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Franz Elles | Ambassador Franz Elles Franz Elles began operations in 1940 with 1 Staffel, I./JG-27 and saw action in the Battle of Britain under the command of Edu Neumann. Transferred in early 1941 to North Africa he flew as wing-man to the famous Knight's Cross holder Karl-Wolfgang Redlich. He had scored 5 victories flying Me109s. At the end of that year, Elles, defending his leader's tail in a close air combat, was shot down behind enemy lines and taken prisoner. He spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war in Canada. After the war Elles joined the German diplomatic service and rose to become German ambassador to Central America. |
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Hunters in the Desert by Robert Taylor (AP). Hans-Joachim Marseille makes a jubilant low pass as he returns to his desert airstrip having just achieved his 100th victory. In the foreground his fellow pilots are seen clambering out of their Me109s having just completed another successful mission. |
The Greatest Day by Robert Taylor. Sunday 15 September 1940 and Luftwaffe supremo Hermann Goering believed victory over the RAF was at hand. Today, he decreed, would be the day that his 'glorious' Luftwaffe would finally break the back of Fighter Command's stubborn resistance. Or so he believed. In response to a massed formation of enemy aircraft detected heading for London, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park commanding 11 Group scrambled his squadrons. He also requested that 12 Group bring Douglas Bader's 'Big Wing' down from Duxford. Every available pilot and machine was committed. Prime Minister Winston Churchill turned to Park and asked "What other reserves have we" "There are none", Park replied. Bader now had five squadrons racing south, meeting what remained of the enemy on the outskirts of London. With a successful morning behind them the RAF fighters raced back to re-fuel and re-arm. Just after 14.00 hrs another enemy battle group was observed and this time the formations were even larger. Bader's Wing was scrambled once more. |
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