already operating on the 'Eastern Front' in late January 1945 included the three Gruppen of JG 77...

Below; Uffz. Alfred Nitsch - former recce pilot and instructor - in the cockpit of his 12./JG 77 'blue 3' at Neuruppin, late October 1944. The aircraft is K-4 WNr. 330177 which was lost during the Ardennes campaign on 23 December at Houverath with Fw. Hans Rossner at the controls. Note the 'Deutsche Luftwaffe' armband over Nitsch's flying suit, worn to identify the wearer as a Luftwaffe pilot to German civilians. The antenna mast is visible on the folding hood section, a feature of an early series machine.  Previously published on the cover of 'Avions' magazine No. 243 - the first part of an extensive three-part feature on the Bf 109 K-4 in combat. (This issue was 'notable' in the long history of 'Avions' magazine for the being the first to feature the same aircraft type on consecutive magazine covers, in this instance a Bf 109 K-4 of III./JG 77).

  
The last fortnight of 1944 operating over the Ardennes and western Germany were some of the hardest days yet endured by the men of JG 77 -  there was hardly a single sortie flown that was not marked by heavy losses. In total that short period saw 26 pilots killed, 13 seriously injured and one taken captive and around 80 Messerschmitts lost! No fewer than 26 of these were III. Gruppe Bf 109 K-4s. Among the losses were the Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 77 Hptm. Lothar Baumann, the Staffelkapitän of 2./JG 77 Oblt. Iring Englisch (replaced by Lt. Ulrich Peiper), and 133-victory ace and Geschwaderkommodore Maj. Johannes Wiese. Ordered up by Galland on the morning of 25 December, and heading north-west over the Ruhr at 8,700m, Wiese and what was left of his Stabsschwarm (Fw. Hansch) failed to rendezvous with I./JG 77 over Duisberg and found themselves caught up with 401 Sqd Spitfires over Euskirchen;

" ...Flying at about 8700 m over Duisberg, I saw the Rhine in front of me and a little behind me - flying from west to east - enemy fighters. After a brief wing waggle, I immediately made a steep turn to the left towards their formation and, as I started the attack, I recognised further aircraft, now clearly identified as Spitfires, above, below and beside me. In the course of the ensuing sharp turn, I had difficulty jettisoning my drop tank. Behind me I saw a machine burning brightly. This was probably Fw. Hansch's aircraft. Despite all my evasive manoeuvres I came under repeated attack from all sides, received hits in the engine, a hit in the cabin and felt several impacts in the fuselage and tail. I had thrown the machine into such wild manoeuvres that it was now out of control. With the cockpit icing up and the engine smoking and losing power, I decided to parachute clear.." 

Hansch had been quickly shot down and killed. Wiese bailed out but his chute failed to correctly deploy and the Kommodore was badly injured in the heavy landing.. On 31 December one of the last 'veterans' of 11./JG 77, Fw Karl-Heinz Böttner, led a recce Rotte in the direction of Münster. Both Böttner (Bf 109 K-4 'yellow 2', injured) and his wingman Lt. Gerhard Eck (Bf 109 K-4 'yellow 12', killed) were shot down by Spitfires..

On 1 January JG 77 flew the Bodenplatte mission  against Allied air bases in Belgium (mostly) -  JG 77 took part in a futile 'raid' on the airfield at Deurne (Antwerp). Kapitän of 11./JG 77 and leading III. Gruppe on the operation against Deurne  in his Bf 109 K-4 "yellow 10", ace 'Heinz' Hackler was hit by anti-aircraft fire and failed to return. Johann Twietmeyer at the controls of his K-4 'red 7' was hit by ground-fire while strafing an American road column during the raid. He made a forced landing in a field (Rosendaal) and escaped unhurt. Although ‘Bodenplatte’ was an abject failure for JG 77, taken as a whole the operation nevertheless put a brake on Allied air attacks in the early days of 1945. JG 77 took advantage of the situation to organise ferry flights of Bf 109s from factories. On 2 January, two I./JG 77 pilots were killed during these delivery flights. At the end of the first week of January, support operations over the Ardennes resumed. By this time, the German offensive in the Ardennes was in its final days.

