new from Erik Mombeek - JG 5 history Band/Vol 4 and Luftwaffe Gallery 2

" ...It is with great pleasure and no little sense of relief that I am able to announce the publication of the fourth and final volume of my history of JG 5. Relief because the research for this comprehensive Jagdgeschwader chronicle has been on-going for well over twenty years. The results speak for themselves; around 1,200 pages of text and approximately 1,300 photos collected, hundreds of first person accounts transcribed and documents assembled fom the contributions of nearly 400 former members of the Geschwader who survived, or their families in the case of those that lost their lives in the Far North, Russia, Germany or France. This final volume covers the last year of the war and features 300 mostly unseen photos and personal accounts in the original German language, along with victory and loss lists, the names of all commanding officers and a full index both of names and photos for all four volumes.

At the same time I am also publishing volume two in our Luftwaffe Gallery series (English text). If you enjoyed our first pictorial monograph then I am sure you will find much to delight and interest in this second book. More details from our website  here. ..."

Subjects covered include a detailed look at the 'Mickey mouse' character on Luftwaffe aircraft, scribble paint schemes, Bf 109 Fs in colour, Luftwaffe seaplanes and much more, featuring Thierry Dekker's artwork and English text, including a translated first hand account from the JG 5 history via this blog author..



ME 262 of 7./KG(J)54

currently for sale on delcampe.net are these two nice images of Ofw F. Gentzsch of 7./KG(J)54 in Neuburg, March 1945. These 2 pictures were also published in Radtke's KG 54 history (P. 239). I've contacted the seller & these picture are reprints of the 70's, not originals.
Thanks to ouidjat for the link.

'The Adder Affair' - Bachem Natter feature from a 1950's issue of RAF Flying review -click to read text

KG 51 Me 262 Blitzbomber and 'Red 9' 10./NJG 11

Over at the scale-models.ru forum visitors are being asked to vote on the best finish/most accurate model from a series of Me 262 builds. Previous posts on this blog have served as reference for two of the contenders; the Me 262s of KG 51 and 10./NJG 11.

Stills of a KG 51 Blitzbomber WNr. 170096 9K+BH of 1./KG 51 based in Rheine in September 1944. A good view of the 'squiggle'-type mottle, which is better captured by the profile artist (unknown) rather than the modeller below.

See the link on this blog for Honza K.'s build of the Tamiya kit with Aires add-ons http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2011/02/tamiya-me-262-aires-resin-jumo.html

'Red 9' of 10./NJG 11 following repaint by the British and Americans. It would appear that this particular machine initially had an RAF roundel applied following capture by the British, but then rather bizarrely had a Balkenkreuz repainted by the Americans on shipping to the US. The Ju 290 'Alles Kaputt' was also repainted in 'German' markings on its arrival in the US for display at air shows. The kit is the Dragon Me 262 nightfighter.

After serving in 10/NJG11, 'Red 9' was captured by the British and then handed over to the Americans. It would appear that each owner contributed to the camouflage finish of this machine. The German scheme was likely overall RLM 76 with 75 with the addition of an 82 mottle - possibly. The upper surface of the wing and stabilizer were in 75. The lower surfaces were black. The British added roundels and fin flashes and some possibly some additional areas of green on the fuselage, since the mottle appears much denser in the view below. After being handed over to the Americans it was deemed necessary to show that this was a Beute machine, so the Americans 'repainted' the fuselage cross and the tail Hakenkreuz. Some of the British paint was evidently washed off in the process, leading to the 'irregularities' on the fuselage mottle. Note the tip of the nose and the top of the fin were then painted red. Under the stabilizer is the Foreign Evalaution code FE-610.

