Jagdeschwader 53 'Pik-as'

132 Pages·2007·46.86 MB·English

by  John Weal

Jagdgeschwader S3
'Pik-As 1
Osprey'sprimaryLuftwaffe
author/artistandafreelance
airbrushartistsincethedaysof
themonthlyRAFFlyingReview
anditsvarioussuccessors,
JOHNWEALhaswrittenand/or
illustratedmorethan20titlesin
theAircraftoftheAces,Combat
AircraftandAviationEliteUnits
seriessince1994.Possessing
oneofthelargestprivate
collectionsoforiginalGerman
lang~ageliteraturefromWorld
War2,hisresearchisfirmly
basedonthishugearchive.
FluentinGerman,Wealhasalso
spentmuchtimeestablishing
contactwithex-membersofthe
Luftwaffe,fromGeneralStaff
OfficersoftheRLMtofrontline
aircrew.Hehasoftenused
theseprivatesourcestogain
accesstofurtherarchival
material,includingcomplete
Luftwaffeordersofbattlefor
thevariousfightingfronts
andindividualcombatreports.
Butapartfromthecompilation
ofaWorldWar2aircraft
directory,andseveralmagazine
articlessince,hisOspreytitles
arethefirsttimeJohnWealhas
beeninvitedtoputpentopaper,
andthusmakeuseofhis
extensiveknowledgeofthe
Luftwaffe'sorganisationand
operations.Wealalsohelps
hisGermanwiferunasmall
technicaltranslationand
interpretingagency.
OSPREY
Aviation Elite Units
PUBLISHING
Jagdgeschwader S3
'Pik As 1

OSPREY
Aviation Elite Units • 25
PUBLISHING
Jagdgeschwader
53
'Pik As 1
John Weal
Series editor Tony Holmes
FrontCover FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2007byOspreyPublishing
Belyingthetravelbrochures' MidlandHouse,WestWay, Botley,Oxford,0X2OPH
portrayaloftheMediterraneanas
443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY, 10016,USA
perenniallywarmandsunny,the
E-mail;[email protected]
afternoonof19December1941over
theislandofMaltawasoneofstrong
winds,scuddingcloudsanddriving ©2007OspreyPublishingLimited
rain.Despitetheappallingconditions
MajorGuntherFreiherrvon
Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivatestudy,
Maltzahn,whohadarrivedwith
hisGeschwaderstabJG53inSicily research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright,Designand
justfourdaysearlier,tookofffrom PatentsAct 1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
ComisotoleadthefourBf109F aretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
fightersofhisStabsschwarm(HQ
electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise
Flight)onafreieJagdsweepover
withoutpriorwrittenpermission.Allenquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothe
Maltainsupportofaraidonthe
islandbyJu88bombers. publisher.
Itwasalmostbychancethatvon
Maltzahn'ssmallforceencountered ISBN 13:978 1846032042
alargergroupofRAFHurricanesthat
hadbeenscrambledtointerceptthe
EditedbyTonyHolmes
incomingbombers.TheKommodore
ofthe'AceofSpades'Geschwader PagedesignbyMarkHolt
claimedoneoftheBritishmachines CoverArtworkbyMarkPostlethwaite
ashis50thkillofthewartodate. AircraftProfilesbyJohnWeal
.Hisvictimwas,inalllikelihood,
IndexbyAlanThatcher
PitOffEdward'Pete'Steele,one
PrintedandboundinChinathroughBookbuilders
ofthreeAmericansflyingwithNo
126Sqn,andtheonlyRAFfighter
pilotreportedlostoverMaltaon 07 08 09 10 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
19December1941.
ThelaterOberstvonMaltzahn
ACKNO~EDGEMENTS
wouldremainattheheadofJG53
untilOctober1943,bywhichtime Theauthorwouldliketothankthefollowingindividualsfortheirgeneroushelp
hisoveralltotalhadrisento68(the inprovidinginformationandphotographs- ErichBruning,ChrisGoss,
last,aP-40FWarhawk,shotdown ManfredGriehl,UweHausen,WalterMatthiesen,AxelPaul,thelateMichael
overTunisiaon4January1943).