14 January 1945 saw major battles in the air over the south-eastern corner of Germany. I. and II./JG 77 operated primarily to counter Allied ‘Jabos’ around Bastogne and St. Vith. While I./JG 77 suffered two fatalities over Münster/Düsseldorf, II./JG 77 had six killed and four wounded including Uffz. Fritz Giere who was forced to bail out of his G-10 in the region of Hamm (presumably Hamm am Rhein, a municipality south of Darmstadt). According to the loss listing Giere was shot up under his chute and came down in the Rhine and drowned. A Spitfire and a Beaufighter were claimed by II./JG 77.

On 15 January I./JG 77 received orders to transfer to the East, under new Kommodore Maj. Erich Leie - previously Kommandeur of I./JG 2 and high-scoring ace with JG 51 in the East (117 claims by October 1944). Below; part of a photo-set to mark the award of Leie's RK (21 victories) taken on August 1, 1941.

The stragglers reached Ohlau on 18 January (today Olawa in south-west Poland) some 25 kms south-east of Breslau (Wroclaw). Recently appointed Kommandeur of I./JG 77 was 15-victory ace and former Staffelkapitän of 6./JG 77, Hptm. Joachim Deicke. Kommandeur of II./JG 77 was Maj. Siegfried Freytag and III. Gruppe was led by Hptm. Armin Köhler. As with all the other fighter Geschwader hurriedly transferred to the East, the three Gruppen would be tasked with Straßenjagd - strafing road columns. (according to Lft 6 figures over 4,000 sorties were flown by fighter Gruppen in the East  during January 1945 - for just 134 victories, which suggests that either combat was avoided or the Soviets were not flying much in the poor weather or both. Either way, not an indicator of 'air superiority'. See Prien JG 77 Teil 4, p2280 )

 The last JG 77 pilot lost in the West during January was Gefr. Hans Körner who was killed in the crash of his G-14 'blue 9' on 24 January near Gütersloh (Verl) during the transfer flight.(shot down according to one source)

The situation on the 'Eastern Front' was catastrophic. The pilots of JG 77 flew several sorties per day, with the futile aim of slowing the Soviet advance. Casualties, mainly due to the Red Army's solid anti-aircraft fire, were severe and the incomplete official lists for this period give only a small idea of the scale of the losses. Nevertheless, although the Soviet air force enjoyed numerical superiority equal to that of the Western Allies, a handful of German aces continued to add to their scoreboards - undoubtedly due to the fact that the Soviet Boston and Pe-2 medium bombers were, for example, less ‘sophisticated’ than the B-24s and B-17s of the US bomber formations and the Soviet pilots less well trained (even if they were more of a handful than those encountered during ‘Barbarossa’).

On 30 January, Lt Walter Wildenauer (11./JG 77), who had already been shot down and wounded on 23 December, disappeared during the strafing of an anti-aircraft position in the Ratibor region. Lt Gerhard Staroste, a veteran of 2./JG 77, was wounded. The next day, Fw Gerd Lenke (3./JG 77) disappeared south-west of Gleiwitz (now Gliwice); the same fate befell Uffz Walter Wawoczny (12./JG 77) and three pilots from II/JG 77. The losses were not only the result of enemy action. On 31 January, Uffz. Gerhard Letzbor (8./JG 77) took off from Beneschau. The three Staffeln were set up in a triangle at the edge of the runway. In the event of the entire Gruppe being ordered up they were supposed to taxi out in turn. The signal was given too early for 6./JG 77, who started up the engines of their Bf 109s and began to move out onto the strip. Meanwhile the hapless 8. Staffel pilot had only just lined up at the threshold. Moments later Letzbor's G-10 ploughed into another Bf 109 in the middle of the runway. (Zusammenstoß Start)  The injured pilot was evacuated to a hospital in Prague, where he was later captured by Soviet troops. By late January I./JG 77 was split between Beneschau and Prerau. II./JG 77 was in Beneschau (today Benešov, a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic). III./JG 77 was in Proßnitz, some 200 kilometres east of Prague.