More on the Me 262s of Kommando Welter on this blog
http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2011/02/mosquito-hunting-in-luftwaffe-1-me-262s.html



new from Kagero - Topcolors 20 'In Defence of the Reich' & Topcolors 21 'Messerschmitt 109 in North Africa'

'Topcolors' continues with No. 20 'In Defence of the Reich', featuring 8 colour profiles of the Luftwaffe’s most formidable fighters; the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force; and the Focke Wulf 190, which quickly proved to be superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V when introduced into service during 1941. Units covered here include the special Moskito-Jagd Staffel 10./JG 300, the Sturmgruppe of JG 300 as well as machines from JG 1 and JG 11. As far as I am aware Staffelkapitän 10./JG 300 Karl Mitterdorfer's 'White 1' with its fantastic cowl 'comet' emblem has only previously been available on a couple of very expensive Lifelike and EagleCals decal sheets. The 'raison d'être' of this series is the stunning A-4 size decal sheet printed by Cartograf for all 8 painting schemes in 3 scales - simply unbeatable value. And with Kagero of course you get a nice A-4 landscape booklet with your decal sheet. The booklet is packed with colour artwork profiles, featuring both sides of the aircraft and a top view. Quite simply superb! Available from http://www.casematepublishing.co.uk/

 
 Also just published is Topcolors 21 featuring the Bf 109 in North Africa. Subjects include rarely seen JG 77 options covered photographically in Jochen Prien's German language history of this Geschwader - so unlikely to have been seen by many. And a little scoop here - if you are planning on getting Erik Mombeek's new Luftwaffe Gallery (issue 2) due imminently, then Topcolors 21 will complement it perfectly for the modellers reading this.

The latest in the 'Monograph' series features the early A-D variants of the Bf 109. Another superbly done title, this volume discusses its origins and early development with detailed coverage of changes made in all its variants and sub-variants, including the special modifications for the foreign recipients. The initial production models of the A, B, C and D series were fitted with the relatively low-powered, 670–700 PS Junkers Jumo 210 series engines. A handful of prototypes of these early aircraft were converted to use the more powerful DB 600. No 'freebies' are included here although I should just point out that a nice selection of decals for ZG 2 Doras can be found in Kagero's 'Bf 109 over Poland' in the 'Air Battles' series. Otherwise there is plenty of well-written text covered the type's operational history in Spain and Poland including many first-person accounts newly translated from rare and obscure German -language titles. A must-have for Luftwaffe enthusiasts!



Atlantic reconnaissance (1) - Fliegerführer Atlantik, Junkers Ju 290

The Junkers Ju 290 peformed most of its service flying long-range reconnaissance missions with Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5. Formed at Achmer during May 1943, FAGR 5 was established by the Fliegerführer Atlantik on behalf of the Befehlshaber der U-boote as a long range maritime recon group to scout out and locate Allied Atlantic convoys and then shadow them until U-boats could be assembled and close in for the kill. It was intended that the unit would have a complement of some forty Ju 290's - which it never attained. 2. Staffel was the first to complete its training and moved to Mont de Marsan on the French Atlantic coast during November 1943. It was followed by 1. Staffel about two weeks later, the crews being quartered in requisitionned houses on the road between the airfield and the town of Mont de Marsan. During May 1944 both Staffeln had around 8/10 aircraft and 12/14 crews each, while the Gruppenstab had 2/3 aircraft on strength. From its first sorties flown during November of 1943 up until mid-August 1944 FAGR 5 flew 191 missions and located some twenty convoys, losing some nine Ju 290 A's and 91 Offiziere and men. Of these, two were shot down on 16 February 1944 off Northern Ireland by Beaufighters and later that same month one Ju 290 narrowly escaped the close attentions of a Spitfire in poor weather conditions some 200 kilometres west of Ireland by diving down to wave-top height. Ju 290s of the unit were equipped with FuG 200 Hohentwiel radar and the Neptun 216 (later 217) rear warning radar to defend against approaching Allied fighters.

During the night of 25/26 May 1944 two Ju 290s of 1./ FAGR 5 departed Mont de Marsan on a convoy hunting sortie, reporting a contact at around 08h00 on the morning of 26 May. Shortly after 09h00 two more FAGR 5 crews were ordered up to take over the 'shadowing' of the convoy, reporting its composition and course, including Junkers Ju 290 coded '9V+GK' which was equipped with FuG 200 Hohentwiel radar and carried at least one Schwann D/F buoy. Having been airborne for some six hours '9V+GK' came under attack from Hurricanes even before the convoy had been sighted. The tail gunner and rear dorsal gunner opened fire but in a firing pass from astern which seriously wounded the pilot, the Hurricane managed to set an engine alight and damaged the port wing. The Junkers was successfully ditched and five survivors from the crew of ten were picked up a Royal Navy vessel and brought to the UK for interrogation.  Data extracted from A.D.I.(K) report No. 243/1944, courtesy James S. Photo below of '9V+EK'.

