Oblt. Rudolf Smola Stukageschwader 'Immelmann', Schlachtflugzeug Luftflotte 4, April-May 1944 - Bundesarchiv photo report #9

 

from Bernard Roland's excellent two volume history of Stukageschwader 'Immelmann' (Lela Presse)

" ..New crews joined the Immelmann as the unit's losses began to accumulate. The arrival of the Austrian Oblt Rudolf “Bazi” Smola during September 1943 was of particular note. From Vienna, Smola had been a Gebirgsjäger (light infantry 'mountain' troops) before applying to fly as an observer in various Hs 126 reconnaissance units. In March 1943, he submitted a request to be trained as a pilot. It took him just six months to join the Immelmann, where he carved out his reputation..[..]..during April 1944 II./SG 2 operated out of Karankut before being called up at Chersones and flying missions over the Crimea. Appointed Staffelkapitän of 5./SG 2, Smola made a name for himself and his Staffel. According to one report, Smola's Staffel destroyed numerous armoured vehicles to the north of Sebastopol in just a few days, as well as thirty-six enemy aircraft in combat and twenty on the ground. Three of these victories and fourteen ground destructions were credited to Smola himself.." 

Still at the head of his 5.Staffel SG 2, Smola was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 27 July 1944 after some 530 combat sorties including approx 130 as an observer with 7.(H)/21, 12.(H)/13 and NAG 13 from the Polish campaign and including the opening phases of ‘Barbarossa’. During September 1944, he was named Kommandeur of IV./SG 151 (with the rank of Hptm.) then commanded I./SG 3. He was shot down and killed on 27 March 1945 by Russian flak at Zinten (East Prussia). In total Smola was credited with some 600 war flights and 17 victories.

Death of the Kommodore - Obstlt. Volprecht Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach, new KG 54 history!

 

'Review' by Simon ('Siko54') 

" Have just received my copy and wow! This is a mighty and very weighty publication indeed - nearly 400 pages, hundreds of photos, Flugbuch/wehrpass scans and various annexes. I can’t really do it justice here but this is an absolutely incredible unit history and without a doubt the final word on KG 54. It’s a shame it’s in French but google translate works well and very grateful that Mr Taghon and Lela Presse have published it in any language! Congrats!...."

from Volume II of Peter Taghon's history of KG 54

 On the morning of 9 February 1945, the Kommodore of KG 54 ordered some 18 of his I./ KG (J) 54 Me 262s up from Giebelstadt to counter a huge 8th AF raid. Kommodore Volprecht Riedesel led this meagre force into the overcast skies at the controls of his Me 262 'B3+AA'. An eyewitness on the ground, Adolf Keller, mayor of Würges at the time, recalled;

‘On 9 February 1945, around midday, I witnessed an air battle near Würges. Several aircraft were in the air. A German machine appeared to collide with an American, both bursting into flames and crashing in Würges. A company of Russian Hiwis (Hilfswillige - volunteers) was stationed there. These men went to the site of the double crash and began a recovery operation. That afternoon Fw. Herrmann, who was on the Stab, gave me a ring found by a Russian. It was gold with a black stone. I asked for everything that had been collected to be brought to me and the next day Herrmann brought me the identity plate of a Cpt. James E. Browning, a photograph with his name written on the back, a small empty bag and a few dollars. In the evening, I visited the site to look at the remains of the two aircraft. Both had been burnt to a crisp. The body of the German pilot, Obstlt. Freiherr von Riedesel, had already been taken over by the Luftwaffe. I searched for the remains of the American but found only a few pieces of flesh and bone’.

The Kommodore had collided with a P-51 D (s/n 44-15630, ‘Junior Miss’) flown by Capt. James Browning of the 357th FG. Both Me 262 and P-51 came down at Würges, three kilometres east of Camberg (in a field north of the present-day Idstein Golfparks). From Keller's account, it would seem that the Kommodore deliberately hit the Mustang. This would support the rumour within KG 54 that von Riedesel gave his life voluntarily. According to Oblt. Eberhard von Brunn;

‘There is a version of the Kommodore's death that circulated within the unit. I can partly confirm it. Von Riedesel took off on 9 February probably with the intention of sacrificing himself in the face of a formation of American bombers. This would have been in response to Reichsmarschall Göring's remarks at the presentation of the Oak Leaves. In January, von Riedesel and others had been called to Karinhall for a decoration ceremony. The ceremony was due to take place at 11.00 am, but Göring kept the Kommodore waiting for a long time before arriving in his pompous clothes and without inviting the recipients to share his meal. He told the officers present that he was very surprised by the poor performance of the Luftwaffe, especially the flying personnel of the fighter and bomber units. He gave them their decorations but made it clear that they were not worthy of them. This deeply hurt von Riedesel, who left Karinhall very disappointed. He reportedly described this episode to his Adjutant, Hptm. Karl-Friedrich von Oppel, adding that he could not ignore such an affront. Shortly afterwards, he called the Kommandeure and their adjutants (for II./KG 54, Major Stamm and myself) to Giebelstadt to share an evening meal of venison, and we could see a change of mood in our Kommodore. His death on 9 February came as little surprise. As I knew him personally (having served for a time with the Stab), I was asked to prepare his funeral at Altenburg Castle near Alsfeld (Hesse). I remember talking about this Karinhall episode at the Alsfeld station hotel in front of, among others, General Harlinghausen, Major Zauner and Hptm. Petzold.."

Zauner confirmed: ‘At the burial ceremony for Obstlt. Freiherr von Riedesel, which I was able to attend shortly before my transfer as Kommandeur of III./KG 76 (Ar 234), some officers from KG 54 - whose names I have forgotten - told me about Hermann Göring's disgraceful and wretched attitude during a presentation of decorations. Freiherr von Riedesel had put his heart and soul into the conversion of KG 54 to the Me 262. This was an unacceptable and grotesque performance by the Luftwaffe's senior commander! Freiherr von Riedesel's mother and wife also told me about it. This unjustified criticism had seriously affected the Kommodore and would have been the reason for his last flight. He wanted to set an example and prove that he had always done his duty’.

It fell to Hptm. Petzold and Oblt. von Brunn to take on the delicate task of notifying the family of the deceased. Oblt. von Brunn was to write to his mother;

‘I am at the moment in Alsfeld where, with my Kommandeur Petzold, I had to inform his mother of the death in action of our Kommodore. The news was received with calm and dignity. A noble attitude that is rarely seen these days. I was impressed by her understanding and respect for her son's airmanship and build. I am looking for a billet for the honour guard and have ordered the wreaths. I shall be returning to Altenburg Castle shortly to discuss the other arrangements.."

