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Rolf Ebhardt
| Oberleutnant Rolf Ebhardt (deceased) Joined Luftwaffe in December 1941 and began flight training at Dresden in February 1942. Joined NJG 101 in December 1942 (night training unit) where he completed his specialist training. (In training flew Ju52, He111, Ju88, Do217 and Me109) As a newly promoted Leutnant he joined III/NJG 1 in Holland on 1st November 1943 and achieved his first night time victory on 26 April 1944. By the time of his eighth and last victory on 5 January 1945 he had flown 82 operations and been awarded the Iron Cross First and Second Class. All his ops were flown in Me110s. He died in March 2013. |
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| Text for the above items : |
Hand of Fate by David Pentland. South of Alexandria, Egypt, 7th August 1942. When a pair of Me109Fs from JG27 unexpectedly encountered a lumbering Bristol Bombay and downed it, they were unaware of the full significance of their action. It was only on their return to base that Emil Clade and Bernd Schneider heard that Lt. General Strafer Gott the formidable new commander of the 8th Army had perished on the fallen transport. His death opened the way for his replacement, General Montgomery. |
Tip of the Spear by David Pentland. Isle of Wight, England, 28th November 1940. Late in the afternoon, the Me109s of JG2 took off on a Frei Jagd or fighter sweep over southern England. At its head, and leading the Stabschwarm was the Geschwaderkommodore Helmut Wick, along with his wingmen Erich Leie, Rudolf Pflanz, and Erich Rudorffer. When RAF Spitfires were sighted Wick gave the order to engage and the staff flight pulled away to give battle - it was to be his final dogfight. In the ensuing battle, Wick, Pflanz, and Gunther Seeger each claimed a Spitfire, but Wick in turn was lost to the RAF. |
Early Risers by David Pentland. Gramatikovo, Russia, 19th March 1944. Oberleutnant Walter Wolfrum (Black 15) and wingman of 5 Staffel JG52 take off on a dawn patrol. By the end of the day Oberleutnant Wolfrum would have accounted for 5 Soviet aircraft. |
New Enemy by David Pentland. Kedainiai, Lithuania, 23rd June 1941. Taking part in the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, Hans-Ekkehard Bob recorded his first victory in Russian airspace - a Tupolev SB-2 twin-engined bomber. During this combat action his Me 109F2 was hit by return fire, resulting in a forced landing behind enemy lines. He evaded capture and returned to his unit 2 days later. This was his 22nd victory. |
Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5/U8 by Ivan Berryman. Focke-Wulf FW.190A-5/U8 of 1 Gruppe, Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 in 1943. All national markings were painted out, except for the call sign C on the fuselage and repeated, crudely sprayed, on the engine cowling. |
Taran over the Kuban by David Pentland. Crimea, 7th August 1943. While flying a late afternoon combat patrol with Otto Fonnekolds schwarm, from 5 staffel, JG52, Willi Batz witnessed a taran or ramming attack by a soviet fighter on a Luftwaffe Fw189 artillery spotter. Then a second Spitfire, which Batz mistook for an Aircobra attempted to finish off the crew which had just bailed out. At this point Batz was able to intervene and opened fire on the Spitfire forcing the Russian to take to his own parachute. This was to be his 12th victory, his final tally would be 237. Unfortunately for the German crew they were all captured on landing. |
Messerschmitt Bf.110G4b/R3 by Ivan Berryman. Messerschmitt Bf.110G4b/R3 of 7 Staffel, III/Natchjagdgeschwader 4, Autumn 1943. |
Kannonenboot by David Pentland. Adriatic coast, Greece, 20th Dece,ber 1943. 20mm cannon armed Messerschmitt 109G-6/R6 trop, flown by Oberleutnant Josef-Emil Clade, Staffelkapitan 7/JG27 White 9 and his wingman White 7. |
Last Days by David Pentland. Berlin, Germany, 24th April 1945. Following an escort mission near the capital, the Ta152H of Stabsschwarm JG301 encountered a group of Soviet Yak 9s. In the ensuing dogfight, Hauptmann Hermann Stahl was shot sown while Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke Green 9 and Oberfeldwebel Walter Loos Green 4 claimed 2 Yaks destroyed each. |
Messerschmitt versus Messerschmitt by David Pentland. Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 6th April 1941. While escorting Stukas at the start of the German Balkan campaign, the Me109Es of JG54 were engaged by Me109Es of the Yugoslav air force. During the ensuing melee, ObLt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob claimed his 20th victory. |
