Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe by Neil Page, Casemate Illustrated - new Luftwaffe books

Due soon. Two new titles in the Casemate Illustrated series trace the story of the Tagjagd from 1939 through to the final days of the war in the form of a chronological account of the Luftwaffe's campaigns, interwoven with brief biographical details and the key moments in the careers of a host of lesser-known Luftwaffe aces. The two volumes will appeal to modellers and aircraft enthusiasts seeking a comprehensive and new account of German fighter pilots in action.

Features newly translated first-hand accounts and around 150 photos per volume on 128 thick glossy pages with quality artworks by Vincent Dhorne. Text/photos deliberately focus - especially in Book 2 - on those units not covered by Osprey - JG 4, JG 11, JG 77 and JG 300...

Military and aviation history enthusiasts have always been interested in the fighter pilots of Hitler's Luftwaffe. Some of their stories are extraordinary. Fighting from the Arctic Circle to the North African deserts, from the Caucasus in the East to Normandy in the West, the German fighter pilot flew and fought until he was shot down, "flown out," wounded or killed in action. A handful survived from "first to last." Around 500 Luftwaffe fighter pilots were awarded the Knight's Cross, accumulating huge numbers of missions flown. A similar number achieved more than 40 victories - more than the two leading USAF and RAF fighter pilots.

Also on this blog by Jean-Louis Roba and published by Casemate " Luftwaffe in Colour "

Eduard Info 83 Memmingen 18 July 1944 by Jan Zdiarsky - IV.(Sturm)/JG 3

Published in the latest issue of Eduard's Info pdf magazine (no. 83) is Jan Zdiarsky's thorough account of the Memmingen air battle of 18 July 1944 which introduces Eduard's new Fw 190 A-8/R2 Profipack kit. The box-art is striking to say the least. Meticulously researched it is based on the facts as presented by Jan. The artist is in this case Piotr Forkasziewicz.

from the 483rd BG unit citation;

"..As part of the strategic effort of the 15th Air Force against industrial and counter air targets in south-western Germany, a force of 167 B-17s of the 5th Wing was dispatched on 18 July 1944 to attack and destroy the Memmingen airdrome and installations at Memmingen, Germany. The importance of this target is emphasized by its description in the Intelligence Annex to the Operations Order, "Memmingen Airdrome activity has increased, with recent cover showing 70 to 73 ME-110's and 410's not too well dispersed. The installations are used for repair and assembly. This makes this airdrome one of the highest priority counter-air targets.."

At that stage the Americans were almost certainly unaware that following the Oschersleben air battle of 7 July the Sturmjäger of IV./JG 3 had moved to a new and larger field just south of Munich equipped with a concrete runway coincidentally home to the Zerstörer training Gruppe I./ZG 101 - Memmingen!

Due to adverse weather encountered en route the US bombers found themselves devoid of fighter cover. In the absence of a properly authenticated recall signal, the 483rd BG decided to attack the primary target as ordered and continued on alone and unescorted over the northern edge of Italy, over Austria and into the target area in south-west Germany. Kommodore JG 300 Walther Dahl recalled events in his sometimes exaggerated memoir  "Rammjäger "..
  
"....I have been feeling unwell for several days. The flight surgeon reckons I’ve got a touch of angina and has confined me to my bed. I’m off the flight roster of course. It is a beautiful bright morning....my Ia comes in to tell me a call has come in from Division. A force of about one hundred bombers with strong fighter escort is headed towards Munich. Such a relatively small force heading towards a large city like Munich is unusual and it is difficult to track the exact course of the bombers with radar given the proximity of the Alps. Our Einsatzleiter (Mission Co-ordinator) Hptm Kraus has put the pilots on readiness. The first sightings come in from the ground observation post at Kempten. The bombers target must be Memmingen! My gut feeling was right! The bombers will arrive over the field in minutes !..."

Some 45 Fw 190 A-8/R2 Sturmböcke of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 led by Hptm Wilhelm Moritz were scrambled. The Sturmgruppe climbed to meet the bombers now flying over Innsbruck in a north westerly direction. As they manoeuvred into their attack formation taking up station in line abreast individual Staffelführer selected their targets behind the bombers and calmly ordered their pilots to hold their fire until they had approached to close range....


For a full account of what happened on 18 July 1944, read Jan's article - certainly one of the most complete accounts of this battle. Free download at this link
 https://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2017/info-eduard-2017-05EN.pdf

(thanks to Adam at the 72nd scale news blog for the heads-up)


Also on this blog;

Fw 190 Sturmbock over Oschersleben 7 July 1944
http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/focke-wulf-190-sturmbock-over.html

Pauke! Pauke!  IV./ JG 3 and Sturmstaffel 1 in action against the US 8th Air Force, 11 April 1944
http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/pauke-pauke-iv-jg-3-and-sturmstaffel-1_4.html

Hans Philipp JG 54 - der beste Jagdflieger Deutschlands - March 1943, the leading ace of the Luftwaffe, Luftwaffe fighter aces

".. Es ist wider mal dicker Luft an der Ilmenseefront....aerial activity over the Lake Ilmen front has once again hotted up as the Soviets seek to break through with a massive deployment of men and materiel. In his command post Major Philipp takes the call reporting raids by large numbers of Soviet ground attack aircraft escorted by fighters. Immediately both he and his IA relay the appropriate orders - the skies over the Lake Ilmen front must be swept clear! The Me 109 of the leading German fighter pilot stands ready for action. Men of the ground crews help the Kommandeur secure his parachute..."

Major Hans Philipp - following his 203rd victory, now the leading Jagdflieger der Luftwaffe - March 1943

"...left; given their broad smiles one of the two men has cracked the joke, but was it Oberstleutnant Trautloft, Kommodore of our leading Jagdgeschwader or was it his Gruppenkommandeur Major Philipp ..?.."

"...a lull in the fighting! ..after a hard-fought combat, that cigarette tastes just fine, as the victor in over two hundred air battles has downed four more Soviet aircraft on his birthday......PK pictures Kriegsberichter (war reporter) Berger..."

On his 26th birthday -17 March 1943- Hans Philipp claimed four more Soviet aircraft shot down and took his total to 203. This made him the highest scoring fighter pilot in the entire Luftwaffe. While JG 52's Hermann Graf was the first to reach the 200-mark on 2 October 1942, he had immediately been taken off operations and had not returned any victories subsequently..
Philipp on the other hand was transferred to JG 1 in the West shortly after the events described above - in fact even before the issue of 'Der Adler' dated 13 April 1943 had appeared (cover image above)

Bf 109 Friedrichs of Philipp and Trautloft on this blog
http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/04/hans-philipp-jg-54.html

More from a (Russian) Hans Philipp 'scrapbook' on Live Journal.com
http://erstochen.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/434