44 FLYPAST September 2018
SPOT FACT The ’109 made its combat debut in the
last phase of the Spanish Civil WarBattle cry
The first 'kill' of the last day of
September went to Hptm Günther
Freiherr Von Maltzahn of Stab II./
JG 53 who downed a Potez 63
of GR II/52 near Saarbrücken at
1135hrs. Fifteen minutes later, 2
Staffel, comprising Oblt Pingel, Stfw
Prestele, Uffz Franz Kaiser, Uffz
Hans Kornatz and Uffz Josef ‘Sepp’
Wurmheller, each claimed a
Fairey Battle.
Their claims were remarkably
accurate: 150 Squadron had been
on a photo-reconnaissance sortie
in the Saarbrücken area when four
aircraft were shot down, with four
crew killed, one captured and six
wounded. A fifth Battle, flown
by Sqn Ldr Bill MacDonald, was
so badly damaged it crashed on
landing. The pilot was awarded
a DFC, gunner AC1 Alexander
Murcar a DFM and observer Sgt
Fred Gardiner a BEM.
A report of the encounter
appeared the following day: “Out
from behind a bank of cloud came
nine Messerschmitt fighters. They
approached from directly behind,
flying 2,000ft higher. Away on the
right another six swooped to attack.
Breaking formation, the Germans
concentrated mass fire on each
British machine in turn.Top right
Oblt Hans Karl Mayer
of 1 Staffel poses
with Bf 109E-3 ‘White
2’. His fi rst 'kill' of
1939 would not be
until November.Top left
Lt Heinz Wittenberg
(left) scored two
'kills' during the
war, with III./JG 53,
while Lt Karl-Wilhelm
Heimbs of I Gruppe
would shoot down
two aircraft in
September 1939; he
was killed in action
on the 30th
of the month.Above
The Fairey Battle
proved vulnerable
to modern German
fi ghters, and after
1940 was relegated
to training roles.Above right
A common sight
during the early
months of the war.
This LeO 451 of the
Armée de l’Air’s GB
1/31 was shot down
by a Bf 109 of 2./
JG 52 fl own by Lt
Hans Berthel, near
Euskirchen, on
October 6, 1939.“Three of our machines were
shot down. Another made a force-
landing, but out of the 12 men
forming the crews, eight were seen
to escape by parachute.
“The squadron leader (Bill
MacDonald) alone was left but he
flew on just the same to finish his
job. Dodging, side-slipping and
banking, he got away from the
concentrated enemy fire but held
the course...
“Meanwhile, in the tail, the gunner
(Alexander Murcar) kept up a
steady stream of fire... bullets hit the
engine of the leading Messerschmitt.
The enemy machine swerved and
in a second burst into flames and
plunged to earth.“Keeping up his fire the gunner
landed further bursts into a second
fighter. With black smoke pouring
from the nose it went into a spin;
250 rounds of ammunition had
accounted for two enemy aircraft...
“The aircraft when it landed had
80 bullet holes in the fabric, the
ailerons and rudder were damaged,
both petrol tanks were burst and
flooding the fuselage with petrol and
fumes. As they crossed the frontier,
the engine failed. From the starboard
tank petrol poured through a bullet
hole each time the aircraft banked,
but by stopping the hole with his
handkerchief, the pilot was able to
save enough petrol to get home. “As
the machine touched down, it spun“‘With black smoke pouring
from the nose, it went into a
spin: 250 rounds of ammunition
had accounted for two enemy
aircraft...’”