Bf 109 F/G/K Aces of the Western Front

100 Pages·9.299 MB·English

by  Germany. Luftwaffe;Weal, John A

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OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF T H E ACES 2 9
1.r ,
JOHH WEAL, Osprey's primary
Luftwane authorlartist, has
written andlor illustrated six I
titles in the AlmraR of the I
Aces serfps dealing with
I
Gcnnan aircrafflpllats, plus
supplied artwork for a further
sm bonks in the list,
Possessing one of the largest 1
pdvate sollectlon* of origmal
Gennan-langusge Ilterature
Irom World War 2, the author's
research Is firmly based an
this huge arehlve. Fruent in
German, Weal has spent muck
time establrahing contact with
ex-members of the Luftwaffe,
from General StatF OWlcem of
The RLM to Imntl~nea ircrew.
He has often used these
private sources to gain access
to further archival material,
including complete Luttwaffe
orders of battle for the various
Aghting lmnls and individual
combat reports.
A frwelanee ai*bmsh artiat
since the days of the monthly
RAF Flying Review, and its
VB~EOUS f ~tcebs~thre~ a,u thor
also helps hls German wlfe
run a small technical
translation and interpreting
agency. But aparl Irom the
compilation of a World War 2
I
alrcraft direetoty, and one or
two Infrequent magazine
articles since, the Osprey
Atreran of the Aces and
Combat Almmft Benes am the
first time John Weal has been
Invited to put pen to paper.
and thus make us% of his
errtenslut knowledge of the
Luftweffe's organisation and
operatlnns.
OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES * 29
Bf 1O 9F/G/K
Aces of the
Western Front
1941.45
I.. . ,-
SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES
OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES 2 9
Aces of the Western
Front 1941= 45
John Weal
Front cover
Eanern front Expene {with 202 kills)
Major Hermann Gref was appointed
to the command of
JGWl 50 in August 1943. This,
specialist Defence of the Reich unit
was tasked with combating US
heavy bombers. as well os high.
flying RAF reconnaissance aircraft.
For this dual role, the Geschwsdcr
equipped its Bf 109G-6s either with
und6rwlng ro~ketsla s depicted
herel or additional cannon gnndnlns
lsee profile 29) On 6 September
Graf cla~mertlw o R-17s during the
Eighlh Air Force's costly. and
ineffective, mission against
Slirttgrtrt, which was frustrated by
increa~~ngcllyo irrly conditions The
bombers ended up attaclr~ng
'targets of opponunlty' innsad,
dropping ordnance over wide tracts
ol Gerni-a ny and occwpred western
Europe the 700th Bomb Group
1BGI. for example. dropped its
bombs ~011th-westo f Paris! In this
spec~ally-conirn~ssianeadr twork by
lain Wylfie. Graf's Bf 109G-6 CWk-Flr
15913) 'Red 1' is seen just seconds 14 h\tj\\ I I ll[.l \I1 \I\
after performing a headmn attack T tic 4~utli~wnt~11rc II iLr 11) ~II.IIIL I~IL. h,lltz\\ 1t1it~it lis itl11.11-t uqi Ih rit $rt!r~u~ItR~l\ p
an a forrnat~ono f B-17Fs from the IR rrovl(ltlig ~~ifrlrn~.t.1~19lr<l pllI~~ t~~u~,yrdpI'!.iIr~: I~t~ rtnr\.1 c111 I 1l1cI1r cl
92nd BG,w hich has leh one Flying i'.n nc. I>r ;\ltri LII ~~lcIrLn ~cL.II ~I~R. c~bert\ in~pr~nI.' II~\Y'>ot~ tl .IIIL! !it II, 11
Fortress streaming smoke from its
I It~lt:rYt .atlrt11T1.W 'illi Ilu*cIikt-, 111d Ermr \S'icI~rn.lnn.
outer port engine The 92nd lost
seven bombers on thls day. at least
one of which almost censinly fell to
Major Graf
