Jagdgeschwader 54 | |
---|---|
Active | 1939–1945 |
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Luftwaffe |
Type | Fighter Aircraft |
Role | Air superiority |
Size | Air Force Wing |
Nickname(s) | Grünherz, Green Hearts |
Engagements | Western Front |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Hannes Trautloft |
Aircraft flown | |
Fighter | Bf 109, Fw 190, Me 262 |
Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) was a Luftwaffe fighter wing that was founded in late 1936 and operated from 1939, the entire length of the Second World War. It later existed under the reformed Luftwaffe from 1947 to 1991 as BG54/B54 A B and C. Originally, JG 54 flew most of its missions on the Eastern Front where it claimed more than 9,600 aircraft shot down. It was the second-highest scoring wing in the Luftwaffe after JG 52 (+10,000 victories). Notable pilot aces (Experten) that flew with JG 54 included Walter Nowotny, Walter Boerner,Otto Kittel, Hans-Ekkehard Bob, Max-Hellmuth Ostermann, Hugo Broch and Hannes Trautloft.
JG 54 participated in the Invasion of Poland in 1939, and the Battle of Britain and invasion of the Balkans in 1940. The unit was transferred to the Eastern Front in the spring of 1941 in preparation for the invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. It remained there for the rest of the Second World War. JG 54 first flew Bf 109Fs before changing to the more powerful Fw 190.
I./JG 54 was initially formed as I./JG 70 in July 1939. On 15 September 1939, I./JG 70 was redesignated I./JG 54. The initial unit designation for II./JG 54 was I./JG 138. This unit was raised in 1938 after the Anschluss of Austria and included many Austrian nationals. I./JG 138 became II./JG 54 on 6 April 1940. III./JG 54 was initially raised as I./JG 21 and redesignated III./JG 54 on 15 July 1939, with official records reflecting the change only after a year. Thus, III./JG 54 fought in Poland and France as I./JG 21.
JG 54 took part the invasion of Poland in September–October 1939. Equipped with Bf 109s, their operations consisted of ground attack, air superiority and escorting Stukas. JG 54 was transferred back to Germany on 9 October 1939. Before the invasion of France, during a period known as Phoney War, it operated mainly in an air defence role.
Germany invaded France on 10 May 1940. The Luftwaffe operated by advancing in front of the German army to destroy French airfields and bomb cities, industrial complexes and transportation hubs. JG 54's role was to escort the bombers (Stukas and Heinkel He 111s mostly) and to conduct fighter sweeps in French airspace in order to maintain air superiority. The unit also operated at Dunkirk against the evacuating British Expeditionary Force. During the period 10 May to 21 June (until the capitulation of France), JG 54 claimed 17 aircraft, according to JG 54 documentation.
Before the Battle of Britain the wing was transferred to the Netherlands. In a British raid on the Soesterberg airfield, III./JG 54 suffered heavy ground crew and equipment losses. While in the Netherlands, the unit claimed another 21 aircraft.
The Battle of Britain began in late July and early August, with the goal of destroying the RAF, a prerequisite of a land invasion of Britain. The three JG 54 squadrons were transferred to airfields near Calais. Fighter availability, at the starts of JG 54's Channel Front operations peaked at between 60 and 80 machines. [1] The first major clash in the Battle came for JG 54 on 5 August 1940, when 1. and 3. Staffeln attacked six Spitfires of No. 64 Squadron over the Kent coast and shot down two, suffering a Bf 109 damaged. [2]
Dissatisfied with the fighter arm's performance in the operation, Göring's purge led to a command shakeup in mid-1940. Major Hannes Trautloft was placed in command of JG 54. The Battle of Britain proved costly for both the Luftwaffe and JG 54. The wing lost 43 pilots (40 percent of its strength at the onset of the operations): 18 killed in action and two in accidents, 13 missing in action and 10 made prisoners. [3] In return, JG 54 claimed 238 enemy aircraft destroyed. After the Luftwaffe's poor performance, the three squadrons were assigned to separate locations in Germany and France.
On 29 March 1941 Stab, II., and III./JG 54 were relocated to the Balkans, for the war against Yugoslavia. With the Balkans campaign over, the Geschwader's tally of air victories had risen to 376. The unit was moved to Pomerania to re-equip with the Bf 109F [4] in preparation for Operation Barbarossa.
