September 2018 FLYPAST 43months of testing took place before the prototype was delivered to the Luftwaffe’s ight centre
Bf 109
in combat
GR II/52 between Sarreguemines
and Forbach during the afternoon of
the 27th. A Potez 25 of GAO 2/508
was also badly damaged and crashed
but, as its demise was not witnessed,
it was not claimed.
Then, on the 28th, Lt Richard
Vogel of 4./JG 53 shot down an
AMF Mureaux 115 of GAO 553
near Goersdorf, killing both
crew members.Other members of the Schwarm
reported seeing the French pilot
bale out, but the combat also saw
I Gruppe’s first loss when Uffz
Martin Winkler of 3 Staffel was
shot down by Sgt André Legrand of
GC II/5, dying of his wounds four
days later.Mounting claims
The next day, Hptm Dr Erich Mix,
Stab I./JG 53’s technical officer,
claimed his first 'kill', a Morane 406
of GC I/3 flown by Sous-Lt Marius
Baizé. The Frenchman baled out
over Bliesbruck but his parachute
caught fire and he was killed. He’d
been escorting a Potez 603 of GAO
505 which was also damaged by
I./JG 53, but as it was not seen to
crash, was not claimed.
Lt Walter Rupp (1 Staffel), Uffz
Albrech Baun and Fw Walter
Czikowski (both 6 Staffel) each
claimed a ‘Curtiss P-36’ on
September 24. These are believed to
have been H-75s of GC II/4, which
reported two aircraft damaged and
one shot down by Bf 109s.
On the morning of the 25th, the
Gr Kdr of I Gruppe, Hptm Von
Janson, downed a Potez 637 of GR
II/52; and in the afternoon,
6 Staffel’s Oblt Bretnütz, Lt Eduard
Schröder and Fw Czikowski claimed
three P-36s – though no French
losses can be traced.
That day’s combat also saw the
first loss for II Gruppe when Fw
Heinz Helge of 6 Staffel was killed,
possibly by Sous-Lt Pierre Verry of
GC 1/4. Two more aircraft from his
Staffel were damaged but further
details are not known.
Lt Karl-Wilhelm Heimbs of
1./JG 53 shot down a Potez 637 ofcrash-land behind Allied lines.
Although badly burned, he pulled
his observer, Sgt Bill Everett, from
the wreckage before returning to try,
unsuccessfully, to recover the body
of his gunner, AC1 David John.
Everett succumbed to his wounds
later in the day and Graveley was
awarded an OBE for his actions.
The crew of the second Battle,
piloted by Flt Sgt Douglas Page,
were all killed.
On the same day, I./JG 53 secured
another four victories, all to veterans
of Spain. Early in the morning,
Ofw Ignaz ‘Igel’ Prestele of 2 Staffel
downed a balloon, and 3½ hours
later Ofw Willibald Hein claimed an
unidentified Morane 406.
That afternoon, Uffz Günther
Freund of 1 Staffel and his St Kap,
Mölders, attacked and shot down
two H-75s of GC II/5: Sgt Robert
Péchaud force-landed at St Mihiel
without injury but Sgt Roger
Quéguiner, believed to be Mölders’
victim, baled out, wounded, west
of Merzig.
Mölders’ combat report read:
“As the Schwarm [the formation,
comprising Mölders, Lt Ludwig
Brandhuber, Uffz Günther Bleidorn
and Uffz Freund] overflew the Saar
near Merzig at 4,500m, six enemy
monoplanes were sighted south of
Conz at 5,000m.
“I climbed above the enemy in
a wide curve to the north and
carried out a surprise attack on the
rearmost machine. I opened fire
at approximately 50m whereupon
the Curtiss began to fishtail. After a
further lengthy burst, smoke came
out of the machine and pieces flew
off it. It then tipped forward into a
dive and I lost sight of it.”Experience Counts: JG 334
Spanish Civil War 'kills'Rank Name Victories
Oberleutnant Werner Mölders 14
Hauptmann Harro Harder 11
Oberleutnant Hans Karl Mayer 8
Oberleutnant Rolf-Peter Pingel 6
Leutnant Wolfgang Lippert 5
Unteroffi zier Willibald Hien 4
Unteroffi zier Erich Kuhlmann 4
Oberfeldwebel Ignaz Prestele 4
Leutnant Rudolf Goy 3
Oberfeldwebel Ofw Fritz Hillmann 3
Unteroffi zier Bernhard Seufert 3
Leutnant Heinz Bretnütz 2
Unteroffi zier Günther Freund 2
Oberleutnant Hubertus von Bonin 1
Oberfeldwebel Heinz Grimmling 1
Hauptmann Lothar Von Janson 1
Unteroffi zier Karl Kolb 1
Unteroffi zier Alfred Stark 1Above
A French Curtiss P-36/
Hawk 75 fi ghter downed
by the Luftwaffe.4