ADERS, GEBHkRD and HELD, WERNER, .bro,bf~?r~v :+:-i+-*5 ~r r(,:.-!ftjr,r.. MI-,:,I :I I, 11 bt
Back cover 'ii.":ili 5llrl:aar: I!.f%
Basking in Wiasbsden.Erbenheim's BARBAS. BERMD, .P:.+,TP~ : ,;!:~v.+!!,L F$<7!,:emt Ar+< i :>,< I ,<. P*::,,I ,,~,~,.r,j
*v';,~m:.;.,~;r*a> l l35
aulumn sunshine in front of hi5
hsavriy-dappled 'Red 3' la R1109C;-6 B.-. E KKER, CAJUS. -\frn~8':s:ir;?~~.ii 7OF ,S~!~,~..;?;S~PF!,I 1. i:r! ,t~#,::>:i-'it-.:: i ,:''ii,i''+.
of JG 501, Leutnant Gowried .-,,s~..l ,, NLIb 't>f:,3<1 CJ71?*1 ~Ii~rrIa % :.;
Weiroster enjoys all the comfofls of BENNETT, RALPH, I?l:r,i (ri rhr lli,.-. TI:', Nic!i?~.?ni;--.ri:~~r ,:,l:nr. .I! ;7 U-l .;i.
home. eo~rrtesvo f the 'U S AIR ~-l:.'r:l.,~r,~~Lnc inqo,. 1117CI
CORPS'I CALDWELL, DONALD, .,'I; ;JH T.:,rl i;:,~:,; of 1!1(1 ir:!:~: .?",. l-lr~r~I,jr~,; i vr:!r ::i<l:
CALDWELL, DONALO, .I[; ::ii ~7~~n;:-~Y~I:~.:~..,:~: ,nrP' ::lr~, ~ !,:fri.r'fr. :. ;i';, I.,,:.'.
:\,I lh!~ :;.-IPI.~.; hijrv i4Cl~l
CALDWELL, DONALD. ?ti,. ,I,;; 'ii 11;~i ?:,~~~. Ih- rq.:,il I%? I;., 11. '.ivr.r.!,
1 8 ,r,,-Ird-,1 !49li
CACDWELL, DONALD, rtl~-,. I(;_ -r+ L{,W LI,.+,~ ', 0: !,.,.o ::uj r :IJ~r. i.,.~t. I,I.~-W
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Osprey Direct IJK, P.O. Box 140, Wcllinpborouph, Norrhants NN8 47A, UK
t -1rl.ril: infoCfi0~prcyDirccr.co.uk
Osprey Dirrct LISA, P.O. Box 130, Sterling Hciphts, MI 4831 1-01-30, USA
I-- rn,til: infoC~OsprcyDirectlIISA.com
! ( lr \ 1\11 ~~LII.\ IsI>LhItI<tp*:-/ l.(~~rw.o~prcy-publishin~,~o.uk
CHAPTER ONE
FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE 6
CHAPTER TWO
DEFENCE OF THE REICW 36
- - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER THREE
NORMANDY AND THE DEFENCE
OF THE 'REICH 47
- -
- -
APPENDICES 85
COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 90
FIRST LINE
IAL,
OF DEFENCE
The first Fxiedrichs were delivered to
Stab JG 51 before the end of the
Battle of Britain The 54 kills rnarkod
on the rudder of this rather
nondescript machine identify it as
one of those flown by Major Werner
Molders. The bottom half of the
rudder and the entire engine
cowling have been painted yelluw
Wearlng the Knlght's Cross with
Oak Leaves, Malor Werner Molders.
Geschwaderkonlmadore of JG 51, is
seen In late 7940 st the tlme of the
Friedrieh'sintroductinn i1rt0s crviee
t
'I.
I
Looking much more the part. I !I.IL~ ll<)\t1 1 to <!.I~L\.V (?II~\~r ~'~li.1~11t tti'~c iit~l tti~<L .I\ I-.~'t h I~TI.I ~I% r~labt~i l ~ ~
Molders' sircraR now sports the
G~schwadb~ard ge on the nose. a
full set of Kumn~orlarem arkings and
a rudder score in the high 60s
I1 cIna ma sooumfbeqwehda bt lasnu ppseflnc lally ,,a, W(SIIt ~, VOSLqIInI~ hILl(i-wLttcI irr ~!~ S..~I~~~,1~.h!~n t1-~s r1I1>l3~!l ,l iu'liti n1I:>! ~IL(.IIl '/ , t 1 I l'iLL;<,ti~i!:. \~-IMI)>:I~ ILII
bales of straw, the 00 601 engine of r i ~ ;1 1I r r 1 1r I i r . I i 1 i
1 snrrlthwjcnctito onf, nTh cios npsh~odtoegrraahpath~m w oausn t of C~~\~~:I~CII~C~.III~I.\IlC~Ci~~(l~iIr i~I~~l'-30i.110['Itt tr1~\121 ~\I~ \IIC!CII I ~ I L ~
teX*n at Mardvck in rhe snrina of I'-30'1. t\,~rllI qt tI)lr'lI' 1Trrvr.11r h~,r,amrlt~lfr'~rt ~~\irir hll 4 h111 an^ r I<~.rit
Mow mHe~tivelyc onceefed En a
stand at trees, llle pristlrie rlalure of
this Friedrich 3 Geschwader badge,
and the unblemr5hed pelntwork al
18s starboard undercarr~agpfa rrlng
and yellow undtrcowling, would
seem to suggest tha? this early
F-mnrtel hart nnly recently twen
delivered to JG 51