Payne,DrAlfredPrice,JerryScutts,RobertSimpson,AndrewThomasand
AfterservingasJafiiOberitalien
WolfgangZittek
(Fighter-leaderUpperItaly)until
August1944,hespenttheremainder
ofthewarinstaffpositionsand EDITOR'SNOTE
died,agedjust42,inDusseldorf Tomakethisbest-sellingseriesasauthoritativeaspossible,theEditorwouldbe
on24June1953(Coverartwork
interestedinhearingfromanyindividualwhomayhaverelevantphotographs,
byMarkPostlethwaite)
documentationorfirst-handexperiencesrelatingtotheworld'selitepilots,and
theiraircraft,ofthevarioustheatresofwar.Anymaterialusedwillbecreditedto
itsoriginalsource.PleasewritetoTonyHolmesviae-mailat:
[email protected]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
EARLY DAYS 6
CHAPTER TWO
SITZKRIEGAND BLITZKRIEG 11
CHAPTER THREE
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AND BEYOND 26
CHAPTER FOUR
BARBAROSSAAND BEYOND 40
CHAPTER FIVE
THE MEDITERRANEAN,ACT I 62
CHAPTER SIX
THE PARTING OFTHEWAYS 72
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE MEDITERRANEAN,ACT II 85
CHAPTER EIGHT
END IN THE EASTAND WEST 106
APPENDICES 121
COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 123
UNIT HERALDRY 127
BIBLIOGRAPHY 127
INDEX 128
UJ EARLY DAYS
Z
o
0::::
UJ
I
«el..
:I:
u V
ery few, ifany, ofthe world's major air arms have made such
abundant use ofunit heraldry as did the German Luftwaffe of
World War 2. The designs chosen - in the main by the units
themselves- ranthewholegamutfromtheovertlypolitical,throughthe
geographical, theornithologicalandthevaguelyscatological,rightdown
totheheavy-handedlycomical.
Nearlyathousandsuchemblemshave been recorded, althoughmany
remainunidentifiedtothisday. Butthereisoneexamplethatisarguably
farmorefamiliartothegeneralpublicthananyother.Ithasbeensupplied
in decal form with numerous plastic model kits, it has been featured in
countless comic books and it is an almost de rigueurdecoration on any
German'fighter' (suchasrepaintedT-6Texansandthelike) broughtto
thesilverscreenbyHollywood.
In effect, it has become a form of visual shorthand as the almost
universallyacceptedsymbolofthewartimeLuftwaffe.Itis,ofcourse,the
strikinglysimple 'Pik-As:or'AceofSpades'.
Butwhat ofthe unit that actually carried this famous device on its
machines from the openingweeks ofWorldWar 2 until the final day
ofsurrender?
The story begins on 15 March 1937. This was the date that saw the
simultaneous activation ofa Stab (HQ) and the first two Gruppen ofa Goodfriends,andahighlysuccessful
completely new ]agdgeschwader, ]G 334, in the Rhine-Main area of reconnaissancecrewintheearly
westernGermany. monthsofWorldWar1,itwould
appearthataquarterofacentury
The officerselectedto commandthe unitwas OberstBruno Loerzer,
later- towardstheendoftheBattle
along-timefriendofHermannGoring.ThetwohadmetearlyinWorld ofBritain- relationsbetweenthe
War 1whenLoerzerwastrainingtobeapilotandGoringwasservi~gin then GeneralderFliegerBruno
aninfantryregiment. ItwasLoerzerwhopromptedGoringtotran~ferto Loerzer,GOCII.Fliegerkorps(left),
andhisC-in-C,Reichsmarschall
the air arm. And itwas Loerzerwho piloted the future Reichsmarschall
HermannGoring,werenolonger
during the latter's first operational tour as a back-seat observer and quitesocordial
photographerinthespringandearly
summerof1915.
The two young leutnants made a
formidable team. Eachwas awarded
the Iron Cross, First Class, in the
field for their combined efforts
in obtaining vital reconnaissance
photographsofFrenchfortifications
aroundVerdun. Forthreedays they
cruisedlowoverthechainofenemy
forts, Loerzer skidding the two-seat
AlbatrosabouttheskywhileGoring
hungfaroutoverthesideandcalmly
and methodically shot away with
hiscamera.
Both subsequently retrained as
6 fighter pilots, andended thewarin
command of Jagdgeschwader m
»
Goring as KommandeurofJG Nr I ::0
r
and Loerzer of JG Nr III. But -<
o
after the German capitulation of »
-<
November 1918 Loerzer had to C/)
make his living as a civilian. He
opted for commerce and became a
successfulcigarsalesman.
Flyingwas inhis blood, however.
