Osprey aviation elite 027 jagdverband 44 squadron of experten

Jagdverband Squadron of Experten 44 ROBERT FORSYTH has studied the history and operations of the Luftwaffe for many years, and he met and interviewed numerous former members of JV 44 around the world, including Adolf Galland, Walter Krupinski, Klaus Neumann, Herbert Kaiser, and Franz Stigler, during his research into the unit Working full time in aviation publishing since the mid 1990s, he is the author of JV 44 - The Galland Circus (1996), Battle over BavariaThe B-26 versus the German Jets (1998), Mistel - German Composite Aircraft and Operations 1942-1945 (2001) and Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerikabomber (2006) with Eddie J Creek JIM LAURIER is a native of New England, who grew up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil, and throughout his life he has worked in many media, creating artwork on a variety of subjects He has been a regular contributor to the Osprey Aviation list since 2000, and in that time he has produced some of the finest artwork seen in these volumes Aviation Elite Units Jagdverband 44 Squadron of Experten OSPREY PUBLISHING Aviation Elite Units • 27 OSPREY PUBLISHING Jagdverband 44 Squadron of Experten Robert Forsyth Series editor Tony Holmes Front Cover On 20 April 1945, Me 262s of Jagdverband 44 took off from their base at Munich-Riem to intercept B-26 Marauders of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force en route to bomb the marshalling yards at Memmingen, in southern Germany The 48 aircraft of the 323rd Bomb Group (BG), led by Capt Lewis S Caldwell, were formed into three 'boxes' comprising eight six-aircraft flights, and were following a course from their base at Denain-Prouvy, in France, over the Rhine and into Bavaria On the ground, JV 44's control room at Feldkirchen had picked up the bombers' approach and duly despatched a force of around 15 Me 262s, formed into individual Ketten, at 1030 hrs to intercept Shortly after 1100 hrs, JV 44's Me 262s were flying west in line astern in loose Ketten formation at between 3350-4000 metres when they observed the American bombers in clear skies over Kempten-Memmingen The first Kette closed in on the Marauders from behind and the tail gunners began to open up as they attempted to keep the jets at bay The Messerschmitt fighters' speed, combined with their lethal 30 mm guns, proved devastating, however This specially commissioned cover artwork by Mark Postlethwaite depicts JV 44's Me 262s at the moment of their fast pass through the formation Three bombers were shot down and a further seven damaged in the attack (Cover artwork by Mark Postlethwaite) DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my mother, Muriel 'Lulu' Forsyth, who was an unshakeable example and true inspiration to me in every respect during the first 33 years of my life I come to learn that more as every subsequent year passes First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Osprey Publishing Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford, 0X2 OPH 443 Park Avenue South, New York, NY, 10016, USA E-mail;info@ospreypublishing.com © 2008 Osprey Publishing Limited All rights reserved Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission All enquiries should be addressed to the publisher ISBN 13: 978 84603 294 Edited by Tony Holmes Page design by Mark Holt Cover Artwork by Mark Postlethwaite Aircraft Profiles by Jim Laurier Index by Alan Thatcher Originated by PDQ Digital Media Solutions Printed and bound in China through Bookbuilders 08 09 10 11 12 10 ACKNO~EDGEMENTS For their kind contribution during this 'second pass' ~t Jagdverband 44, the author would like to extend sincere thanks to Josef Dobnig, a former member of the unit, who so readily made available his recollections of his time with JV 44, and to Dr Wolfgang Dobnig for his helpful assistance during the writing of this book I would also like to thank Eddie Creek, Nick Beale, Gotz Freiherr von Richthofen, Richard Chapman, Tomas Poruba and Eric Mombeek for their kind help, guidance and suggestions EDITOR'S NOTE To make this best-selling series as authoritative as possible, the Editor would be interested in hearing from any individual who may have relevant photographs, documentation or first-hand experiences relating to the world's elite pilots, and their aircraft, of the various theatres of war Any material used will be credited to its original source Please write to Tony Holmes via e-mail at: tony.holmes@zen.co.uk CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE HEROES OR OUTCASTS? CHAPTER TWO FORMING UP 20 CHAPTER THREE BATS OUT OF HELL 47 CHAPTER FOUR RED AND WHITE RIDDLE 98 CHAPTER FIVE MOUNTAIN KINGS 106 APPENDICES 122 COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY 127 INDEX 128 UJ Z o a: UJ l- e