Available direct from the publisher here

Kampfgeschwader 54 Volume II by Peter Taghon (Lela Presse 28/02/25)

Another imminent publishing event for Luftwaffe enthusiasts - volume II of Peter Taghon's huge history of KG 54 is due at the end of next week. From the publisher's blurb; (adapted and translated by this blogger) 

 " ..With its skull and crossbones emblem Kampfgeschwader 54, the Totenkopfgeschwader, was one of the few Luftwaffe bomber/combat units to fly from the first to the final days of WWII, and has long warranted a detailed history. With its origins in KG 254, KG 54 made a modest entry into the war, with just a single Gruppe engaged in September 1939 in Poland. In April 1940, its second Gruppe, formed during the Phoney War, took part in the fighting in Scandinavia. Then, the following month, the Geschwader was increased to three Gruppen and launched in the Westfeldzug: the campaign in the West. With its third Gruppe disbanded after suffering heavy losses throughout the May/June engagements, KG 54 fought in the Battle of Britain, continuing its missions over England during the Night Blitz. In June 1941, the two Gruppen were deployed in the USSR during ‘Barbarossa’, completing large numbers of missions but suffering such heavy losses that they were recalled to the Reich at the end of the year. However, the military situation had become such that the Totenkopf was forced to disperse its forces, with I./KG 54 moving to the Mediterranean and II./KG 54 returning to the USSR (with a brief period in France). During the aerial assault against Malta, I./KG 54 operated in concert with K.Gr. 806, subsequently renamed III./KG 54. These two Gruppen supported Rommel's Afrika Korps before being joined in 1943 in Sicily by II./KG 54, the Gruppe taking part in the final battles over Africa (Tunisia) which is where this new Volume II picks up the story..

Now at full strength, KG 54 fought the Allied landings in Sicily before being withdrawn to mainland Italy. The Totenkopf left the Mediterranean for good at the end of 1943, returning to the West. It was then deployed again over England as part of the bloody and futile operation ‘Steinbock’. Casualties were so high that II./KG 54 was disbanded in April 1944. Two months later, the Geschwader - once again reduced to two Gruppen - faced the Allied landings in Normandy on missions that were just as costly in terms of men and equipment. Fighting tooth and nail, KG 54 returned to the Reich where, in September 1944, it became a fighter unit equipped with the famous Me 262 jet. However, the aircraft still suffered from serious ‘teething problems’, and KG (J) 54 - despite having been reinforced by a second Gruppe - was hardly able to stand out against the vastly superior Allied air forces, and was decimated. On 8 May 1945, the surviving personnel of the skull and crossbones Geschwader surrendered, their numbers then being mainly dispersed in Austria and Czechoslovakia. 

Volume II contains 392 pages, over 650 photos, 17 colour profiles and period documents. Volume I has been available since October 2024..."

Below; from volume II, a 6./KG 54 Ju 88 in Bergamo, Italy

Hello Peter, many of us are no doubt eagerly awaiting Vol II of your KG 54 book. Can I please ask you a couple of questions for my blog report?

How long did you spend researching KG 54 and how much time did you spend writing these two huge volumes?

Hello Neil,

It’s not easy to say exactly how much time I’ve spent researching KG 54. It all started for me in the mid-1980s with my research on Luftwaffe operations during the Westfeldzug. Through this, I made a lot of contacts with pilots and crew members of the Lehrgeschwader. Some of them had extensive documentation and had also been active in Belgium in 1944. It didn’t take much encouragement from them for me to start writing the history of their Geschwader. That KG 6 would follow was only natural.

Once I had finished working on KG 6, I looked for a new subject. During my research on the Westfeldzug, I had already made quite a few contacts with crew members and pilots of KG 54. I also had extensive communication with Sigmund Radtke from the Traditionsverband KG 54. However, most of my contacts had only been active during the western campaign or had been shot down over England as early as 1940-41. A few went on to have rather impressive careers. So, I already had a decent amount of documentation on KG 54.

By coincidence, the archive of Sigmund Radtke, the author of the book on KG 54, had been passed on to my good friend Ulf Balke. Part of it had already been given to Morten Jessen, but both Ulf and Morten were willing to make the archive available to me. That’s when I discovered that Radtke had far more information than he had used in his book. In addition, I found a lot of supplementary material in the Bundesarchiv.

I got even luckier—through my contacts at the AMC, I was able to access their archive as well. They turned out to have a large collection of photographs, some interesting logbooks, and, most importantly, the diary of Hauptmann von Brunn. He had been very active in the final years of the war, and his notes proved to be of great value for that period.

How long I spent researching/writing is hard to say. A large part of it was done in the 1980-90s (mainly focusing on 1940-41), and after that, I worked on it in small steps until I finally decided to tackle the chronicle in earnest, which led me to resume intensive research. That was during the peak of the COVID period. Writing itself took about 3 to 4 years, partly alongside the research. I did this partly in my free time while I was still working, and then for about a year and a half as a retiree—spending a considerable number of days working on it full-time.

Peter, there were plenty of great images in volume I and I've already been fortunate enough to have seen some of the highlights from volume II. Do you have any particular favourites?

Which photos interest or appeal to me the most? Most readers will undoubtedly be very interested in the photos of the Me 262. There are so many photos that I find fascinating, but the ones I have the strongest emotional connection with are the photos that started it all. For example, during my research on the Westfeldzug, I came across a couple of photos in an infantryman’s album showing the crashed Heinkel 111 of Hauptmann Willers in Scheldewindeke. Through Sigmund Radtke, I got in touch with Willers himself. He was very eager to visit his crash site again. That was a truly special experience, and his information proved very valuable for the chronicle.

Even more significant was a photo of a He 111 that had crashed in Oudekapelle—also a KG 54 aircraft. I had no idea who the crew could be, but one of the infantrymen had taken a clear photo of the pilot. I sent the photo to Sigmund Radtke, and he immediately recognized him as the future Ritterkreuzträger Ernst Petzold. I was able to get in touch with him, sent him the photos, and he turned out to be very interested. He immediately invited me over, and through him, I gained an incredibly interesting insight into his long career within the Geschwader. So, if you ask me which photos appeal to me the most, then yes—it would have to be the photos of Willers and Petzold.

Peter, thank you for helping to put together a nice presentation for the Luftwaffe blog and thank you for allowing me to to translate some extracts of your KG 54 history into English (coming soon)

No problem! Many thanks for the publicity! I know Lela Presse appreciate it. Can I conclude by saying that I’m very lucky that Michel at LeLa Presse took the risk of publishing two such voluminous books. Cheers!

Below; ground crew pose for a souvenir snapshot in front of "B3+AP" flown by Staffelführer of 6./KG 54 Oblt. Karl-Egon Hellwig. Hellwig and his crew were shot down over Kent on the evening of 21 January 1944, crashing at Sellindge (between Ashford and Folkestone). Hellwig was killed.

