Sturmstaffel 1, IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 - ebay photo find 316

..it is not every day that you come across new Sturmstaffel or Sturmgruppe images. Given the Bf 109 with IV. Gruppe bar these images possibly date from the period April/May 1944. In early May 1944 Sturmstaffel 1 was re-designated as 11. Staffel of IV./JG 3 under new Gruppenkommandeur Hptm Willi Moritz.  IV./JG 3 was to be re-equipped with the Fw 190 and further develop von Kornatzki's assault concept. The Sturmstaffel experiment had patently enjoyed a measure of success - all told some 62 heavy bombers had been claimed shot down between 11 January and 29 April 1944 for the loss of 11 of the original pilot complement killed in action. Their actions heralded a more general expansion of units using these methods with both II./JG 300 and II./JG 4 converting to the Sturm role during the summer of 1944..

The Fw 190 with the bulged cowl cover and the mid-wing pitot tube is an A-7 and is kitted out with 'blinkers', fuselage bands and the 'lightning bolt' emblem on the cowl..

my bids are in ..here

ZG 26 Haifisch Bf 110 and Fw 190 A-7 Sturmstaffel 1 - ebay photo find #227

Pilots of the Sturmstaffel assemble for a photo 'shoot' in front of one of the unit's FW 190 A-7 in Salzwedel prior to the 'deactivation' of the unit in late April 1944. Uffz. Maximowitz far left and Major von Kornatzki back to camera in greatcoat in the view above and seen striding out in the view below. A rarely seen view of the pilot complement prior to and after the more formal and oft-published view of the unit. Offered for sale by Michael Meyer here

Other pilots in the photo shoot are Oblt. Zehart, Lt. Elser, Lt. Müller, Lt. Metz, Lt. Gerth, Fw. Röhrich, Lt. Franz, unbekannt, Ofw. Marburg, Ofw. Peinemann, Fw. Groten, Uffz. Keune und Uffz. Boesch who is recognisable in the image below, far right

Five of these experienced Sturmstaffel 1 pilots would provide the core of Major von Kornatzki’s next command: II. (Sturm)/ JG 4 - Leutnant Ulrich Blaese, Feldwebel Gerhard Marburg, Leutnant Rudolf Metz, Leutnant Werner Peinemann and Oberleutnant Othmar Zehart. The remaining Sturmstaffel pilots integrated a newly formed 11 Staffel of IV./JG 3 under new Gruppenkommandeur Hptm Willi Moritz.

Much more on the Sturmstaffel on this blog

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/gerd-vivrouxs-fw-190-6-white-2.html

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/focke-wulf-190-6-sturmjager-white-4.html

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/pauke-pauke-iv-jg-3-and-sturmstaffel-1.html


Below; Haifsich Geschwader Bf 110 on a field strip being refuelled somewhere in France  (possibly).

On offer here

Crashed Emil of JG 77 via Andreas Drechsler here

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

Storming the bombers Volume II - first review. JG 4 Sturmgruppe Defending the Reich

During March 1945, high-ranking Wehrmacht officers undertook a number of tours of Luftwaffe aerodromes with the aim of relaying the following exhortations emanating from the Reichsmarchall Göring and Genraloberst Stumpf:

" The battle for the Reich, for our people and our homeland is entering its decisive phase. In blind hatred the nations of the world have come together to destroy us. We must draw on our last remaining forces to resist this evil tide. Never in our history has our German homeland been threatened with such total destruction from which there will be no rebirth. We can resist this danger only by manifesting the highest qualities of German combativeness. This is why I am turning to you in our most decisive hour of need: save the nation through the sacrifice in battle of your own life! I call upon you now to one last taking up of arms from which there is only a small probability of return. Those who respond to this appeal will immediately enrol for a flying training programme. Comrades - a place of honour awaits you in the roll call of the Luftwaffe's most revered fighting men. By your sacrifice you will give the German people renewed hope of victory and become an example for future generations in this hour of their greatest danger." (s) Göring

