Jagdgeschwader 27
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jagdgeschwader 27 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Active | |
| Country | Germany |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Type | Fighter Aircraft |
| Role | Air superiority |
| Size | Air Force Wing |
| Nickname | Afrika |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Edurd Neumann |
Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) Afrika was a World War II Luftwaffe wing. It was most famous for being based in North Africa and Tunisia supporting the Afrika Korps.
The emblem of the I gruppe (comprising the African continent) was not devised during the unit's service in Africa, but originates with the Gruppenkommandeur in 1940 Hauptmann Reigel (KIA July 1940) who was born in German South West Africa.
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[edit] Formation
The Stab and I. Gruppe, JG 27 were formed in Handorf, Germany on 1 October 1939, with II. Gruppe formed in January 1940 in Magdeburg. In July 1940 I./JG 1 transferred into JG 27 as III. Gruppe. From July 1941 a Spanish attachment flew with the Geschwader as 15./JG 27. The IV. Gruppe was formed in June 1943 in Kalamaki, Athens.
[edit] Wartime service
[edit] Europe and Eastern Front
JG 27 saw considerable action both during the Battle of France as part of VIII. Fliegerkorps, scoring heavily against Allied bombers during the crossing of the Meuse river. 285 claims for aircraft destroyed were made, Hauptmann Wilhelm Balthasar (of 1./JG 1, by July renamed 7./JG 27) becoming top scorer of the campaign with 24 air kills and 13 ground kills. Hauptmann Adolf Galland the Geschwader adjudant to Geschwaderkommodore Oberst Max Ibel, also made 14 claims during the campaign.
Based near Cherbourg for the Battle of Britain, JG 27 had a relatively inauspicious campaign, claiming 146 aircraft downed although losses of pilots were heavy with 83 Bf -109E's lost, and 58 killed, missing or POW by December 1940. In November JG 27 redeployed back to Germany for re-equipping and rest.
In April 1941 the Geschwader briefly served in the Balkans, before (with the exception of I./JG 27) participating in the opening offensive against the Soviet Union on the central front in June 1941. On the first day of action Major Wolfgang Schellmann was shot down by a Soviet I-16 fighter and although he bailed out was later executed by NKVD troops. In September a Spanish Air Force volunteer staffel was attached to JG 27, becoming 15.(span.)/JG 27. Recalled to Spain in January 1942, 460 missions were flown on the Eastern Front for 10 air kills claimed. In November the Gruppen were returned to Germany for re-fitting.
[edit] North Africa
I. Gruppe had been sent in April 1941 to Gazala, North Africa in order to support the German Afrika Korps. Under the astute command of Hauptmann "Edu" Neumann, on of the Luftwaffe's most capable field commanders, I gruppe would quickly improve its performance. On 19 April I./JG 27 claimed its first four victories – One shot down by Oberleutnant' Karl-Wolfgang Redlich, Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel, provided I./JG 27 with its 100th victory of the war. In September the group was joined by II./JG 27, having by then achieved 43 victories in a three-week stint on the Eastern Front. This was now equipped with the Bf-109F trop. The arrival of Hpt. Wolfgang Lippert’s II. Gruppe permitted I./JG 27 to rotate back to Germany, one Staffel at a time, to exchange its war-weary 'Emils' for brand new 'Friedrichs'. The whole process would take well over a month. With the departure of III./JG 27 in late October from Russia, by December the whole of JG 27 was in North Africa. The JG 27 contingent had claimed over 270 aircraft during operations on the Eastern Front in 1941 for just 16 109's lost in air combat.
The Geschwader had an immediate impact on the campaign, which had up until then been dominated by the RAF and SAAF's Desert Air Force. JG 27 now became synonymous with the Afrika Korps and the campaign in North Africa, providing Rommel's army with fighter protection for virtually the whole Western Desert campaign from late 1941 until November 1942.
Fighting against the Desert Air Forces' fighter-bomber Hawker Hurricane's, and Curtiss P-40's, the Bf-109's inflicted heavy losses on the Allied aircraft, although servicability in the harsh conditions and chronic fuel shortages greatly reduced JG 27's effectiveness. On March 24 1942, Leutnant Korner shot down a Douglas Boston for the Geschwader's 1,000th victory.