 

Oblt. Eberhard von Brunn, attached to the Stab./KG 54 noted in his diary; 

 "..In the late evening of 21 January, the crews received their instructions on the the airfield where I. Gruppe was also located. We learnt that the attack we had been planning would be aimed against London, which few had anticipated. We had assumed that this operation ('Steinbock') would concentrate on ports, airfields, certain industrial installations or even Allied troop concentrations and supply depots in order to disrupt the invasion preparations. None of us were happy about the situation... We were loaded with  high explosive 'Sprengbomben' (1000 kg container) and a 500-kg  incendiary 'Brandbombenbehalter' container and took off from Marx at 6.33pm in the dark. Given the weight of the ordnance, I could only with difficulty maintain 330 km/h and the climb performance of the Ju 88 was just as abysmal. Of the fast bomber designed as such in 1940, there was nothing left. We flew alone over Deventer and Ijmuiden (on the coast of the Netherlands) to within twenty-five kilometres of central London. We then turned towards the city and dropped our cargo. In the sky, but also on the ground, the target was well marked by light ('Leuchtbomben') or incendiary bombs. We attacked horizontally. The defences were terrible. Over London, we were greeted by searchlights and flak. But the enemy appeared to have been caught by surprise because no night fighters intervened. During subsequent operations, the defences strengthened. One weapon surprised us. We called it 'Fliegerschreck' - airman's terror. It consisted of rockets fired in salvoes. We could see fifty rockets going off below us (later there would be more) and a few seconds later, the same number of explosions in the sky at around five thousand metres. After three seconds, a large cloud of dark smoke rose from some two hundred points. We assumed that the rockets were dispersing highly explosive projectiles. Hence this cloud of smoke. We also thought that some of the shells were coming down by parachute. During our four subsequent missions over London, no one could tell us anything about this weapon..." 

These 'anti-aircraft rockets' were undoubtedly the so-called 'Z' rocket batteries. The first were equipped with a single launcher, the Projector, 3-inch Mark 1. As this equipment did not give complete satisfaction, it was improved, with rockets subsequently being launched in large numbers in powerful salvos. The Projector, 3-inch, No 2, Mk 1 was a double launcher, while the N°4 Mk 1 and Mk 2 could fire thirty-six rockets simultaneously. On this first ‘Steinbock’ mission, London's defences were limited. Despite this, one of the KG 54 Ju 88s 'B3+AP' flown by the crew of Oblt. Karl-Egon Hellwig (the Stafü of 6./KG 54, below) was shot down by F/Lt John Hall and F/O ‘Jock’ Cairns flying a 488 Sqd Mosquito for their first victory..

 

(blogger note;  the  grave of the 30-year old Karl-Egon Hellwig who was from Hamburg can be visited in Hawkinge cemetery. His crew Uffz. Johann Jehle, Uffz. Walter Flossmann and Fw. Roland Kühnert bailed out successfully and were taken captive)

 

new from Lela Presse - KG 54 Death's Head Geschwader history in two volumes, Luftwaffe in Romania

  

New from Peter Taghon through Lela Presse is a two volume history of the Death's Head Geschwader, KG 54, one of the Luftwaffe's most 'famous' bomber wings.  Volume I covers the Polish campaign to France and the Battle of Britain. Gruppen of  KG 54 were deployed on the Eastern Front, against Malta and in support of Rommel's Afrika Korps. A 16-page PDF extract is available on the publishers web site here. This superb 398-page large format volume was released at the end of last year with volume II due on 31 January. Free postage if ordered before the publication date...

Volume II opens with the Totenkopf facing the Allied invasion of Sicily before undergoing various withdrawals in mainland Italy. The Totenkopf left the Mediterranean for good at the end of 1943 to return to the West. The Geschwader was then deployed to operate over the UK as part of the bloody ‘Steinbock’ operation. Casualties were so high that II./KG 54 was disbanded in April 1944. Two months later, the Geschwader - now comprising just two Gruppen - faced the Allied landings in Normandy on missions that were just as costly in terms of men and equipment.

Fighting tooth and nail, KG 54 returned to the Reich where, in September 1944, it became a fighter unit equipped with the famous Me 262 jet. However, the jet still suffered from serious ‘teething issues', and KG (J) 54 (despite having been reinforced with a second Gruppe) was barely able to inflict more than pinpricks on the vastly superior Allied air forces. The unit was decimated. On 8 May 1945, the surviving personnel of the skull and crossbones Geschwader surrendered, their numbers then being mainly dispersed in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Volume II is another near 400-page volume with over 650 photos, 17 colour profiles and period documents. Table of contents follows..

The latest issue of BATAILLES AÉRIENNES has arrived! N°111 covers the history of the Luftwaffe in Romania, covering units such as JG 52, JG 77, JG 4, JG 301, various short and long-range recce units, SG 2, NJG 6 and NJG 100, all deployed at various intervals to cover the Ploesti oilfields. The artwork is by Eric Schwartz - the cover profile shows Kommandeur Ubben's III./JG 77 Gustav. This 96-page A-4 issue features around 200 photos, 8 high quality profile artworks and is also available as a digital download in PDF format. Just 10 euros! (for the downloadable version). Go here to order..

 

St.G 2 Ju 87 im Osten, October 1941 - ebay photo find #381

 

Soldaten des Pz.Rgt.29 bei Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" mit Truppenkennzeichen der Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 im Osten, 1941. 

 This is 'T6+GT', a 9. Staffel Ju 87 R-2 of III./St.G 2 (WNr. 5780) photographed during the late summer of 1941 following a forced-landing close to the Rollbahn, which occurred on 27 August 1941. The pilot may well have been attempting an emergency landing on the road. The emblem of III Gruppe visible forward of the cockpit was adopted in late 1939. The 'GT' appears on the yellow fuselage band on the port side, the 'G' being outline only. More images of this aircraft were published in the superlative book Stukageschwader 2 'Immelmann' authored by Marc Hazard. (Lela Presse, 2018). Additional caption info via GRM.

Stukageschwader 77, summer 1940 - archive photo scan #25

 

" ..Zwischen den England-Einsätzen in Maltot, Caen. Die Rumpfbombe hängt schon. 1.Staffel St.G. 77..".  Pilot Fw. Knauer (left) and Bordfunker Uffz. Sellhorn.

Ju 87 B of 1./StG 77 bombed up and ready for another sortie against England. From the Sellhorn archive.

"..Wartungsarbeiten an der Ju 87 B bei der 1. Staffel in Maltot.."

Click here for all images scanned/copied exclusively from a number of archives/collections for this blog. Click on the images to view large.

And published in October 2023 and still available from Lela Presse, two volumes entitled "Stukas in the Blitzkrieg" by Marc Hazard. These are 96-page A-4 soft covers filled with artworks and photos. French text. Vol I covers Poland and Scandinavia, while Vol II deals with the campaign in the West, May-June 1940. Only 13 euros per volume. Top quality and recommended by this blog! To order, go here. English spoken.

Caudron CR. 714 in the Battle for France - GC 1/145 ('Les Polonais de Varsovie')

..the following is based on Grzegorz Slizewski's book  "The Lost Hopes - Polish fighters over France " with some important corrections and additional material from Comas/Ledet 'The Caudron Fighters' published by Lela Presse and the highly recommended book "Les aviateurs polonais en France" (B. Belcarz, Artipresse).