Several dozen pilots responded to this appeal - among them senior and experienced pilots from diverse backgrounds. It was explained that they would be called upon to dive their aircraft onto those of the enemy, as well as troop concentrations, pontoon bridges and other kinds of strategic objectives. Many of the contingent of volunteers were to train for the 'suicide' mission mounted by the Sonderkommando Elbe mentioned previously, while other volunteers were kept in reserve for other types of Selbstopfer – or 'self-sacrifice' - operations. For many of them life itself had already lost all meaning following the death of loved ones and the destruction and loss of all their possessions. Having lived since a young age in the Third Reich, they had in all likelihood been convinced by the Nazi Party propaganda machine of the superiority of their nation and their race. Many doubtless considered that their own fate was indivisible from that of the nation. If this value system was to collapse then everything they held dear would be destroyed for ever. For most the only possible outcome was to die in action - to go down with the Third Reich in its death throes.

Those remaining members of JG 4 who had some contact with the activities and operations of these suicide pilots - usually as a result of being assigned to escort them into action - would remain deeply affected by the experience. Lt. Ewald Kraas, of the Stab III./JG 4 recalled;

" In early April 45 - as the Soviet advance along the Oder front was showing signs of stalling - there were a number of discussions on the subject of suicide missions at the level of the Geschwaderstab in JG 4 - we had become aware that a group of volunteer pilots were being called upon to fly their aircraft - packed with explosives - into the pontoon bridges that had been thrown across the Oder. During this period of inflammatory calls to the German fighting spirit it came as no surprise that some of our pilots were coming forward to undertake these kinds of 'self-sacrifice' missions - after all there had never been any shortage of volunteers for the Sturmstaffeln in our Geschwader. However a Rammjäger always had the option of bailing out at the last minute after ramming an enemy bomber - but these Selbstopfer pilots were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, diving their fully fuelled fighters onto enemy targets..

During the middle of April our Kommodore, Obstlt. Michalski, accompanied by several staff officers paid a visit to Jüterbog/Altes Lager - the aerodrome where the suicide volunteers were assembling. On his return he described the situation there to Hptm. Gerhard Strasen- I was present during this conversation. Michalski had seen eighty volunteers - pilots of all ages, ranks, backgrounds and experience. There was even an Oberfeldwebel among their number who had been decorated with the Ritterkreuz. The discussion turned to the motivations of these men and what drove them to want to sacrifice themselves in this way. Michalski turned to me and said : "well, Lt. Kraas, would you ever consider putting yourself forward to fly this kind of mission?"

Without hesitation I replied: "Herr Oberstleutnant, frankly - not at all!" _" No, neither would I" he admitted..

A link to Adam Norenberg's review of "Storming the Bombers - Vol. 2".

" ...The rare oral testimonies found here are backed up by excellent photographs from pilots and crew’s private collections. Credit must go as well to Neil Page who has produced the translation of the text and has made sure the book is never just a dry account of history as many books are when translated into the English language..."



http://www.themodellingnews.com/2012/01/review-storming-bombers-chronicle-of.html

II.(Sturm)/JG 4 on the Eastern Front, February 1945, Fw 190 Defence of the Reich

Above;  'Yellow 8' of 7.(Sturm)/ JG 4 assigned to Hans Gerd Neuhaus being replenished with fuel and munitions at Neuhausen during February 1945. Note the black-white-black Reichsvertidigung fuselage bands and the snow on the ground..

By late January 1945, when the Soviets reached the Oder just sixty miles from Berlin, the Sturmgruppen suddenly had more pressing concerns than shooting down USAF bombers.  ALL three Gruppen of Fw 190 bomber destroyers were deployed to the Eastern Front in short order, where their heavily armed and armoured Fw 190 A-8/R8s were committed on hazardous low-level strafing and bombing attacks on Soviet troops as the latter prepared their all-out assault on the Reichshauptstadt.

During early February 1945 the 48 pilots and 38 aircraft of II.(Sturm)/JG 4 were located at Neuhausen in der Lausitz under Major Gerhard Schroeder flying operations in defence of Cottbus and the surrounding area. The results of operations flown from this field during the first week of February were mixed to say the least. While the Fw 190s ventral racks now toted 250 kg bombs and their 20mm and 30mm cannon could inflict heavy losses on soft-skinned vehicles, horse-drawn columns and even tanks, it was often difficult to pick out valid targets on roads clogged with refugees fleeing westwards ahead of the Soviet advance. Soviet columns also quickly adopted the practise of using refugee Treks as human shields. Facilities for the Sturmgruppe at Neuhausen were rudimentary and the runway track was pitted and rutted and covered in puddles which grew ever-larger in the melting snow, resulting in a number of accidents.