 According to Uffz Bartholomäi (8./JG 77) the mood among some JG 77 pilots was relatively upbeat, despite the atmosphere of defeat, fear and gloom;

 '..contacts with the Czech people were excellent. I stayed with locals in Buslawitz, near our Beneschau airfield. Food and drink were plentiful. Although it may seem surprising at the moment, our morale was high, as was our spirit of comradeship. We continued to believe in final victory against all odds. I did relatively little ground strafing, most of our missions were free hunting and escorting bombers or fighter-bombers (including Rudel's unit). In our spare time, we played cards, listened to music or wrote letters to our families '. 

Even so, Bartholomäi was shot down three times in the East. He had to parachute once and made one belly-landing at Beneschau, getting clear of his Bf 109 just before it exploded. 

Also on this blog;

JG 77 in Italy, September-October 1943

JG 77 photo highlights

As usual, thanks to Jochen Prien and team for presenting all the data featured in posts like these in their Jagdfliegerverbände series, most notably here in JfV 13/VI 'Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung und im Westen' and the forthcoming Teil 16/I 'Einsatz an allen Fronten', the first of two volumes to cover 1945. The JfV series is available directly from the publisher at jagdgeschwader.net

II./JG 77 Emil and Friedrich - ebay photo find #388

 

According to the seller this is a II./JG 77 Emil - and I'm inclined to think that he is correct. But for the II. Gruppe bar I might have said this was a I.(J)/LG 2 machine. Note narrow fuselage band ahead of the Kennung, yellow cowl and the interesting 'stripey mottling' probably of 71 and 02. Wing tips appear to be white..

See today's 'Featured blog post' entitled "..from Larissa to Salonika.." for similarly marked II./JG 77 machines in Greece during April 1941..(especially the combination of white wingtips and yellow rudder/cowl)

Another JG 77 Emil in Greece - note 'R' Richthofen badge beneath the cockpit...

Below; Another ex-JG 2 Bf 109 E in Greece,  JG 77 ace Emil Omert in the cockpit probably at Molaoi

 

Staying with the same seller, this is a neat view of Anton Hackl's 5./JG 77 Bf 109 F-4 'black 5' during the summer of 1942 (Crimea). Note the Seeadler emblem ahead of the cockpit..

Also on this blog;

Herbert Ihlefeld Kommandeur I.(J)/LG 2

Uffz. Hans-Ludwig Schwing, 6./JG 77

 

The son of a teacher, Hans Schwing was born on 5 Sep 1921 in Friedewald, a municipality in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district near Bad Hersfeld. He had a younger brother and sister. He learnt to fly gliders in the HJ. He enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1940. In April 41 he started his ab initio training at Klagenfurt and by November 1942 he was training with JFS 7 in Nancy, France. His unit became 2./JG 107 in January 1943. He went to 1./EJG Süd (in Orange, France) in mid-1943 before being posted to 6./JG 77 in July 1943, to undergo training on the Macchi 205 Veltro fighter - Uffz. Schwing was apparently an Italian speaker. However he was injured in a take-off accident attempting to get airborne with other machines on 20 December 1943 - damages were assessed at 90%. This would be one of the last reported losses of a Macchi 205 in II./JG 77 as 5. and 6. Staffel finally received their Bf 109s barely one week later. Schwing recovered from his injuries and returned to his Staffel but was (most likely) shot down and killed in combat with Spitfires on 18 March 1944 in the vicinity of Cassino. (reported missing when he failed to return from an afternoon sortie over the Nettuno bridgehead/Cassino area) His crashed Bf 109 'yellow 7' was only discovered several days later. He was buried at Fiuggi close to the site of his crash.  His logbook returned to the family lists 739 flights including over 500 at Klagenfurt. Also returned with his effects was a 'blood-encrusted' wallet which he was carrying when he was shot down. This detail was noted in correspondence in 1989 received from his sister, Marga. Schwing's younger brother was also KIA with his Heer unit -  killed in the West in January 1945 (Alsace) when his vehicle hit a mine..