On 17 February 1940 French Air Minister Guy La Chambre signed an agreement with Polish General Sikorsky to establish a Polish fighter Group comprising two escadrilles in the Armee de l'Air. This would naturally be established from the DIAP (Depot d'instruction de l'Aviation Polonaise - Polish air training centre) then based in Lyon. On the opening day of the German offensive in the West, 10 May, the Poles of CG 1/145 were in Lyon with just a handful of Ms 406s and CR. 714s.  'Defence flights' for the city were quickly formed and the aircraft relocated to Mions outside Lyons - from where the air raid warnings sounded from the city could just about be heard (radios were defective). Eager to fight with whatever types the French could supply, the Poles had been accumulating training time on the CR. 714 even before the 'official' establishment of the first 'French' Polish fighter squadron. The first Caudrons arrived at Lyon-Bron during March 1940. But it was not originally envisaged that they would be deployed in combat. The French knew full well that the light-weight Caudron powered by its small Renault engine would be severely outclassed by Luftwaffe types, so had used the type as a cheap 'training' machine. But in the end there were no other types available in numbers. By 21 May some 16 machines had been taken on strength and the Groupe had relocated to Villacoublay, south of Paris (part of the 23rd Groupement de chassse) and close to the Caudron factory at Guyancourt for further deliveries. The French Minister of Air, Guy La Chambre, inspected GC 1/145 ('Les Polonais de Varsovie') on 25 May. The aircraft were being delivered straight from the production line and presented a litany of defects forcing the minister to  suspend all flying on the "Cyclone". He was told about the aircraft's poor climb rate, a weak landing gear and its faulty lowering mechanism, as well as an imperfect propeller pitch-changing device, engine cowling 'ballooning' during dives and unreliable dashboard instruments. While the Minister's reaction was perhaps the proper one, it served to deprive the Polish pilots in France of the only aircraft available to them. The French Air Ministry had originally ordered the Armee de l'Air to equip the Poles with the Bloch 152, aircraft which were not available. Despite Polish pilots having more hours on the Ms 406 they were not offered these aircraft either far less the D.520 - types for which they were probably not considered 'suitable'. The very next day, they elected to continue flying the defective Caudrons. On 2 June the squadron moved to the airfield at Dreux, some 30 km west of Paris. There were no facilities on the field and it was not until the ground echelon arrived that the aircraft could be dispersed and carefully camouflaged around the airfield. Two days later, the Poles finally received the long-awaited radios. Up to that point, they scrambled at the signal of an automobile horn. To beef up GC II/10, on 5 June the squadron was ordered to patrol in the Rouen area. This was done by Flight "B". Half an hour later, Flight "A" was moved to Bretingy-sur-Orge, south of Paris, with the task of defending the French capitol. The next day, the squadron was charged with the same duties.

In the evening of June 6, the squadron was attached to the 42eme Groupement de Chasse, defending a sector of the Seine Valley between Vernon and Meulan.

Two three-aircraft reconnaissance flights on the route Meulan-Magny-en-Vexin-Fleury-sur-Andelle-Vernon and along the Seine were the squadron's only activity on 7 June. The next day found the squadron with twenty-one serviceable aircraft. The remaining thirteen required much attention from the ground crews. Some were being generally checked after forced landings, while multiple tasks were performed on others; changing a stabilizer or rudder, replacing Plexiglas in a cockpit, a carburettor, parts of an electrical installation, and so on. That day "A" Flight was assigned to GC II/10. At 15:54 a section of five aircraft, led by kpt. Wczelik, took off to patrol over the Vernon-Meulan area. South of Rouen, the Poles attacked a group of about twenty Messerschmit 110 Cs of III./ ZG 26 escorting a group of Stukas. After several months of inaction the Poles were spoiling for a fight. They landed at 17:10. Officers Wczelik and Czerwinski claimed victories, but none of the other pilots saw the enemy aircraft crash. Commander Kepinski recognized only one of them as probable but soon after, around the area of that clash, the wreck of a single Me-110 was found, all five Polish pilots receiving a victory share as was usual French practise.

 por. Tadeusz Czerwinski  kpt. Wczelik, ppor. Aleksy Zukowski, ppor. Jerzy Godlewski and kpr. Piotr Zaniewski were credited with one Bf 110 each - for one aircraft shot down.  Belcarz points out that the only Bf 110 losses were over the German-Swiss border zone while in Comas/Ledet one notable French historian argues that the German loss does not appear in most recognised sources (including Vasco and Cornwell) since it was not reported until later in the year. The squadron suffered no losses, but most of the aircraft were shot-up and temporarily unserviceable.

At Bernay, on 9 June the squadron joined up with Flight "B", to fly a sweep at full strength over the front-line area. Eighteen aircraft took off at 2:30 p.m. Led by maj. Kepinski were Commandant de Marmier, kpt. Laguna, kpt. Wczelik,por. Zdzislaw Zadrozinski, por. Jan Obuchowski, por. Julian Kowalski, ppor. Czeslaw Glowczynski, ppor. Jerzy Czerniak, ppor. Lech Lachowicki-Czechowicz,ppor. Jerzy Godlewski, ppor. Bronislaw Skibinski, sierz. Jan Palak, plut. Andrzej Niewiara, plut. Mieczyslaw Parafinski and kpr. Edward Uchto. Over Vernon, the squadron attacked an enemy formation of about 50 Dornier Do 17s escorted by about 20 Bf 109s. Due to  radio malfunction the attack was poorly coordinated.

 Czeslaw Glowczynski recalled;

 ".. My radio didn't work so I wasn't aware of any warnings. I soon noticed a group of about 30 Bf 109s, some 3,000 feet below. Since our leader didn't react. I come close to him and waggled my wings. I pointed down; he nodded to indicate that he had seen them and continued straight and level. I gave him a sign that I would attack. I thought that at least a part of our group would follow me in this attack, but I found myself alone, with the exception of my wingman, ppr. Czerniak. Our position was advantageous since we attacked from above, with the sun behind us. At top speed, I swept down on the rearmost Bf 109. The swiftness of my attack caused the whole German formation to break up. One of them went down steeply, smoking heavily. Immediately, I went after another one, which, after few bursts, crashed in a forest south of Rouen. I was then shot at from behind. Several bullets came near my head and shattered my instrument panel. I managed to force land on a front-line strip at Evreux. Czerniak got one Bf 109 as well, and he landed with me. It took the whole evening to fix my machine and I returned to the unit the next day.."

 Jerzy Czerniak recalled;

 "... The weather was beautiful and flying in the direction of our assigned zone of operation, we were climbing slowly. At 12 or 15 thousand, we started to look for game. For over thirty minutes, the flight was uneventful, and looking at Czeslaw, I could tell that he was greatly disappointed that there were no Huns around. That's when I saw aluminium flashes  glinting below us. I gave Czeslaw a sign, and we altered our course a little to put the sun directly behind us. Next, Czeslaw dived and I followed him, releasing the safety catch on my armament in case there was a scrap. And there was  one. We closed on the Messerschmitts and Czeslaw coolly positioned himself right behind one of them and opened fire. Others maneuvered themselves behind Czeslaw who continued spraying his wiggling victim. All this time, I flew behind my colleague, observing the scene. One Messerschmitt started to shoot at him and that's when I intervened. I jumped at the German and gave him a burst right in the cockpit. He must have got it since he flipped over, going down. I served him another portion and stayed with him till he crashed into a French farmer's yard.."