JG 54 was assigned to Army Group North during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 as part of the Luftwaffe's Luftflotte 1 . From the first days of the conflict, the unit proved to be one of the most effective units of the entire eastern front. June 30 was one of its most successful days of the entire war: JG 54 claimed no less than 65 kills (mostly bombers without fighters escort) over the town of Daugavpils. [5] The "Grünherz" pushed on, still supporting Army Group North, towards the Gulf of Finland, fighting through Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. [5] JG 54's operations for 1941-43 had a twofold objective: to keep the pressure on the Leningrad sector, and to reduce Soviet pressure on the Lake Ilmen area at the German flank. The Geschwader remained on that part of the Eastern Front for most of its existence. In the period 22 June - 5 December 1941 the unit destroyed 1,078 Soviet aircraft in return for 46 losses in aerial combat and a single fighter on the ground. [6] Such was the pace and scale of fighting that JG 54 celebrated its 1,000 kill on 1 August 1941, thanks to Lieutenant Max-Hellmuth Ostermann. [7]
JG 54 received its first Focke-Wulf Fw 190s in February 1943. On the 19th of that month had claimed its 4,000th aerial victory. [8] On February 23, "Grünherz" obtained another of their greatest victories of the war, claiming 32 kills for no losses, in the Leningrad area. [9] The following day I and III Gruppen claimed 43 more. By February 1943, JG 54 had flown 21,453 war sorties. [8] I. Gruppe took part in the Battle of Kursk in July–August 1943. Feldwebel Helmut Missner was credited with JG 54's 5,000th aerial victory on 17 July. [10] But I Gruppe lost not less than tre Kommandeuren in succession between 6 July and 4 August. [11] Moreover, still in July, Trautloft had left JG 54, when General Adolf Galland asked him to join his staff (he ended the war with 57 victories and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross). After his departure, JG 54 continued operating in the area of Army Group North, and their victory tally rose continuously. The 7,000th JG 54 claim was made on 23 March 1944, with the 8,000 mark passed on 15 August.
I., II. and IV./ JG 54 ended the war fighting around the Baltic region, supporting the troops of Army Group North through Latvia and Estonia, and into the Courland Pocket. JG 54 could never hope to regain air superiority against the mounting number of Russian aircraft. The Russians never defeated Army Group North, which held out until the last day of the war, surrendering 210,000 Germans to the Soviets in Courland.
All remaining serviceable Fw 190's of JG 54 were ordered to fly to Flensburg on the German-Danish border. 90 personnel from JG 54 were able to flee to the west by air. The German Navy evacuated as many as possible of the remaining ground personnel by ship.
In February 1943 III./JG 54 was transferred back to the west for operations against the RAF and USAAF. At first they operated as a stand-alone Bf 109G Gruppe, but later were attached to JG 26. Intensive training in the more rigorous techniques of fighting on the Western Front were only partly successful, and Oberst Josef Priller, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 and charged with III. Gruppe's training, refused to declare the gruppe operational. III Gruppe transferred to North Germany as a result, supporting Jagdgeschwader 1.
During the autumn of 1944, III./JG 54 was the first Luftwaffe unit to be supplied with the new Fw 190 D-9 "Dora". The D-9s were used in base defence missions for the Me 262 jets of Kommando Nowotny, and later over North-West Europe. 68 operational aircraft were available early in December, but due to heavy losses, the gruppe was disbanded soon after. Pilots Robert Weiß, the Gruppenkommandeur, and 12 other pilots were killed by RAF fighters on 29 December 1944 alone.
At the end of 1944 ZG 76 was disbanded and its pilots formed the nucleus of a new III./JG 54. Operating from Berlin, the unit's Fw 190s saw intensive action against Soviet ground targets such as road and rail supply columns, flak positions, armour and the bridges across the River Oder. A few weeks before the war ended, the depleted III./JG 54 was disbanded, being absorbed into JG 26.
Although Luftwaffe documentation were destroyed at the end of the war surviving records indicate JG 54 lost 491 pilots killed in action and 242 pilots missing. A further 322 pilots were wounded in action. The ground personnel lost 570 killed. [12] Total losses in aircraft were approximately 1,071 Bf 109 and 746 Fw 190.