Also on this blog

JG 77 in Italy - September, October 1943

Emil Omert, III./JG 77 in the Balkans

 

Born into a farming family in Ginolfs on 15 January 1918, Emil Omert was interested in gliding from an early age, given his proximity to the Rhön valley. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Luftwaffe and, after his training period, was posted to the future 'aircraft carrier' Staffel 6./Tr.Gr. 186. He took little part in the campaign in the West, was sent to occupy Norway and then returned near Berlin where the unit became III./JG 77. 

After a spell in Brittany, 8./JG 77 fought in the Balkans - Operation Marita was launched on 6 April 1941 with the first raids on the Yugoslav capital. Together with II. and III./JG 54 the Bf 109 Emils of JG 77 flew bomber escort sorties. In the Belgrade area there were a number of combats between Luftwaffe and Yugoslav Messerschmitts. The Yugoslavian pilots were largely out-matched by the battle-experienced Germans. Omert scored his 1st victory, downing a Yugoslav Me 109. After five large-scale raids on Belgrade, in which nearly 500 German bombers were involved, bad weather halted operations with little impact on events since the Yugoslavs capitulated on 17 April. From the middle of April JG 77 was deployed against British armed forces retreating from Greece. Accordingly, many Jabo missions were flown in support of German ground troops on the coast. In short order JG 77 advanced further and further towards and into Greece - III./JG 77 was stationed at Vrba, Skoplje, Prilep and Axiopolis all within less than one week, flying ground-attack Jabo sorties before reaching Molaoi, the airfield at the southern end of the Peloponnese.

Below; Omert in the cockpit of an ex-JG 2 Emil probably at Molaoi airfield and 'white 4' still with the 1./JG 2 'Bonzo' cartoon dog emblem on the cowl..

 

Above; the Emil on the left is displaying an LG 2 Schlacht marking as well as the JG 77 'Wolfskopf' cowl emblem, while 'white 4' still features the 1./JG 2 'Bonzo' cartoon dog on the cowl..

Below; 'Black 11' of 8. Staffel JG 54 with 'sparrow' cowl emblem and on the right a III./JG 77 machine with 'Wolfshead' cowl emblem..

The frequent relocations of the various parts of the Geschwader resulted in considerable technical and logistical problems but on 12 May 1941 ‘Merkur’ the invasion of Crete was launched, JG 77 being the only Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwader in this theatre. Other Gruppen were thus subordinated to the Geschwader, most notably Hptm. Herbert Ihlefeld’s I.(J)/LG 2.  

Below; III./JG 77 Emil on Crete (Maleme) with Schlacht triangle and wolf's head badge on the cowling. Note three Abschußbalken on the rudder. The name 'Seidel' below the cockpit probably recalls Ofw. Albert ' Harry' Seidel who had been KIA on 15 March near Kent/Dungeness in aerial combat with 615 Sq. Hurricanes. His machine was WNr.3725 "schwarze L" of 5.(S)/LG 2.. 

 With the launch of Barbarossa and flying from bases in Romania, Jagdgeschwader 77 was committed along the southern sector of the Eastern Front over Heeresgruppe Süd operating towards the Crimea through the Ukraine via Balta, Nikolaiev (mid-August) and Tschaplinka (mid-October) before moving onto the Crimean peninsula (Sarabus and Simferopol). Omert achieved several Luftsiege in the opening phase of the campaign, including five SB-2s shot down over the Romanian coast on 26 June 1941, Omert was promoted to Kapitän of 8./JG 77 on 10 February 1942. On 16 March, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his 45 victories, before leading his Staffel to Africa in November 1942. The fighting in Tunisia and Sicily followed. Physically exhausted at the end of 1943, Omert was sent on leave before re-joining III./JG 77, then in Romania (where the Gruppe relieved I./JG 4). In February, Omert was appointed interim Kommandeur of II./JG 77 in Italy before taking command of III./JG 77, still in Romania, in March 1944. With his Gruppe, Kommandeur Omert faced increasingly heavy American bombing raids on Ploesti/Bucharest. On 24 April 1944, he was shot down over Finta Mare and machine-gunned and killed in his parachute. He was buried in the Pro Patria cemetery in Bucharest, where he remains to this day.

