..-- ;L 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 ! r :nrlc 0 ? '7rlN ,~~lr/:~,,~.',~l*!;\., :.,,.:!rl<.l.:,.i .!., ,~.,:Jlm? i<! 1 . t ~.% ~. ~t~lo4j~t ,i111i cti ll<< ~ ~ ~ ~ l dth~pr~cyl Ailil~ir.irdy. ,\YI.III[~II .in(! AII~IIITI~IIVK. ld~*.ist-\ rrltcs to. 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