Walter Nowotny was an Austrian-born fighter ace of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He is credited with 258 aerial victories—that is, 258 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—in 442 combat missions. Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters, the Messerschmitt Me 262, in the Defense of the Reich. He scored most of his victories in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Nowotny scored an "ace in a day" on multiple occasions, shooting down at least five airplanes on the same day, including two occurrences of "double-ace in a day" in mid-1943.
Jagdgeschwader 52 was a German World War II fighter Geschwader (wing) that exclusively used the Messerschmitt Bf 109 throughout the war. The unit originally formed near Munich in November 1938, then moved to a base near Stuttgart. JG 52 became the most successful fighter-Geschwader of the war, with a claimed total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft during World War II. It was the unit of the top three scoring flying aces of all time, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall.
Otto Kittel was a German fighter pilot during World War II. He flew 583 combat missions on the Eastern Front, claiming 267 aerial victories, making him the fourth highest scoring ace in aviation history according to authors John Weal and Jerry Scutts. Kittel claimed all of his victories against the Red Air Force.
Hans Ekkehard Bob was a German fighter pilot, serving with the Luftwaffe. During World War II, Bob flew approximately 700 combat missions, and claimed 60 victories; 37 of which were on the Eastern Front.
Johannes "Hannes" Otto Trautloft was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during the Spanish Civil War and World War II, and general in the postwar German Air Force. As a fighter ace, he is credited with 58 enemy aircraft shot down, including 5 in Spain, 8 on the Western Front and 45 on the Eastern Front of World War II.
Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" was a Luftwaffe fighter wing of World War II. The Geschwader operated on all the German fronts in the European Theatre of World War II. It was named after Ernst Udet, an important figure in the development of the Luftwaffe, in 1942.
Kurt Bühligen was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 112 enemy aircraft shot down in over 700 combat missions. His victories were all claimed over the Western Front and included 24 four-engine bombers and 47 Supermarine Spitfire fighters.
Kurt "Kuddel" Ubben was a German Luftwaffe wing commander and military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace listed with 110 aerial victories—that is, 111 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in approximately 500 combat missions.
Werner Schröer was a German military aviator and wing commander in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 114 enemy aircraft shot down in 197 combat missions. He claimed twelve aerial victories on the Eastern Front with the remaining claims filed over the Western Allies, including 26 four-engine heavy bombers.
Anton "Toni" Hackl was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 192 enemy aircraft shot down in over 1,000 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front, with 87 claims over the Western Front. Of his 87 victories over the Western Allies, at least 32 were four-engined bombers, a further 24 victories were unconfirmed.
Robert "Bazi" Weiß was an Austrian-born Luftwaffe fighter pilot during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 121 aerial victories claimed in more than 471 combat missions. Weiß claimed the majority of his victories over the Eastern Front, and 26 over the Western Allies, including three four-engined heavy bombers.
Gerhard Homuth was a World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace. He scored all but two of his 63 victories against the Western Allies whilst flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and was one of the top scoring aces in the North African campaign.
Heinz Lange was an officer and pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II who briefly commanded fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 51. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Reinhard Seiler was a Nazi German Luftwaffe Major and ace of the Spanish Civil War and World War II, commander of Jagdgeschwader 104 and a winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves; for the fighter pilots, it was a quantifiable measure of skill and combat success. Reinhard Seiler was credited with 100 victories during World War II, over the course of about 500 combat missions. He recorded an additional 9 victories during the Spanish Civil War.
Jagdgeschwader 4 was a Luftwaffe fighter wing of World War II.
Erich Hohagen was a German general in the Bundeswehr. During World War II, he served as a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe. A fighter ace, Hohagen was credited with 56 aerial victories and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Franz Eisenach was a German fighter ace during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was credited with 129 aerial victories claimed in 319 combat missions, all on the Eastern front of the Second World War.
Siegfried Schnell was a German military aviator who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 93—that is, 93 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. He had three victories on the Eastern Front and 90 over the Western Allies, including 12 four-engine bombers.
Alfred Teumer was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace during World War II. He is credited with 76 aerial victories claimed in over 300 combat missions. This figure includes 66 aerial victories on the Eastern Front, and further ten claims over the Western Allies.
Karl Borris was a World War II Luftwaffe military aviator and test pilot. As a flying ace, he is credited with 43 victories, all of them over the Western Front, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Borris was involved in the introduction of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 to front line service. Borris and 30 other pilots, technicians and engineers extensively tested the Fw 190 and their input was used in the decision to continue the project.