(p55 Comas/Ledet - The Caudron fighters)

 Ppor. Glowczynski was credited with one Bf 109 destroyed and one damaged, while ppor. Czerniak got one Bf 109 destroyed. Plut. Parafinski also scored, destroying a Bf 109, while kpt. Wczelik and sierz. Markiewicz shared one Dornier 17 destroyed. Two planes crashed south of Andelys and others near Louviers. This time, the squadron suffered a loss of three pilots. Killed in action were por. Obuchowski, ppor. Lachowicki-Czechowicz and kpr. Uchto. por. Kowalski was slighty wounded, while ppor. Godlewski force landed at Villacoblay. The rest of the pilots landed at 3:50 p.m. A few aircraft were unserviceable. Godlewski tried to join his unit on a new plane but nose-dived during the takeoff. He come out of the accident unscathed, but couldn't catch up with the squadron. The Poles clashed with the Emils of II./JG 27 (some sources state III./JG 26). The pilots from this unit claimed three Moranes shot down. Credited with victories were: Gruppenkomandeur Hauptmann Werner Andres, Feldwebel Karl Witzel and Feldwebel Karl-Heinz Bendert. In reality, the Luftwaffe lost three Bf 109s. Leutnant Hans Bosch ( Hptm. Andres wingman ) and Feldwebel Karl-Heinz Kranich become POWs. Leutnant Hermann Kugler went missing. Slightly wounded, Hptm. Andres force landed near Creil...

Below;  when CG 1/145 evacuated the airfield at Dreux they left behind some fifteen Caudrons. The reverse of the image below - an expired Ebay.de auction - is captioned, 'Dreux 22 July 1940'. Compare with the image on page 180 of  "Les aviateurs polonais en France" (B. Belcarz, Artipresse). First machine visible "1" is the aircraft assigned to plut. Markiewicz.

Above; reproduced on p55 of the Comas/Ledet title and p181 of the Belcarz ' Les aviateurs polonais en France', three 2e escadrille machines at Dreux on 22 June 'white 10 and 'white 13' with 'white 7' in the background. 'White 13' was flown by the future 56th FG ace Boleslaw Gladych. 

1/145 pilots had 12 victories 'officially' confirmed (Bf 110s, Do 17s and four Bf 109s) for the loss of 3 Caudron pilots KIA. Ppor. Jerzy Godlewski -officially MIA- reached England and joined 72 Sqd

"The Caudron fighters - the Cr. 714 and variants" authored by Matthieu Comas and Michel Ledet 

"Les aviateurs polonais en France" (B. Belcarz, Artipresse).

And a rare page-view look into the huge Belcarz book on the Cr. 714 "Cyclone" - details of the cockpit/instrument panel

Dr Belcarz founder of Stratus and Mushroom recently succumbed to cancer RIP

new and forthcoming Luftwaffe books - Eastern Front 1945

 

" For the first time, this book outlines how air power helped win the war on the Eastern Front..[..].. the VVS assembled 7,500 aircraft in three powerful air armies to support the final assault on Berlin, while the worn-down Luftwaffe threw its last and most advanced weapons into the fight..."

"Eastern Front 1945" is the latest title in the Osprey Campaign series and is written by an Eastern Front expert William E. Hiestand. His text essentially leans on the best bits of Duffy and Glanz/House ('When Titans Clashed' ) to detail what was primarily a ground-based campaign for the capture of Berlin. He writes that 'information on the air campaign is limited and scattered among a variety of works' and appears to have compiled his text largely from Bergstrom, Price and a selection of Osprey works. So while there are good passages with neat diagrams of the Mistel attacks on the key bridges over the Oder and Neisse rivers, you get the usual, 'the Bf 109 first fought in the Spanish civil war..' etc etc. What, for example, was the point of discussing the career of the He 177 on p28 in the chapter 'Defender's Capabilities'? I'm pretty sure the He 177 took no part in countering the Soviet offensive against Berlin in 1945. So why bother when you only have 96 pages to work with ? The 'campaign' itself doesn't get underway until page 38! There's no room for Bautzen or Budapest, the author covers only East Prussia, the Baltic and Berlin. 'Berlin- the final offensive' starts on p68. The last part-chapter 'The Battle for the Reichstag' mentions some of the last Luftwaffe (resupply) sorties flown into Berlin and the von Greim and Hanna Reitsch mission to the Bunker gets the usual coverage. In between there's the 'usual' (Bergstrom-inspired?) 'Luftwaffe-regained-air-superiority' in the East during February 1945- there are some stats to indicate that the Luftwaffe flew over one thousand sorties on one day in late January but was soon down to its last fifteen hundred operational aircraft, including a suicide unit of some one hundred aircraft (Sondergruppe A) attached to Fiebig's Luftwaffenkommando Nordost supporting Army Group Vistula. There are some interesting text boxes that feature the Soviet air assault on Konigsberg (a 'fortress'), Khozedub's downing of an Me 262 on 19 February 1945 and Hans Rudel's downing on the Oder front that resulted in his leg injury. Apparently he subsequently "escaped to Argentina after the war " (perhaps better would have been 'escaped the wrath of Stalin by surrendering to the Americans and emigrating to Argentina in 1948'). Unfortunately Hiestand's text was marred by some terrible typos throughout. To pick a sentence at random; " one air group of JG 4 was equipped with the heavily armed Sturmbach version of the Fw 190 " ...what the hell is a 'Sturmbach' ?  At least the word 'Sturmbock' features correctly on p24. And since when has the French wartime leader been called "de Gaul"  ?? The photo selection is not very inspiring to be honest. The unidentified 'Fw 190 squadron' photo on p48 is a well known shot of II./JG 300 machines equipped with the Krebs-geraet rearwards-firing rocket, briefly toted during 1944 in the West..  Bizarrely JG 300 get no mention at all in the text (or captions). The image on p51 depicts Ju 88s parked in the forest along the Autobahn at Brunnthal in Bavaria. The photo of the 'Luftwaffe Bf 109 fighter' on p42 shows a square-winged Emil silhouetted in the sky with yellow cowl dating from the Battle of Britain period while the caption says something about '.. typical cloudy grey skies on the Eastern Front..' So this part of the book is a little disappointing. However the eleven pages given over to the maps, diagrams and tables are well-done and there are six pages of superb Jim Laurier artwork.  But why oh why do Osprey insist on printing it over two pages where most of the image is lost in the tight binding? Haven't they received enough complaints about this practise by now?  Anyway, given that you have to spend your Christmas book token on something in Waterstones, this title is well worth picking up. 

More new titles listed in the order of their likely appearance, starting with the new caraktere 'special issue' on JG 77, a new Luftwaffe book from Jans Forsgren on the Me 110 via Fonthill and concluding with two eagerly anticipated books from Mortons and another new Osprey in the Dogfight series (!) from the prolific Robert Forsyth!

Valiant Wings Heinkel He 177 - publishers blurb; " .. Our twentieth title in the Airframe Album series will be an essential reference for any Luftwaffe enthusiast and anyone tackling the Revell kit or other kits in 1/72nd and 1/48th scale. Our biggest Airframe Album to date - 192+ pages!