During the week or so that the Sturmgruppe was based there, a constant round of  ground-attack sorties was flown for which its pilots had received little or no training. From the cockpits of their Fw 190s the pilots could see Russian columns that stretched away to the horizon, their progress marked by columns of smoke. There was little evidence of German troops on the ground- just devastation, " as though the entire Steppe was unfurling over Germany.." Ogfr. Adolf Held of 6. (Sturm)./ JG 4 wrote in his diary;

" ..our runway track is little more than a lake which has already resulted in seven landing accidents over the last few days and further takeoffs have been prohibited. As the Soviets are now no more than kilometres away we have been given instruction on how to handle Panzerfaust bazooka rocket launchers.."

The picture above is taken from the album of Hans Gerd Neuhaus, formerly a nightfighter pilot who joined JG 4 during late 1944. The images from Neuhaus' album were published over three issues of the German magazine 'Flugzeug Classic' during 2010 and the image here is reproduced with the kind permission of FLUGZEUG CLASSIC editor Markus Wunderlich. Back issues and a chance to view an on-line sample of the current issue are available at the link.

STOP PRESS -  images taken down since originally posted they have subsequently been secured for Volume II of the JG 4 history currently at the printers !

Wilhelm Moritz Fw 190 A-8/R2 Schongau August 1944 - 1/48 Sturmbock

Most Luftwaffe enthusiasts are familiar with Wilhelm Moritz's late IV./JG 3 Sturmbock  but superlative builds of his Fw 190 A-8/ R2 are perhaps not so common. This is UK modeller Rowan Gough's very nice Fw 190 Sturmbock as flown by the Kommandeur of  IV.(Sturm) /JG 3 during the summer of 1944.

Note the full "Sturmjägerausrüstung" - assault fighter equipment/armament package - featured on this machine, consisting of an armoured glass windscreen, triangular glass panels and side panels (otherwise known as "Scheuklappen", or 'blinkers') and Zusatzscheibe cockpit armour plates. This additional armour package had no Rüstsatz-number at the time, although it is sometimes designated "R7". In order to save weight, the MG cowl machine guns were removed and faired over on these aircraft. The heavy MK 108 cannon in the outer wing position are the principal feature of the R2 Rüstsatz, although Fieseler-manufactured Sturmjäger usually featured -as here - the broad Holzluftschraube wooden prop blades, and a BMW 801 D-2 engine incorporating the erhoehte Notleistung emergency power boost as indicated by the small yellow ring to rear of the upper cowl .

During August 1944 IV.(Sturm) /JG 3 was expanded to four Staffeln but the unit's pilot losses during that month were particularly severe - and not always due to enemy action!

The Staffelkapitän of 13./JG 3 Ekkehard Tichy - who had lost an eye during combat in March 1944 - was killed when he collided with a B-17 on 16 August. Posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant and awarded the Ritterkreuz, Ekkehard Tichy had some 25 victories including eleven four-engined bombers. Worse was to come on the morning of 20 August 1944 when 7. Jagddivision ordered IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 to readiness in anticipation of a 15th AF raid coming up from Italy. The pilots of 14.(Sturm)/JG 3 were collected from their quarters off the base for the short journey to Schongau. My correspondent former Sturmstaffel 1 and IV./JG 3 pilot Günter Ehrlich recalled what happened next in a letter written in 2001;

“..On 20 August 1944, readiness had been ordered and our bike and sidecar driver set out to get us four pilots of 14. Staffel to Schongau as quickly as possible. At a bend our totally overloaded motorcycle smashed straight into an oncoming truck. The injuries of those on the cycle were in part so severe that the 14. Sturmstaffel had to do without Unteroffiziere Oskar Bösch, Günter Ehrlich, Erich Pusch and Werner Schanz for a lengthy time. Since I was jammed into the sidecar, my left leg suffered a compound fracture. My convalescence extended well into 1945 and by the time I finally rejoined my comrades in Prenzlau in February they were flying combat sorties against the Russians..”

