26 FlightJournal.com
THE BEST WW II FIGHTER PILOT?
April 22, 1941–December 4, 1941
The 3./Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) fi ghter
wing, a unit specifi cally formed for North
African combat, arrived at Ain el Gazala,
Libya, on April 22, and Marseille scored
the squadron’s fi rst desert victory the fol-
lowing day, downing a 73 Squadron Royal
Air Force (RAF) Hurricane over Tobruk and
was then himself downed by Free French
pilot Sous-Lt. James Denis. This opening
seven-and-one-half-month period are actually
three phases, with Marseille either in theater,
home on leave from June 18 to August 25,
or in Germany transitioning to the Me 109
F/Trop from October 15 to December 3. Due
to these operational breaks, Marseille was
only on combat operations approximately
four months.
Of his Gruppe’s 150 victories, Marseille
downed 18, or 12% and 31.5% of his
squadron’s total. While probing vulner-
abilities in the Lufbery Circle of the Desert
Air Force (DAF), Marseille often found
himself on the receiving end of enemy guns,
resulting in both several damaged and lost
aircraft. Although rightfully chastised and
often grounded by JG 27 senior staff for his
impetuous tactics, Marseille’s desert baptism
of fi re began to pay dividends and was an
excellent start, resulting in 4.5 kills per month
while on operations.December 5, 1941–June 7, 1942
This was both a productive yet emotionally
draining period for Marseille. It is clear from
the numbers that the superior performance
of Marseille’s new Me 109F meshed perfectly
with his talents as his combat maturity
seemingly increased exponentially. During
these six months, Marseille claimed 52 of his
Gruppe’s 171 kills (30%) and 65% of 3./JG 27’s
80 victories.
During these fi rst two periods of combat,
the 5-foot-7-inch Marseille lost some 30 to
40 pounds, leaving him at an unhealthy
110 pounds. In addition to battling DAF
fi ghters almost daily, Marseille fought a host
of debilitating health problems on the ground
that plagued him during his entire tour in
North Africa.I saw him right after the 17 Decem-
ber battle, as I verified one of his
victories, and we had a drink. He was
exhausted, barely standing without being tired.
He was throwing up and sitting in the latrine for
long periods of time, and he was going there
quite often. His skin and eyes were yellow, and
he was running a fever with chills, but then
again, we all had aftereffects of the jaundice. No
one escaped. I knew he was ill because I could
see blood stains in the back of his shorts, which
was the sign of amoebic dysentery. Once you
passed blood, it was a bad infection.—Ludwig
Franzisket (24 desert victories)How Marseille consistently performed at
such an effi cient level is amazing in and of
itself. Because of his declining health, from
December 26, 1941, to February 6, 1942,
Marseille was again out of theater. While in
Athens for much needed medical treatment,
he was sent to Berlin to be with his mother
following the murder of his beloved sister,
Ingeborg. There, he spent more time in
the hospital before returning to Libya on
February 6. Despite unresolved health issues,
Marseille shot down 16 airplanes between
February 8 and 27.
Any doubts concerning Marseille’s abilities
as a fi ghter pilot were permanently erased on
the morning of February 8. While preparing to
land, he was jumped by fi ve 274 Squadron RAF
Hurricanes. Immediately retracting his gear
and fl aps, he turned to confront the intruders,
and in a whirling, low-level dogfi ght in front
the entire awestruck JG 27 Wing, Marseille put
on the show of a lifetime by shooting down
two and driving off the other three before any
help could be sent up. Later that day, he scored
his 40th kill, permanently securing the lead as
top ace in Africa and thoroughly crushing the
aspirations of his chief competitor and hated
rival, Staffelkapitän Gerhard Homuth.
From February 28 to April 24, Marseille
was again back in Germany for more medical
attention. Of these six months, a sickly
Marseille gutted out three and one-half
months of combat, achieving successes well
beyond that of any other pilot in theater.
His 14.8 kills per month was a sign ofMARSEILLE’S VICTORIES IN RELATION TO JG/27
April 22, 1941–December 31, 1942NOTE: All victory num-
bers and percentages
presented in this article
were compiled from the
O.K.L. (Oberkommando
der Luftwaff e) Fighter
Claims, Chef für Ausz.
und Disziplin Luftwaff e-
Personalamt L.P. (A) V
Films and Supplemen-
tary Claims Lists.