The Heinkel He 177 Greif contains:

A wealth of historical and walkaround photographs and detail images of the type including data from flight manuals and spare parts catalogues
Period detail images & diagrams during production and service use
Isometric views by Wojciech Sankowski of all prototype, production and test airframes
Concise camouflage and marking notes
Colour profiles and stencil diagram by Richard J. Caruana
Detailed build of the Revell 1/72nd He 177A-5 by Libor Jekl
Lists of all He 177 kits, accessories, decals & masks produced in all scales
Front cover artwork by Arkadiusz Wrobel

From Lela Presse, a French-language history of the Siebel Si 204 in French service and the French derivatives the NC 700, 701 and 702 Martinet aircraft. More than 350 aircraft of this type served in the French air forces until the mid-1960s. The origins of the 'Martinet' resulted from the heavy constraints weighing on the French aeronautical industry at the end of the Second World War: the most effective solution to provide the forces with an essential liaison  and training  type was to continue - with a change of name and some modifications- manufacturing the Siebel 204 D. The Martinet can thus trace its lineage to the German Kl 104, Fh 104 then Si 204. The SI 204 D was in service with the Luftwaffe in 1940 for the training of front line aircrews. In Bourges, during the occupation, the Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Center (SNCAC) produced 168 Siebel 204s for the Wehrmacht. With the liberation, production continued under the name NC 700 then NC 701, these models being differentiated by French propellers and engines. A version dedicated to the transport of 8 to 10 passengers  was also built under the designation NC 702, recognizable by its unglazed nose. Under the name Martinet, the NC 700, 701 and 702 joined the units of the Air Force, but also those of the French naval air arm while some Siebel 204s were taken over from German stocks and also assigned to French units. NC 701s flew in the French colonial conflicts in Indochina and then in North Africa, carrying out medi-vac and passenger transport duties. The training of pilots in twin-engine flight and of radio navigators  were also among the important roles carried out by the “Martinet”. This huge 448-page work features some 600 photos and 80 colour profiles.

Stuka crews of 10.(St)/LG 1 relax ahead of the attack in the West

A Stuka crew from 10.(St)/LG 1 relaxing by their machine just prior to the Westfeldzug, the campaign in the West. The Ju 87s of IV./LG 1 departed their field near Cologne on 19 May 1940 and headed for Belgium. Their new base was a field strip near Hargimont (Marche). This 10. Staffel machine was Ju 87 B-1 'L1+CU'.

Just one of the many excellent photos published in the latest BA (issue 104) from Lela Presse " Stuka dans la Blitzkrieg " Part II (the  attack in the West. Part I covered Poland and Scandinavia..). BATAILLES AÉRIENNES is the leading French-language quarterly from Lela Presse, in continuous publication since 1997. Features rare first person accounts, rarely seen photos and superlative artwork from Eric Schwartz, still only 13 euros (100 pages, 200 illustrations, 10-15 artworks). Available here

" Here is the second part of our study dedicated to the terrifying weapon -in its day- that was the Stuka. After a successful trial in Poland, the Ju 87 was to prove its worth on the battlefield in the West. As we know, it was a great success. And the Allied anti-aircraft defences of the time were not the equivalent of the German Flak; not to mention the Allied fighters who, although overwhelmed by the scale of the Luftwaffe attacks, were able to score a few successes against the Stuka, successes which already revealed the vulnerability of the dive-bomber. So, no, the Stuka was not a miracle weapon; it was simply a question of making good use of a weapon in a rather favorable context. Mention is often made of the Stuka's siren, which terrorized the population and Allied troops. Certainly, this was the case during certain attacks, and this is essentially what was remembered and, above all, peddled. Nevertheless, numerous photographs show that personnel were happy to get rid of this equipment... whose effectiveness could not have been as radical as later reported...

To this day, the Stuka remains a legendary weapon, inseparable from the 'Blitzkrieg' waged by the 3rd Reich. The author's account shows us that the reality needs to be nuanced, as the losses suffered by Stuka units were not negligible; nor were those suffered by other Luftwaffe units, even in a context of near-total victory..."

Death of the Kommandeur - Maj. Helmut Fuhrhop I./KG 6 (Junkers Ju 188 E)

 

Above; I./KG 6 Ju 188 E medium bombers were based in Chièvres, south of Brussels for the Steinbock raids over England during the first quarter of 1944.

Just after mid-day on the afternoon of 29 February 1944 (1944 was a leap year) two Junkers Ju 188 Es took off from Melsbroek, north of Brussels, and headed for Dreux, 50 miles east of Paris. They were part of a force scheduled to fly another 'Steinbock' bombing mission over southern England later that day which was transferring to Dreux in small groups. One of the Ju 188s (coded '3E+AB') was flown by the Kommandeur of I./KG 6, Maj Helmut Fuhrhop. An Eastern Front veteran with KG 51, Fuhrhop was an experienced career aviator and RK-holder credited with sinking at least 30,000 GRT of shipping in 250 missions. He had also flown over one hundred sorties at the controls of a Legion Condor K 88 He 111 (Taghon p.49) and was an obsessive athlete who made his crews run around the airfield almost daily! (Taghon, p.166) At the controls of the second machine was Uffz. Wilhelm Mayer of 1. Staffel. Both machines carried five aircrew and a handful of groundcrew, while Fuhrhop had his two dogs, Chica and Ciro, on board. Meanwhile, seven Hawker Typhoon Mk.1b aircraft of 609 Squadron were getting airborne from Manston (Kent) to carry out a fighter sweep in the sector Le Culot-Florennes-Cambrai across Belgium/northern France. Led by Sqn Ldr Johnny Wells the group comprised, in addition to the Englishman, one Australian, one Canadian and four Belgian pilots. They had already strafed barges and tugs when they sighted the two Ju 188s flying south-west past Cambrai at about 1,000 ft. One of the Belgian pilots flying that day, Fg. Off. Charles Demoulin, later recalled; 

 “..We were at 150 ft and had our hands full keeping station in the flurries of snow that alternated moments of zero visibility with sudden clear breaks. Suddenly, two shadows loomed out of the gloom, flitting across our heading, just feet above us, to then rapidly disappear to our left into skeins of broken cloud. But not quick enough to prevent me from identifying them. They were Ju 188s, night fighters (sic!) and medium bombers.."

“ All three of us (the two other Typhoon pilots were Flt Lt Lawrence Smith and Fg. Off. Georges Jaspis) banked into a sharp turn at the same time and at some risk of collision since the other Typhoons did likewise. The chase was on ('C'est l'hallali'!). Throttles wide open and engine screaming we went flat out after the Ju 188s and within a matter of moments come across them in a clear patch of sky.

“In front of me, a multi-coloured ribbon streamed towards my Typhoon and I could see the gunner of the second bomber bracketing my Typhoon with tracer. A little right rudder to correct and the turret fell silent as the body of the gunner slumped in his seat. At that moment the gunner of the first Junkers opened up - his rounds flashed just past my cockpit. Left rudder and gun-button depressed I rapidly shifted target - there were flashes on the grey fuselage and an explosion and the port engine of the Junkers burst into flames. ”

Below; I./KG 6 Ju 188 E "3E+KL" on a transfer flight - these machines were seen only rarely in the air during daylight hours during 1944, usually during transfer flights..

The combat was a slaughter and both bombers were sent down in flames. Meyer crashed at Bohain-en-Vermandois while Fuhrhop’s aeroplane came down three miles further south at Seboncourt, some 20 miles south-east of Cambrai. Everybody on board was killed, including Fuhrhop's long-time observer Ofw. Alfred Schuber.  According to one account, Fuhrhop's wrist watch was stopped at 13:13. The Adjutant of I./KG 6, Oblt. Roters, identified the recovered bodies wrapped in parachutes the following day laid out in a nearby monastery. Fuhrhop's wife and her sister attended the funeral in Mons. Fuhrhop's replacement as Kommandeur I./KG 6 was Hptm. and RK-holder Hans Thurner.