NEW from Casemate "The Last Drop" - Operation Varsity March 24-25 1945

"...In March 1945 Allied forces prepared for the final drive into Germany to end World War II. Standing in their way were the Rhine River and, on the opposite bank, desperate German defenders ready to fight to the last man. Operation Varsity--the last major airborne assault of World War II and the largest airborne assault of all time--began on the morning of March 24 when a fleet of Allied transport planes took off from air bases in France and England. In addition to towing more than 1,300 gliders, the planes carried some 17,000 paratroopers from two Allied divisions--the Red Devils of the British 6th Airborne Division and the Thunder from Heaven of the U.S. 17th Airborne Division. While the 6th had parachuted into battle on D-Day, the 17th had never jumped in combat before. Their mission was to drop behind enemy lines near Wesel, Germany, and gain a foothold for the Allied ground troops who would soon pour across the Rhine. The Germans had reinforced the area with antiaircraft artillery and greeted the invading armada with a firestorm of flak. Some Allied planes went down before troops could jump; others burned as paratroopers leapt from them. Upon hitting the ground, the soldiers regrouped, defeated sharp German resistance, and secured their objectives in the fields, forests, and villages around Wesel. Drawing on war diaries, unit histories, after-action reports, and interviews with veterans, The Last Drop captures Operation Varsity as it was experienced by soldiers in the sky and on the ground, from the horrors of parachuting from a C-46 or flying a glider through bursting artillery fire to the mental and physical punishment of infantry combat..."

From the view point of the Luftwaffe's hard-pressed fighters, Varsity was perhaps the final nail in the coffin for those piston-engined fighter units still offering resistance on the western Front. Even the leading Reich defence Geschwader JG 300 was committed against the Allied airborne forces landing east of the Rhine!  The forces put up by III. and IV./JG 300, weakened by losses in combat and accidents, amounted to only some fifteen aircraft per Gruppe while II./JG 300 put 32 fighters in the air. This was to be their last major action of the war. Fw. Ulrich Hampel (7. Staffel) was flying as wingman to Ofw. Rudi Zwesken;

 "...We were jumped by Mustangs with a big height advantage who proceeded to cut to ribbons the last three or four Schwärme of our formation in almost total radio silence! My attention was drawn to a muffled cry, barely audible in my earphones. I thought I heard the word “Mum”, but it was perhaps “Mustang”. I immediately shot a glance behind and saw, staggered back to the horizon, seven or eight palls of black smoke, which marked the sites where my comrades had plunged into the ground. I saw one them going down and impact in a ball of fire. The fact that I was flying in Rudi Zwesken’s Schwarm most probably saved my life. Just as we became aware of the drama being played out behind us, one or two very audible shouts of “Mustang!” shattered the radio silence. The two leading Schwärme broke hard and turned into the enemy fighters. I yoked my ship into a steep turn to starboard while switching on my gunsight and dropping my ventral tank. In such situations of “clear and present danger”, breaking hard to starboard was axiomatic, a sort of practiced routine. The enemy fighters almost certainly failed to follow me because of the surprise effect of this maneuver. Given the low altitude, the combat was brief. As my Schwarm had been split asunder, it was “every man for himself ..."

The mission was a disaster for JG 300 as the Focke Wulfs and Messerschmitts were cut to pieces by P-51s of the 353rd FG. The few remaining fighter aces of the Sturmgruppe II./JG300 were killed including Fw. Ewald Preiß of 6./JG300 and Rudi Noske of 8./JG300.

Of the 32 Focke-Wulf 190s airborne from Löbnitz, barely ten made it back to the airfield. 5. Staffel had lost six pilots.  6. Staffel had been literally wiped out during the encounter. If Lt. “Gustl” Sallfner’s 7. Staffel had returned largely unscathed, claiming two Mustangs shot down, the same could not be said of 8. Staffel. Two of its veteran pilots, Hptm. Kurt Loos and Fw. Rudi Noske, perished near Göttingen. The last Sturmgruppe defending the Reich had suffered irreplaceable losses.

Uffz. Hans Bastek (5./JG 300), shot down and killed over Göttingen on 24 March 1945 by Mustangs of the 353rd FG