Rowans' complete build log is featured on britmodeller.com here

Click on the label links below for more on this blog on the Sturmgruppen and the Fw 190 A-8/R2

unknown Sturmjäger pilot IV.(Sturm)/JG3

Another photographic gem (and low-res copy) from the collection of French researcher, author, archivist Jean-Yves Lorant. Lovely view of an unfortunately unidentified Sturm pilot of IV./JG3 seen at cockpit readiness in December 1944 or January 1945 at Gütersloh. This Sturmbock is still fitted with the armoured canopy glass known as Scheuklappen or 'blinkers' and may be a  machine from Oskar Bösch's 14. Staffel although any other indications/guesses would be most welcome. Feldwebel Josef Brandt of 13./JG3 is another candidate but the only photo of this pilot published hitherto in Jochen Prien's Chronik is too over-exposed and indistinct to allow a positive identification.

Eduard weekend edition Fw 190 Sturmbock 1:48 scale

To coincide with the release of their new 'weekend' edition of their Fw 190 Sturmbock kit the Eduard July 2010 newsletter contains an informative and well written piece by Jan Zdiarsky on the history of Sturmbock or 'bomber destroyer' variant of the Focke Wulf 190 heavy fighter with particular reference to IV.(Sturm)/JG3 and II.(Sturm)/JG4. Download currently available from the Eduard homepage. Alternatively you can visit the 'label' links at the bottom of this post for more on the Fw 190 Sturmbock with photos exclusive to this site.

Eduard homepage





Here is the reference photo that Eduard presumably used in preparing their profile above. I first published this shot in my March 2001 SAM 'Sturmgruppen 1944' article. Note this 6. Staffel pilot's named mispelled in the Eduard caption above - he was Fw. Adalbert KOCH and is seen seated on the engine cowl in the photo below. Note that his Sturmbock was in fact 'Yellow 15' and not 'yellow 5'. The open machine gun cowl cover indicates that there were no cowl MG 131s. The inscription 'Titti Wau Wau' (his baby daughter's first 'words') appears on the armour plate below the cockpit. The armoured glass canopy panes were soon dispensed with by the pilots as ice tended to form between them and the canopy at high altitude..

more Focke Wulf 190 aces (Wurmheller, Bretschneider, Priller, Bär, Linz, Weik, Migge)

 

Wurmheller's III./JG 2 'yellow 2' Fw 190 A-5 from the Eduard A-5 'Heavy fighter' kit in 72nd

Revell Fw 190 A finished as Klaus Bretschneider's 'Red 1' from September 1944 when Bretschneider was Staffelkapitän of 5.(Sturm)/JG 300, decals from the Aeromaster 'Rammjäger' set. I've added plastic card 'armour plate' to the cockpit sides, faired in the upper cowl MGs and fabricated some 30 mm cannon in the outboard wing stations from sprue! Bretschneider did in fact 'ram' a B-17 in this aircraft. However this was an unintentional act - a collision - since he was able to land 'Red 1' safely - full story in the Jean-Yves Lorant's JG 300 history.

 

Staffelkapitän 2./JG11 Erich Hondt’s A-5 WNr 410 266 ‘schwarze 13' (see model pic below). The numeral was black with a red outline. It displayed the so-called Schwarmführerstreifen or red diagonal stripes of a Schwarm leader along the fuselage sides appearing as a 'Vee' from above. The aircraft did not have a yellow Rumpfband. Two reasons; Hondt wrote a letter describing this machine and its colourful finish which was published in a German-language book. The pilot was then shot down and the aircraft lost on 8 October 1943, well before fuselage bands were introduced. See Peter Rodeike in Jet & Prop 3/12. Hondt’s A-5 was in addition fitted with the U12 Rüstsatz which consisted of underwing gondolas each containing a pair of MG 151 cannon, one of the few armament Rüstsätze to reach operational status



Revell A-8 in the markings of Hans Weik, IV.(Sturm)/JG3 ace (36 vics.
Weik was WIA as Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 3 on 18 July 1944 at the controls of this Fw 190A-8/R2 (W.Nr. 680 747) "White 7". The wounds were serious enough to keep Weik from any further front line duties. On 27 July, Oberleutnant Weik was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 36 victories. In April 1945, Weik was transferred to III./ EJG 2 at Lechfeld to train on the Me 262 jet fighter.