On 23 March III./JG 27 sent a small detachment to Kastelli,Crete. On 5 May a fourth Staffel was added to the gruppe; 10.(Jabo)/JG 27 was intended to operate in the fighter-bomber role.
Leutnant Hans-Joachim Marseille and Oberfeldwebel Otto Schulz were each awarded the Knight’s Cross on 22 February (for 50 and 44 victories respectively). Schulz was promoted to Oberleutnant although he would be shot down and killed after 51 claims on 17 June.
On 7 August a Schwarm from 5./JG 27, led by Oberfeldwebel Clade, chanced upon a Bristol Bombay transport of No. 216 Squadron RAF. The Bombay was carrying a special passenger; Lt. Gen. W.H.E. Gott, who, only hours previously, had been appointed Commander of the British 8th Army. Clade’s first pass forced the lumbering Bombay to crash-land. All but one of those remaining inside, including Gott, were killed when Unteroffizier Schneider carried out a strafing run. Lt Gen Gott was the highest ranked British soldier to be killed by enemy fire in World War 2. His death led to the hurried appointment of a replacement commander for the 8th Army – a relative unknown named Bernard Law Montgomery.
On 1 September 1942, as the Afrika Korps assaulted the British positions at El Alamein, Jg 27 had their best day, claiming 70 Allied aircraft for 6 losses of their own. Hpt. Marseille alone claimed 17, destroying 9 P-40s in 17 minutes during one sortie over Alam Halfa.
By late 1942, Allied superiority in numbers began to tell. Such was the intensity of operations that by November JG 27 often had fewer than a dozen fighters serviceable. In the space of three weeks Jagdgeschwader 27 were rocked by the deaths of its three top aces, Leut. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt (59 kills) was killed by a 601 Squadron Spitfire 24 hours after the death in action of JG 27 ace Leut.Gunther Steinhausen (40 kills) against Hurricanes of 127 Squadron. This was then followed three weeks later on the 30 September 1942 by the death of Hpt. Hans-Joachim Marseille, 'The Star of Africa' (158 kills) in an aircraft accident.
I./JG 27 had claimed 588 aircraft shot down between April 1941- November 1942. Stahlschmidt, Steinhausen and Marseille accounted for 250 of these; a huge 42% of the unit's total.
Understandably, high combat fatigue and low morale meant the Stab, I. and III. Gruppen of JG 27 were withdrawn to Sicily in October to operate over Malta. They returned briefly to North Africa but then the whole of JG 27 was withdrawn from the theatre for the final time in December of 1942. JG 27 were replaced by JG 77.
The total claims in North Africa for JG 27 were 1,166 aircraft, (the 'Stab' flight claimed 1 kill, I Gruppe claimed 588, II gruppe 477, and III Gruppe 100 aircraft shot down).JG 27 had lost some 200 aircraft in action. The top surviving scorers were I/JG 27's Lt Werner Schroer with 61 claims and Hpt. Gustav Rödel of II/JG 27 who by now claimed 52 kills.
[edit] Back to Europe
In 1943 I./JG 27 was posted to Air Fleet 3 in Northern France, while II./JG 27 went to Sicily and Brindisi and were tasked with the protection of the supply convoys from Sicily and Tunisia. Lt Willi Kientsch emerged as the top scorer during these operations , adding 25 claims to the 17 scored in Africa. II gruppe then returned to Germany in August 1943 for Reich air defense duties based in Frankfurt, Weisbaden and Merzhausen. The gruppe, under the command of Hpt.Werner Schroer, first saw action on 6 September 1943, claiming 9 B-17's shot down. In May 1943 IV. JG 27 was formed in Greece, and was posted to defend the Rumanian oil fields at Ploesti.
I gruppe found the transition from desert warfare to anti-bomber operations difficult; many of the pilots were fresh recruits and the experten left were unfamiliar with the European theater. Gruppenkommandeur Hpt. Heinrich Setz (132 Soviet kills) was killed in March 1943. Hpt Erich Hohagen, a JG 2 veteran- was posted in to command I./JG 27, although he was badly wounded in July 1943, and the gruppe were transferred to the South of France soon after.