Bomber's Bane by David Pentland. Ostrov, Latvia, 6th July 1941. Tasked with supporting the advancing German ground forces through Latvia, the fighters of 9th Staffel JG54 were kept busy keeping the Red Airforce at bay. On this occasion Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob, downed 3 Tupolev SB-2 bombers during a single sortie. His 27th, 28th and 29th victories. |
Breaking the Ring by David Pentland. Cape Malyj-Korabelnye, Russia, 18th August 1943. While escorting Fw190s to attack Soviet shipping, ObLt. Schuck's flight of Me109G2s from 8./JG5 attacked the four Soviet Hurricanes of 78 IAP/VVS which were on patrol over the boats. The Soviet formation leader, Mladshiy Leytenant Valeriy Kiritshenko, ordered his men to form a defensive Lufbery circle but this proved inadequate protection against Schucks determined attack. Breaking into the Ring he first downed Kitshenko, and then pursued and shot down a second Hurricane. |
Jet Attack by David Pentland. Oberleutenant Schalls ME 262 of JG7 catches the Australian crewed Lancaster from 5 group dead astern as it lines up for its bombing run on the Hamburg U-Boat pens. Even at this angle the speed of the jet made it difficult to get off more than a few bursts of cannon fire before it passed through the British formation. The episode was witnessed by navigator Cecil Keys in the leading Lancaster QR/Y from 61 squadron on his last raid of the war. Lt. Schall, an ace with 117 kills, and 2nd highest jet ace of the war with 14 victories was killed the following day when his aircraft hit a bomb crater on landing at his base of Parchim. |
Scheherazade by Tim Fisher. This aircraft is credited with flying 126 missions without an abort for the 447th Bomb Group and was one of only three original aircraft to survive the war and return to the US. To the left can be seen the famous A Bit O Lace. All these aircraft were based at Rattlesden. The scene is early 1945, the aircraft flying out to bomb rail marshalling yards. |
Ikarus Downed by David Pentland. Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 9th April 1941. An afternoon raid by III/Jg54 developed into a massive dogfight between the Greenhearts Me109Es and a squadron of Hurricanes and Ik3s. At the conclusion of the dogfight the Lufftwaffe had downed 3 aircraft, for the loss of 2 of their own. Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob, claimed one of the indigenous Ik3 Ikarus fighters as his 21st victory. |
Incident over Mannheim by Ivan Berryman. On the night of 12th September 1944, Lancaster NF958 (LS-M) of No.15 Sqn was lost in the skies above Mannheim when it was attacked by the Messerschmitt Bf.110G-2 of Ofw Ludwig Schmidt of II/NGJ 6, the bomber receiving hits to the bomb bay which ignited the incendiaries still in their racks. Five of the crew bailed out and were taken prisoner of war once captured. The pilot, F/O Norman Overend RNZAF, did not escape the aircraft. Flt Sgt Harry A Beverton was seen to leave the stricken Lancaster but was not seen again. Crew of Lancaster LS-M : F/O Norman Overend RNZAF Sgt Barry J Howarth (survived) Sgt George B Thomson (survived) Flt Sgt John D Jones (survived) Flt Sgt Robert P E Kendall (survived) Flt Sgt Harry A Beverton Sgt I Spagatner (survived). |
Berlin Boar Fight by Anthony Saunders. On the night of 23/24 August 1943, a lone Fw190 of the Luftwaffe's crack unit JG300 Wilde Sau, defiantly engages a force of RAF Lancasters in the heavily defended, flak-torn skies over Berlin. With the heavy bombers illuminated by bursting flak and the fires of the burning city below, the Luftwaffe pilot engages his target, just one of over 700 RAF long-range bombers thrown into the assault that night. It was the opening salvo to the Battle of Berlin, the long and bitter aerial offensive against Hitler's seat of power that would rage throughout the winter to follow. From November 1943 till March 1944 RAF Bomber Command would make 16 massed attacks on Berlin. When the battle was over, the capital of the Third Reich lay shattered and in ruin, but the crews of RAF Bomber Command had paid a heavy price - 492 aircraft failed to return. |
Unhappy New Year by David Pentland. B78 Eindhoven, Holland, 1st January 1945. Major Heinz Bar, Kommodore of Jagdgeswader 3, bounces a flight of 438 Squadron RCAF Typhoons attempting to take off from Eindhoven airfield. His attack was merely the start of a massed attack by the entire JG3, some 60 aircraft, which were only several minutes behind him. Despite losing some 15 pilots killed or captured, the attack destroyed 44 aircraft on the ground, and 9 in the air, including 2 Typhoons by Major Bar. An additional 60 were badly damaged. |
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