Günther Migge's NJGr.10 "Kognakpumpe" 'White 9' Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 night fighter in 72nd scale. The 'cognac pump' inscription under the boar's head emblem was probably a reference to the nerve-jangling experience of flying a single-engine fighter at night






Italeri A-8 in the markings of JG 5 ace Lt. Rudi Linz, Kapitän of 12./JG 5 who was shot down and KIA on 9 Feb 1945 at the controls of Fw 190 A-8 WNr. 732183 'Blue 4'. Posthumously awarded the RK. The port side of this a/c featured a large green heart emblem under the cockpit..

The Revell & Academy Fw 190s side by side in the colours of Heinz Bär's 'Red 13' (JG 1) and Staffelführer JG 11 Erich Hondt. (Note how horrible the Academy kit is with its barn-door type wing & hopelessly oversized ailerons. The rudder and engine cowl are also under-sized. In fact the front end bears no relation to the actual aircraft - easily Academy's worst 72nd scale kit)

'Red 19' Uffz Ernst Schröder Sturmgruppe 5./JG 300

Questions about this machine regularly crop up on modelling forums. Here's a couple of photos I posted on aeroscale.co.uk in response to just one such query regarding the camouflage finish of Schröder's Fw 190. 'Red 19' ( WNr. 172733 ) was the regular aircraft of Uffz Ernst Schröder of 5./JG 300 from about August through to November 1944 which was pretty unusual for that time frame. Produced by Focke Wulf in Cottbus during May or June 1944 this machine was produced as a six MG gun Jägerausführung or fighter variant Schröder's Staffel generally flew top-cover for the Sturmgruppe and the pilot would also have preferred to remove the outer MG 151/20 cannon, " but this was strictly prohibited .."  This machine was not equipped with the Mk 108 3-cm cannon. A red Rotbraun 45 Reichsverteidigung fuselage band was applied to this machine during its 25-hour Check or Kontrolle. Rotbraun 45 red oxide primer paint was also applied to the bolts which attached the armoured ring to the front of the cowl. The Kölle alaaf (Kölnisch dialect for 'Cologne is Alive') inscription on the fuselage side is here missing its exclamation mark. The canopy is missing the Antenneumlenkrolle antenna tensioning device so that the aerial wire hung slack along the fuselage with the canopy open. Note a photo of the starboard side of the aircraft taken in November 1944 has the inscription Edelgard under the cockpit, Schröder's girlfriend at the time.


This is my translation of Schröder's own account of his first combat sortie, 8 August 1944