Below; Fuhrhop's widow and her sister in black at the Kommandeur's funeral. To the right in the front row  are, from the left, the Kommodore, Maj. Hermann Hogeback, the Kommandeur II./KG 6, Hptm. Hans Mader and  Fuhrhop's successor, Hptm. Hans Thurner..

Extracted and adapted from Peter Taghon's superb 328-page large-format French-language history " La Kampfgeschwader 6"  published by Lela Presse. Published in June 2021, an 18-page PDF extract of Peter's book is available on the publisher's web site here

JG 77 in Italy, September/October 1943 and the Macchi C 205 in JG 77 service - were there any aces ?

 

On 3 September 1943, the soldiers of the British XIII Corps mounted amphibious landings on the Italian 'boot' and 'invaded' the Italian mainland. Calabria was only lightly defended and Reggio airfield was quickly captured. This first landing in continental Europe took place in a country seemingly still allied with the Reich. But, since Mussolini's removal from power the new Italian government had been secretly negotiating with the Allies to change sides. The German High Command was not fooled by the friendly protestations of Marshal Badoglio, the new strongman of the Italian regime and were preparing to take control of the country in the event of an Italian U-turn. The location where the Duce was being held had already been identified and plans were being made for his release. This occurred on 12 September - Skorzeny's Gran Sasso 'coup de main'. On this same afternoon of 3 September I./JG 77 and IV./JG 3 intercepted an unescorted formation of B-24s over the sea near the Tremiti islands. Eight bombers were claimed by I./JG 77 (only three were confirmed). Eight B-24s were claimed by JG 3. Nine Liberators from the 98th BG were reported lost over Italy, most likely victims of these clashes.

On 6 September, Uffz Willi Wiemer's 'yellow 4' ( 3./ JG 77) was shot down by a P-38 of the 14th FG escorting Liberators. 7./JG 77 (in Sardinia) also suffered the loss of Lt. Hans Rund, whose G-6 'white 7' exploded in flight. Ofw Eduard Isken who had carried out a test flight in this machine shortly beforehand suspected sabotage. On the 7th, I/JG 77 suffered two serious injuries in a battle with P-38s escorting B-17s. Oblt Gerhard Strasen, Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 77 was shot down in 'yellow 10'. He reported;

"..Our unit was scattered around Foggia and it was from there that we were airborne to intercept the Viermots and their P-38 escorts. On that day, I was acting Kommandeur as Burkhardt was unavailable. In combat with P-38s north of Naples, a bullet went through my leg and I had to parachute out. On the ground, an Army Feldwebel loaded me into a vehicle and took me to a hospital. I was then transferred by medical train to Stuttgart where an amputation was planned. I was categorically opposed to this and was able to save my leg. I was granted a long period of convalescence, during which I got married. I rejoined JG 77 around May 1944 when the unit was fighting in northern Italy..."

In addition to Strasen, another wounded pilot from 3./JG 77 had to bail out, Lt Werner Behrendt. To replace Strasen, Lt Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert left II./JG 77 and became Staffelführer of 3./JG 77.

On 8 September, I./JG 77 and IV./JG 3 carried out their usual missions (reconnaissance and Alarmstart 'scrambles'). In the late afternoon a large fleet was spotted near Naples. But  at 5.00 pm, the Italian surrender was announced by the allied radio, surprising both Italians and to a lesser extent, the Germans. The Italian royal family, still near Rome, had to flee. Many Italian officers did not know what to choose: loyalty to their government or to the German ally. Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring quickly gave the order to neutralise the former ally - Unternehmen 'Achse'. Everywhere, German soldiers disarmed Italian units, which often fell apart and huge amounts of matériel was captured. An Italian naval battlegroup was already at sea - according to some to counter the Allied landings then about to take place at Salerno - but with the news of the 'volte-face', now attempting to make for Malta to surrender to the British. Attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Asinara by 'Fritz X' guided missile carrying Do 217s of KG 100 on 9 September, the Roma, one of the most powerful warships then at sea in the Mediterranean, was struck, split in two and sunk. More than 1,250 men perished.

The US Fifth Army landed at Salerno on 9 September in another huge amphibious operation. I./JG 77 and IV./JG 3 toting Werfer rocket grenade launchers flew strafing sorties over the Salerno landing zones - Fw. Horst Schlick of 1./JG 77 was hit by flak and managed to bail out, coming down unharmed near a main road into Naples. Elsewhere most of III./JG 77 flew out of Sardinia and landed on the Corsican airfield of Ghisonaccia. The Germans immediately disarmed the Italian troops present on this air base and took possession of weapons and equipment. Three days later, the men of "Ubben’s travelling circus" transferred to Casabianda still in Corsica. From there, the Bf 109s flew escort sorties for the ships and transport aircraft (Me 323 and Ju 52 Transporter) evacuating the German troops to the Italian mainland.

On 25 September the G-6 Gustavs of III./JG 77 were in Pise-Metato while using the airfield of Fiano to protect the industrial sector of Bologna. Uffz Karl-Heinz Böttner flew little during this period because he was sent to the Erholungsheim (relaxation and care centre) in Bad Wiessee following malaria attacks. Also there at the same time was his Kapitän Emil Omert who was recuperating following his injury sustained in Sicily.

On 20 October, III./JG 77 recorded a total of thirty-two Bf 109 G-6 fighters on strength. Returning to Metato, Uffz Böttner took part in various interceptions of American bombers pounding German positions in northern Italy. On 23 October, around Rome, the rudder of his G-6 was seriously damaged by defensive fire from B-17 Fortresses, but the young pilot was able to return to his aerodrome without too much trouble. (photo below) III./JG 77 was sent to Romania a short while later, I./JG 4 returning from this theatre to take their place in Italy.

The detachment of III./JG 77 in Pisa was also implicated by the Italian 'change-of-sides' on 8 September. Lt. Wolfgang Ernst, Stk of 9./JG 77 remembered;

" I was with a few pilots at Pisa airfield at the time. Our Schwarm was carrying out combined manoeuvres with the Italian navy. We flew over the ships all day long, and we were often invited dine in the evening in full dress. The food was excellent and the wine plentiful. It was all very pleasant. On the morning of the 9th, following the Italian U-turn, I decided to join the Gruppe now in Corsica. We took off and flew over the Italian fleet as it set sail to surrender to the Allies. We strafed some ships, which saddened us: only the day before we had been friends. Later we shot down a small Italian liaison plane over the mainland -flying due south, it was deserting towards the territory held by the Anglo-Saxons..."

Meanwhile II./JG 77 was put to work to disarm their former allies. A transfer to northern Italy had been planned since mid-August.  Overtaken by events the Gruppe had already given up its Gustavs.  Small groups of ground personnel were sent all over Italy to take control of the airfields; as for the pilots, they ferried the captured machines to northern Italy. It was at this point that the decision was taken to re-equip II./JG 77 with some of the captured Italian Macchi Veltro fighters. 