Omert's Gustav in early 1944 with Gruppenkommandeur chevrons. Omert is on the left behind the wing with RK..

For assistance with this blog post my thanks to Philippe Saintes and author of the 'JG 77 Herz-As' Aéro-Journal 'hors-série', Pierre André Brouez...

Fw. Eugen Wintergerst 4./JG 77 - ebay photo find #385

 

Expired ebay auction

Bf 109 E  "white 8" belonged to Fw. Eugen Wintergerst, ace of II./JG 77.  Note 'Seeadler' emblem just forward of the cockpit. This image dates from August 1941 and shows his rudder scoreboard with some 14 Abschussbalken. He had filed seven claims following a single sortie on the early evening of 12 August 1941 on what was supposed to be a straightforward Werkstattflug or air test from Zebrikowo, north-west of Odessa. Wintergerst subsequently found himself single-handedly pursuing a Russian bomber formation of nine SB-3. When he returned to Zebrikowo, a 'higher-up' was waiting to congratulate him. Wintergerst was reluctant to get out of the cockpit of his Messerschmitt because of his (lack of) attire -  he had got airborne clad only in swimming trunks...(see Jochen Prien's JG 77 Vol 2, p 749 pp). He quickly gained six further victories before colliding with Lt Zuzic's Bf 109 to become a POW on 24 September 41. 

This image sold in December 2024 for nearly 500 euros...

Bf 109 T, 2./JG 77 - archive photo scan #28

 

A 'Toni' from Kurt Hammel's photo album. 2. Staffel JG 77 Bf 109 T 'Red 1' appears to have suffered a landing accident as the port gear leg has collapsed. Fuel from the fuselage tank is being drained. The Staffel number appears to have been over-painted on a lighter pale patch perhaps obliterating a previous identity. Fuselage and wings have been re-sprayed at some point. See the neat Swiatlon artwork in the Chandos 'Graf Zeppelin's Eagles' title. According to the Marshall history this is Lister in 1941. Click on the image for a larger view..

Uffz. Karl Richter 8./JG 77 - archive photo scan #22

 

Uffz. Karl Richter of 8./JG 77 seen in Mizil, Romania during April 1944. Perched on some mortar shells destined for the rocket launchers toted by the Bf 109s of his Staffel, he is proudly sporting his recently awarded EK II for bringing down an American bomber. He would be seriously injured in combat on April 21, 1944, just days after this photo was taken. Note yellow fuselage band and drop tank alongside the mortar shells. Photo previously published in "La Chasse de jour allemande en Roumanie " by Jean-Louis Roba (Bucharest, 1994)

Airfix 2024 range reveal - Wolfdieter Huy archive photo scan #13

 

Scintillating Tooby box-art (aside from the windscreen perhaps?) from the Airfix 2024 range 'reveal' yesterday, a 72nd Bf 109 Friedrich 'Starter set' in the markings of Wolf dieter Huy (III./JG 77).  Huy was the long-time Staffelkapitän of the Jabo Staffel in III./JG 77, well-known for the dark green finish of their aircraft and their rudder 'scoreboards'. After Crete they moved to the southern sector of the Eastern Front for the launch of Barbarossa. Note this is a 'simplified' kit replicated by Airfix in a 'simplified' scheme - just four paints - for the 'Starter Set'. 

A photo scan of one of Huy's early Friedrichs with a very unusual and very small Staffel number. The yellow band is presumably aft of the Balkenkreuz. Image below this depicts Huy's 'white 1' on the day of his RK award (July 1941) with Blumenstrauß alongside rudder decoration. Note 'white 6' with yellow band behind the fuselage cross in the background. Click to view large..

Also on this blog;  Wolf dieter Huy's 'ship kill' rudder markings