"...Takeoff from Holzkirchen at 10:45. As I was untested in combat, I had been designated to fly as number two, or wingman to Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Richard Löfgen, who was leading our Sturmgruppe on this sortie. I therefore found myself at the controls of “Red 12” flying in the lead Schwarm. The Gruppe had been able to put a good twenty or so Fw 190s in the air. The weather was fine, the sky virtually cloudless.I recall that we were airborne for quite some time, reaching a height of more than 6,000 meters, which meant that we had to clip on our oxygen masks. Changes of track relayed by Jagddivision (Döberitz?) came loud and clear over the frequency. Finally, after flying for an hour and a half, we were informed that the “fat cars” would soon be in sight. I kept a constant look out, in so far as I was able while maintaining position as the number 2 to the Verbandsführer. We were flying the typical close-knit — and quite restrictive — formation characteristic of the Sturmgruppen. It was imperative to keep station. For an instant I caught sight of a contrail at much higher altitude. It was impossible to know if this was a friendly aircraft or not. It wasn’t long before the information and the orders being transmitted over the radio became more insistent: “You should be able to see the fat cars!” Suddenly I saw our prize: 25 or 30 B 17 bombers, a little off to the right in an oblique line that was as straight as a die, five hundred meters below us. Most of them had a bare-metal aluminium finish, others were camouflaged. On their current track they would cut across our path. It was like watching a gigantic aerial flypast. I instinctively made myself small in the cockpit, imagining, in my fervor as an unfledged fighter pilot, that they had seen us and that hundreds of machine guns were about to open up on us! But nothing of the sort happened and the Americans plowed on below us, unperturbed by our presence. What a majestic sight these enormous aircraft were as they streamed their mostly long trails of condensation behind them.For a moment I wondered why Löfgen had not wheeled down and around to the right to attack them in a dive. And then I realized… bloody hell! Another “Mahalla” was heading towards us, at a slightly higher altitude than the previous formation. Once again we let these bombers pass by below us. I immediately caught sight of a third box, flying more or less at our own altitude. Stretching way back into the distance were yet more boxes of bombers one behind the other, specks that took on the appearance of a swarm of gnats…Suddenly all hell broke loose. The terse order “jettison drop tanks!” came through the earphones, and in the second that followed, numerous pale blue auxiliary tanks went tumbling down into the void. Löfgen had just peeled away, bunting over to the right and was diving between the box of Flying Fortresses that had just gone past below us and the following box which was looming — menacingly — ever larger. I tightened my turn a little to keep close to our number one. I now kept my eyes fixed on him, which meant that I couldn’t watch what was happening around us. Then, exactly 1,500 meters ahead of us, I counted 25 B 17s. Despite being well out of range at this enormous distance, their gunners opened up. The sky was suddenly streaked with thousands of sparkling pearls. Or at least this is how the tracers appeared in the dazzling blue sky. I was instantly reminded of the games that we played as children in our garden and how my brother Helmut would love to try and turn the water hose on me! Thousands of bright, sparkling drops just seconds from sluicing down on me. But I could only throw the briefest of glances forward, forced to keep station on Löfgen’s wing, and anxious, above anything else, not to collide with him.Another order came over the radio: “Pauke, Pauke, auf sieee, Rabazanella!” I had to pick out a bomber immediately. I quickly switched on the gunsight and flicked off the armament safety switch. I almost forgot in my excitement! It was then that I felt intense fear, expecting to be hit at any moment. My bomber was still a respectable distance away, his wings not yet filling the graticule of my Revi. I shot a glance to my left. Löfgen had already opened up, all guns blazing. The Boeing rapidly loomed large in my sight and I opened fire. I saw several flashes up ahead. Were these the impacts of my shells or the gunners returning fire? It was impossible to tell. There were more flashes in the tail gunner’s position and on the rudder. This time my bursts had clearly raked him. The great bulk of the “thing” had assumed imposing proportions, it was time to break off. But how, above or underneath? I unleashed a final salvo, and for a fraction of a second, thought I glimpsed the fuselage ablaze. The tail gunner’s compartment appeared enormous. I rammed the stick forward, flashing past underneath the bomber, pulling negative Gs as I rolled several times while diving headlong before taking stock of what was happening around me. A short while prior to the attack I had seen a very large city off on my starboard side, which from a height of 8,000 meters was laid out like the pattern on an antique ornamental carpet. This could only have been the capital of the Reich — Berlin. Consequently there would be numerous airfields in the area.The constant craning back and forth, to and fro, as I surveyed the sky all around me, had started to make my neck hurt. There was not a single aircraft, either friendly or enemy, in my field of vision. It was time to ease my 190 out of its crazy plunge earthwards. By the time I had leveled out, my altimeter was indicating around 800 meters..."

Schröder had a number of victories over P-51 Mustangs before the events of the 27 September 1944, the so-called 'Kassel catatrophe', the decimation of the 37 B-24 Liberators of the 445th BG, the highest one day loss of any bombardment group in the 8th Air Force. Flying in the third wave of attacking Sturm machines he shot down two 445th BG B-24 Liberators. These were his only Viermot victories.

This machine was 'lost' on 27 November 1944 when Schröder was forced to belly land after a dogfight at low altitude with a P-51. The aircraft was eventually repaired and returned to service with JG 301.

Walter Wagner's 'white 11' II.(Sturm)/JG4 - January 1945

Technicians of the 404th FG examine Gef. Walter Wagner's 'white 11', a Fw 190A8/R2 belonging to II.(Sturm)/JG4 seen here shortly after the hapless German pilot force-landed on the airfield at St. Trond on 1.1.1945 during the Bodenplatte operation. These are screen 'grabs' from rare US footage that was aired on a German TV programme. Click on the images for a slightly larger view.