Technicians from the Gruppe were sent to Varese to study the Macchi Veltro. Equipped with a Daimler Benz DB 605 engine, this aircraft seemed adaptable to German standards as mechanic Karl Holland reported;

"..The engines, Daimler-Benz 601s built under licence, posed no major problems. The work of the mechanics was even easier because the amount of room reserved for the engine, auxiliary fittings, oil and coolant circuits was larger than on the Bf 109. As far as armament was concerned, the usual MGs were used, as well as heavy machine guns of a calibre close to 12 mm. No cannon. The pilots found the Macchis lighter but slower than the Bf 109s..."

The C.205 was used briefly by II./JG 77 from late September 1943 to the end of the year before the Gruppe reverted back to the Bf 109 G-6. The war diary of the Stab/JG 77 commented on 21.Nov. 1943 ;

" The machine is fast, and flies well, but has a tendency to lose speed in a sharp curve, and it is easy to get into a spin. Another aspect is the Italian radio. Despite transmitting clearly, the pilots can barely understand what is being said. Finally, refueling and reloading ammunition is very complicated, so restoring operational readiness takes a long time..."

The Kommodore's memories are more categoric; 

 "My JG 77 rarely used captured aircraft, apart from the Mc-205 flown by II./JG 77. It was a vicious machine that easily got into a spin which could be very difficult to get out of. It was used in combat and there were a few victories. (Maj. Johannes Steinhoff, Geschwaderstab JG 77).

Were there any German Macchi aces ? A reply to this question (answer/research) by Georg Morrison; 

" You may be thinking of Oblt. Joachim Deicke, who led the 6./JG 77. His aircraft, "gelbe 1" was a Macchi C.205, WNr.92212. BUT, none of his 18 claims (over 661 missions) were made using a Macchi. Three pilots had died in crashes, usually "pilot error." Uffz. Rudolf Funke was shot down on 1 December 1943 by a P-38 (C.205 "gelbe 4", WNr.92218), but was safe. Another C.205 was damaged in this combat. The last loss of 1943 was on Christmas Eve, engine fire on WNr.92224.

 Another potential candidate for JG 77 ace on the Macchi could have been Lt. Franz Hrdlicka, who led 5./JG 77. He made his 37th claim on 9.November 1943, which was likely in a C.205 - he posed for a photo, seated on the cockpit edge of a dark-finished example..". 

Also on this blog;

Klaus Deumling and the sinking of the Roma

Recommended reading ;

The Luftwaffe in Italy 1943-45 published by Lela Presse, 98 page A-4 softback, some 200 photos/artworks. Only 13 euros. Available from the avions-bateaux.com website. Eight-page PDF extract here

Unit history of III./ZG 26 reprinted (Lela Presse)

 

publishers blurb

" It may seem surprising in the context of a unit history to cover just a single Gruppe. However, III./ZG 26 - which started WW II as a Bf 109 unit - was 'detached' early on from its parent Geschwader and fought a very 'independent' war. Having received twin-engine Bf 110s during the Phoney War, the unit was largely deployed in the West and over England during 1940. Rested at the end of 1940, like all Zerstörer Gruppen, III./ZG 26 was sent to the Mediterranean in early 1941, where the unit's heavy fighters mainly supported the advance of the Afrika Korps while escorting shipping supplying the German Army in Africa. The Bf 110s also served as 'ad-hoc' transports ferrying in fuel in their 900 ltr drop tanks to be pumped out into jerry cans. In 1943, after the fall of Tunisia and facing the numerical superiority of the Allied air forces, III./ZG 26 returned to Germany and equipped with heavy weapons - including BR 21 rocket grenade launchers - was thrown into the bloody combats above the Reich. The Bf 110s were decimated and the unit was dissolved in mid-1944..."

Reader's review

".. a war diary of a unique Luftwaffe unit, III./26 saw action action from 1939 to 1944, when it was disbanded for lack of personnel, decimated above the dying Reich, its ME-110s by then obsolescent and out-classed by Allied long-range escort fighters. The talented (the word is weak when you know the talent of the author! ) Jean-Louis Roba has reconstructed, page by page and virtually day by day, the glory days and dark hours of a very special unit that flew for 90% of its time on an aircraft that was innovative and elegant but under-powered and under-equipped, which in no way detracted from the courage of its crews and technical personnel. On the contrary, because they were called upon to fight on almost every front. This is an excellent reference work, lavishly illustrated with a number of colour photos and written with great rigour. A book for enthusiasts of Second World War air history, but also for model makers eager to find new subjects .."

A 176-page book with 380 photos and 28 color profiles. French text. A 15-page pdf extract is available to view on the Lela Presse web site here

Also on this blog; The "Luchy" trial - III./ZG 26 pilot murder

Beute Flugzeuge - Czech Aero 101, Caudron C.445 Goéland - ebay photo find #362

Above; Czech Aero 101
Below; franz. Beute Flugzeug Caudron C.445 Goéland (Innenraum Cockpit)

Below;   C.445 "TE+WC" was no 945/9681 which left the factory on 17 January 1943 for the Luftwaffe to serve with FFS A2. On 16 April 1944 this machine made an emergency landing near Luxeuil after coming under attack by Allied fighters - damages assessed at 40%. It was repaired and reported at Toulouse in December 1945 and served with GC I/3 from January to March 1946. It was destroyed in a takeoff accident at Friedrichshafen on 17 March 1946. 

According to F. Picard in his 1976 book "L'Epopée de Renault" the Germans discovered some 75 part-constructed C.445 Goélands at Issy les Moulineaux in June 1940 and subsequently requested that these be completed and handed over to the Luftwaffe as 'war booty'. In view of the fact that all these machines were part of a French government order and had been already partly paid for, the directors of Caudron requested an order to this effect from the Vichy authorities enabling an 'official' restarting of the production line.  In the end Vichy 'ordered' and financed the completion of construction on these 75 aircraft, took delivery of them and then handed them over to the German authorities. The first C.445 completed for the Germans was no. 253 delivered to the Luftwaffe on 6 September 1940.  Johannes Kaufmann;

".. we liked flying the C.445 and we had good 'specialists' on hand to give advice. It was a nice machine and featured one innovation - the radio compass.."

It is an indisputable fact that French industry was responsible for training hundreds of German fighter and bomber pilots and radio operators - also leaving German industry free to produce those more 'important' types. In total some 515 C.445s were constructed for the Luftwaffe from new. In late 1942 those C.445s still in the former 'zone libre' were shared out with the Italians. Heinz J. Nowarra;

 ".. During 1942-44 when I worked for Junkers at their factories throughout central Germany I often saw C.445 Goélands in the air, most notably over Nietleben (Halle) where there was a radio operators' training school. The C5 FFS pilots school at Neubrandenburg also used the type. The aircraft also served for liaison and communication flights. The ace Marseille's outfit  -I./JG 27 - had at least one of them in North Africa. The Goéland was also employed as an air-sea rescure type. "SK+XM" was used by III./JG 2 while 'CD+YF' flew the commanders of L.fl. 2 to Italy.." 

from Cortet and Espérou in "Le Caudron Goéland"  - the first aircraft monograph from Lela Presse (undated)

Also on this blog; 

More C.445 reference for the RS models kit here