Andwhen,inMarch1933- justtwo
months after Adolf Hitler and his
Nazi party had come to power in
Germany- his erstwhile crewmate,
and now the newregime's Minister
of Aviation, Hermann Goring,
OberstLoerzer'sJG334wasfirst offered him the presidencyofthe DeutscheLuftsportverband(DLV), he
equippedwiththeAradoAr68E.The jumpedattheopportunity.
overallpalegreymachinesdisplayed
Divided into 16 regional groups, the DLV, as it was commonly
nokindofcolouredtrimasanaidto
abbreviated,wastheumbrellaorganisationsetupbythepartytocontrol
Geschwaderidentification.Some
sourcessuggestthat1.Staffers allhithertoprivateandsportsflyingthroughouttheReich.WiththePour
'White6',picturedhereatFrankfurt Iemeriteathisthroat, andwith41 wartimevictoriestohiscredit(hewas
Rebstock,wasthemountoffuture
theninth-rankingGermanfighterpilotofWorldWar 1),BrunoLoerzer
ExperteFranzGotz
wasacharismaticfigurewhoseleadershipwastohaveapositiveinfluence
onDLVmembersbothyoungandoldalike.
HetookthesequalitieswithhimwhenhejoinedtheLuftwaffeproper,
wherehewastaskedfirstwithsettingup LI]G232 (thelaterL/ZG2) at
Bernburg on 1 April 1936, before subsequently being appointed
Geschwaderkommodoreof]G334thefollowingyear.
Loerzer's command was but one part of the Luftwaffe's ambitious
expansionprogrammeofspring1937. Histwocomponent Gruppenhad
been brought into beingin the manner thatwas customaryduring that
period ofrapid growth. Known as the 'mother-daughter' system, this
entailed hiving offa cadre ofexperienced pilots and ground personnel
fromanexistingGruppe,orGruppen,toprovideaready-madenucleusfor
abrandnewunit.
Hauptmann HubertMerhartvon Bernegg's I./JG 334 had thus been
formed around acore ofpersonnel drawn from both I. and IL/JG 134,
while the 'mother' unit ofMajor Hans-Detlev Herhudt von Rhoden's
II.I]G 334 had been that fountainhead ofso much ofthe Luftwaffe's
pre-war fighter strength - I./JG 132 'Richthofen' (see OspreyAviation
EliteUnits1-Jagdgeschwader2 'Richthofen'forfurtherdetails).BothI.and
II./JG334werecomposedinitiallyofjusttwoStaffeln,buteachwastobe
brought up to full establishment by the activation ofa third Staffelon
1July1937.
EquippedwithAradoAr68Ebiplanes,thewhole Geschwaderfirsttook
upresidenceatMannheim-Sandhofen.ForLoerzer'sStabandI. Gruppe,
this was a purely temporary measure, however. The Luftwaffe's rate of
expansion was far outstripping the number of airfields available to
accommodate it. New baseswere being built as quicklyas possible, but
StabandI./JG334'sassignedairfield- formerlyatrottingracecourseon
the southeastern outskirts ofWiesbaden - was still far from finished. 7
UJ I.tJG334'sarrivalatWiesbaden
Z
o ErbenheiminJuly1937wasmarked
a: byaceremonialparadethrough
.U J thetown.Tothestrainsofmartial
a.. musicprovidedbythebandinthe
<!
I background,OberleutnantWerner
U Moldersleadshis1.Staffelpast
thereviewingstand
LeavingIL/]G 334insolepossessionofMannheim, Staband1. Gruppe
were thus first obliged to spend several weeks at Frankfurt-Rebstock,
before finally being able to occupy their newly completed base at
Wiesbaden-Erbenheimin]uly1937.
Situatedsome40milesapartontheeasternbankoftheMiddleRhine,
Mannheim andWiesbaden would house the Geschwaderright up until
theoutbreakofwarandbeyond. Chargedwiththeaerialdefenceofthis
important central sector ofthe Franco-German border, the Geschwader
ledaremarkablysedentaryexistenceincomparisontomanyoftheother
Luftwaffe]agdgruppenofthetimethatwereshuttledaroundlikesomany
chesspiecesduringthefinalyearsofpeaceandtheopeningmonthsofthe
newwarinEurope.
Therewere,ofcourse,somebreaksinthishome-basedroutine.Thefirst
Trainingdidnotalwaysgostrictly
accordingtoplan.ApairofI.Gruppe ofthese occurred in the autumn of1937, when the Arados of]G 334
Aradoshascometogriefina participated in the large-scale manoeuvres held in northern Germany.
ploughedfieldonahillside
Therewouldalsobegunnerycampsforthepilots,withfiringpracticeover
somewhereinnorthern
the North Sea, as well as exercises for the groundcrews that were
Germanyduringtheautumn
manoeuvresof1937 specificallydesignedtopreparethemforanyeventualwarofmovement.
8