"Defence of the Reich”

1/48 Monogram Bf-109G-6

Gallery Article by Mark L. Rossmann on Jan 14 2016

 

      

Defence of the Reich, the 820 day campaign started on January 23, 1943 when the North Sea Naval base at Wilhelmshaven was bombed by 53 B-17’s, the first 8th AF raid on Germany itself. Six days after this, some 1500 miles to the east, the remains of General Field Marshal Von Paulus’s 6th Army surrendered at Stalingrad. After that date, Hitler’s forces would not win another major victory.

By the spring of 45, Axis forces in North Africa had long surrendered, now remnants  slowly moving north in Italy to the looming mountains of the Alps. In the east, German troops once ready to take Moscow were now preparing to defend Berlin. The surviving troops that escaped Normandy and Falaise were now defending the Rhine and the Elbe.

But there was no place to run for the Jagdgruppen of the Luftwaffe, defending what was left of the skies over the Reich. Standing toe to toe with the USAAF, the outcome was far from over that first year. It was early 1944 before the punishing weight of America’s industry and determination began to take its toll, especially the introduction of the venerable Mustang. By the spring of 1945 the desperate actions of the Luftwaffe were to finally fade. On April 25th, 1414 US and British bombers flew their last bombing raids of the ETO. 15 heavies were lost, but not one fell to the guns of the Luftwaffe. Five days later, indeed all was lost, Hitler committed suicide.

Click on images below to see larger images

In 1943 Germany recalled three more Gruppen back to strengthen its defence, IV./JG3 and II./JG 27 from Italy and II./JG3 from Russia, this occurring during a bombing lull after the Schweinfurt raids as the VIII bomber command reorganized.

Upon its return to Germany, the Stab/JG 3 was based at Mönchengladbach. On December 4, 1943 Hpt. Wilhelm Lemke (131 kills) was killed in combat with P-47s of the 352nd Fighter Group.

The losses continued as with most Reich Defence fighter units, JG 3 suffered heavily through early 1944 against the increasing numbers of USAAF escort fighters, losing many irreplaceable experten.

On 15 March 1944, Hpt. Emil Bitsch (108 kills) was shot down and killed by 352nd Fighter Group P-47s.

On 23 March 1944 Wilcke led JG 3 in an attack on a USAAF bomber formation near Braunschweig. During combat, Wilcke shot down a P-51 for his 162nd victory, but was then shot down and killed by fighters of the 4th Fighter Group.

On 19 April 1944, Oblt. Otto Weßling (83 kills) was shot down and killed in combat near Eschwege. Wilcke's successor as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3 was Major Friedrich-Karl "Tutti" Müller, the CO of IV. /JG 3. The 140-kill experte was, however, killed in a landing accident at Salzwedel on 29 May 1944.

During this time frame several specialized high-altitude Gruppen moved to a low visibility RLM 76 blue/gray finish. Several units however placed the spiral on the nose and the “Defence of the Reich” band around the fuselage. It was noted these additional markings may have compromised the intent of the new finish.

Black “14” Bf 109G-6 was flown by Unteroffizer Horst Petzschler 2./JG3, Burg bei Magdeburg in May 1944. This aircraft was lost on May 30, 1944 against P-51’s near Madgeburg while flown by another pilot. Petzschler, in defence of the Reich, scored 2 fighter and 2 bomber kills before being wounded. He then returned to his original unit, JG51, finishing and surviving the war with 27 victories.

Model: 
Is from Monogram and decals come from a Bf 109 Fujimi kit. There is a large number of JG’s represented, kill markings, aircraft numbers, unit badges on the sheet. I trimmed the white off the kit crosses to get the appropriate marking.

 

Tamiya rattle can synthetic AS-5 (Luftwaffe Light Blue) was used for the overall aircraft and AS-3 (Luftwaffe Gray Green) for the propeller.

 

References:

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #29 and #68

Wikipedia

 

Steve thank you for your site.

 

Regards,

Mark L. Rossmann

Photos and text © by Mark L. Rossmann