III./JG 27, Stab./JG 27, and IV./JG 27 remained on Crete and the Greek islands and were in action against the unsuccessful British landings on various Greek Islands in the fall of 1943. The Geschwader claimed its 2,000 kill on 29 September 1943.
While based at Wels I./JG 27 increased its establishment of personnel and aircraft to double its usual complement, as the unit undertook training for experienced junior pilots from other units to become formation leaders.
On 14 May 1944 Uzz. Stadler of 7. JG 27 (still stationed on Crete) scored the last of JG 27's total of 1740 air victories in the North African and Mediterranean theaters.
In June 1944 the invasion of France prompted I, III. and IV./JG 27 to be thrown into the battle, initially stationed on airfields around Rheims. By September the Jagdgruppen in France had been decimated, with JG 27 alone losing nearly 200 aircraft and 87 pilots killed and 62 wounded. (146 Allied aircraft were claimed shot down.) They were withdrawn to Saxonia for re-formation.
Meantime II./JG 27 were in Austria, working up on the Bf 109 G-6/AS high altitude fighter.
By November JG 27 was back serving with Reich air defense, flying operations in the Southern Germany and Austria against the USAAF 15th Air Force bombing raids. On 2 November JG 27 suffered its highest losses on a single day, losing 27 pilots killed and 11 wounded to the escort fighters of the USAAF in return for 7 US fighters shot down.
The Geschwader also took part in the ill-fated Operation Bodenplatte attacks on Allied airfields on New Year's Day 1945, losing 18 pilots. The IV gruppe was disbanded in March 1945 to provide reinforcements to the other Gruppen. During the last five months of the war, JG 27 claimed some 90 kills, but lost 126 aircraft.
By 8 May, the remains of JG 27 wwere based near Salzburg, Austria. JG 27's commander surrendered to the American forces nearby.
Although offical records were lost at the eand of the war, research suggests Jagdgeschwader 27 claimed over 3,000 kills for some 1,400 aircraft lost, and lost approximately 827 pilots killed, missing or POW during 1939-45. Twenty-four JG 27 pilots earned the Ritterkreuz.
[edit] Some of the Luftwaffe aces attached to JG 27
- Wilhelm Balthasar 23 kills with JG 27, 44 total
- Ludwig Franzisket 43 all with JG 27, 1939-45.
- Fritz Gromotka 27 with JG 27
- Max Ibel 3 kills with JG 27
- Erbo Graf von Kageneck 65 kills with JG27 (48 in USSR)
- Willi Kientsch 41 with JG 27, 52 total
- Hans-Joachim Marseille 151 with JG27 in Africa, 158 in total
- Gustav Rödel 57 with JG 27, 98 kills total
- Gerhard Homuth 46 in Africa, 61 with JG 27, 63 total
- Karl-Heinz Bendert 36 kills, 54 total
- Otto Schulz 42 in Africa, 51 kills total
- Werner Schroer 61 kills in Africa, 114 in total.
- Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt 59 kills, Africa.
- Adolf Galland 14 kills with JG 27, 104 total.
- Friedrich Korner 36 kills, Africa
- Rudolf Sinner 32 in Africa, 39 total
[edit] JG 27 Geschwaderkomodoren
- Oberstleutnant Max Ibel (1 Oct 1939 - 10 Oct 1940)
- Major Bernhard Woldenga (10 Oct 1940 - 22 Oct 1940)
- Major Wolfgang Schellmann (22 Oct 1940 - 21 June 1941; KIA USSR)
- Major Bernhard Woldenga (21 June 1941 - 10 June 1942)
- Oberstleutnant Eduard Neumann (10 June 1942 - 22 Apr 1943)
- Oberstleutnant Gustav Rödel (22 Apr 1943 - 29 Dec 1944)
- Major Ludwig Franzisket (29 Dec 1944 - 8 May 1945)
[edit] Sources
- Various- 'The Battle of Britain- Then & Now'(Plaistow Press 1987)
- Christopher Shores- ' Mediterranean Air War' (Ian Allen 1974)
- Shores, Christopher and Hans Ring- Fighters over the Desert: The Air Battles in the Western Desert, June 1940 to December 1942' (Arco 1969)
- Trevor Constable & Col. Raymond Toliver - 'Horrido!' (Bantam 1977)
- John A. Weal - Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika (Osprey Publishing 2003)
