Jagdgeschwader 52

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Jagdgeschwader 52


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dates=1939-1945
country=Germany
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branch=Air Force
type=Fighter Aircraft
role=Air superiority
size=Air Force Wing
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colonel_of_the_regiment=
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patron=
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battles=
notable_commanders=Hermann Graf (1.10.44-8.5.45)
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Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) (52nd Fighter Wing) was the most successful Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II, with a claim total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft. It was home to the top three scoring "experten" of the Luftwaffe, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall. The unit flew the various marks of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 exclusively through the war.

History

Western Front

Originally, JG 52 was involved in the air fighting during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Initially only a 2 'Gruppe' unit (most Jagdgeschwaders were 3 gruppe units) JG 52's achievements during the offensives were rather unremarkable. By the end of 1940, the unit had amassed 177 claims, but had suffered high losses; 53 pilots killed or POW in the Battle of Britain alone.

Eastern Front

It was only at the outset of Operation Barbarossa, when JG 52 was transferred to the east that the wing started to chalk up kills consistently. JG 52 was based mainly on the Southern, Ukrainian and Central fronts in Soviet Russia from 1941-1944, supporting Army Group South. The Geschwader's 500th victory was attained on 7 September 1941. Among those victories, 323 were attained on the Eastern Front.

Initially I./JG 52See Organization of the Luftwaffe during World War II] was retained in the West, guarding the Northern European coast, while Hpt Woitke's II./JG 52 were seconded to JG 27, claiming 270 kills in the first few months of the offensive. III./JG 52 were the southern-most "Gruppe" on the whole Russian front, along the Black Sea coast, where action was limited at this time. During 1941-1942, with the Luftwaffe constantly on the offensive against the vast numbers of the ill-equipped and poorly trained Soviet Air Force, conditions were perfect for the experienced well-equipped JG 52 fighter pilots to build up huge personal scores of aircraft shot down. In the period 22 June - 5 December 1941 the unit destroyed 881 Soviet aircraft, in return for 49 losses in aerial combat and five aircraft on the ground [Bergström 2007, p. 116.] .

By early 1942 the Geschwader (with JG 3) provided the fighter support along the vast Southern sector of the Eastern front. A measure of JG 52's success during 1942 was the fact that over 20 "Ritterkreuz" awards were made (with 7 'Oakleaves' awards) to its ace pilots in the year. On 8 May 1942, JG 52 scored its 1,500 kill. By 3 June it had reached 2,000.

The Caucasus and Stalingrad offensives

In mid-July 1942 the "Gruppen" commenced re-equipment with the new Bf 109 G "Gustav", and the wing continued covering the armoured spearhead offensive deep into the Caucasus. I. Gruppe by this time had become a highly mobile 'fire brigade' formation, sent at short notice to areas where fighter cover was quickly and urgently required. Shuttling between areas ranging from the Kerch peninsula on the Black Sea to the Moscow front, I. /JG 52 was in constant action. The Gruppe's 700th claim was achieved in September 1942.

Although JG 52 were not directly involved in the final stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, III./JG 52 were used during the push towards the Caucasian oil fields in the south during August-September 1942, and II./JG 52 supported the attempted break-through by 4th Panzer Army in late 1942. During this time the 4,000 kill mark was reached on the 10 December 1942.

The first half of 1943 saw action centred around the Strait of Kerch and the Crimea. By mid March II. and III. "Gruppen" had the vital task of protecting 17th Army's main line of retreat. On 20 April 1943, Hptm. Günther Rall scored the Geschwader's 5,000th victory.

The Kursk offensive

I. and III./JG 52 moved into the Ukraine in July 1943 in preparation for the massive Kursk offensive. As two of the eight fighter "Gruppen" involved, the offensive saw JG 52 pass the 6,000 mark in aircraft claimed shot down. Hauptmann Johannes Wiese of 2./JG 52 claimed 12 Soviet aircraft destroyed in one day, but the assertion that 7./JG 52's Walter Krupinski claimed 11 appears to be a misunderstanding.

By this time however, the new generation of advanced Soviet fighter aircraft (such as the Yak-9 or La-5 of the La-5FN version) and improved battle field tactics were taking an ever higher toll of the overworked veteran Luftwaffe pilots.

On the defensive

The withdrawal of JG 3 in August 1943 left JG 52 as the sole complete fighter Geschwader on the Eastern Front. Constantly on the move, JG 52 now operated from makeshift and temporary airstrips close to the rapidly contracting frontline, often in danger of being overrun by Russian armoured spearheads.

By November 1943, the loss of Kiev threatened the stability of the entire Southern sector front, the whole of JG 52 being brought together again to help bolster defences. By December 1943 JG 52 had reached 8,000 victories. Over the Uman region III./JG 52 claimed 50 victories in 60 days. III./JG 52 became its most successful "Gruppe", claiming its 3,500 kill on 21 March 1944. By the end of the month III./JG 52 was based in Poland.

On 10 May 1944 the 9,000th claim was made, with the 10,000 mark passed on 2 September 1944 by Adolf Borchers. The last German troops left the Crimea in May 1944, II./JG 52 retiring from battle a week earlier. Artillery fire and constant air raids had caused steady aircraft losses. A retreat to Romania followed soon after. A new opponent appeared at this stage, with elements of the USAAF 15th Air Force bombing the Ploieşti oil fields in Romania. During JG 52's six-week defence, some 15 US aircraft were shot down, but by this time, attrition had reduced II./JG 52 to just nine operational fighters.

With the Normandy invasion underway, JG 52 were weakened by the removal of three "Staffeln" for service in the West. New 2, 4 and 7 "Staffeln" would be activated later in the year, with each JG 52 Gruppen now expanded to four "Staffeln".

III./JG 52 were now seconded to the Central front, attached to elements of JG 51. By the spring of 1945, I. and III./JG 52 were stationed within Czechoslovakia, with II./JG 52 based in Austria. Although the units surrendered to the American forces at the end of the war, most of the I. and III. Gruppe personnel were controversially handed over the Soviet Army, resulting in several show trials for JG 52 officers and years of prolonged imprisonment for many officers and men.

Achievements

The vast majority of the Geschwader's victories were achieved against aircraft from the Red Air Force, although a few occurred against USAAF aircraft over Austria near the end of the war.

The final actual kill tally of JG 52 cannot accurately be assessed, as unit records from late 1944 to May 1945 were destroyed. Over 10,000 kills were certainly claimed, for some 678 pilots killed in action.

JG 52 produced some of the highest scoring aces of all time. Many of its pilots were imprisoned for up to ten years by the Soviets after the war had finished. Major Erich Hartmann (352 kills) was kept in Soviet captivity until his release in 1955.

Post war doubts

Post war, the phenomenal scores achieved by the Luftwaffe, particularly on the Russian Front by the likes of JG 52, were questioned by historians as to their validity. However, with the recent availability of Soviet military archives research indicates that most Jagdgeschwader claims in fact stand up to scrutiny far better than many other of the combatant nations in World War 2. ["Combat Kill" by Hugh Morgan/Jurgen Seibel; PSL, 1997, and "The Luftwaffe Handbook" by Dr Alfred Price; Ian Allen Ltd, 1986 ]

Whilst inevitably there was some degree of over-claiming (as happened in all air combat in World War 2) JG 52 was the top scoring unit in a Luftwaffe fighter force that was outnumbered and therefore had plenty of targets (on all fronts). For the first half of the war at least they were also tactically and technologically superior to all of their opponents, and flew far more missions than most Allied pilots, (up to 1,000 operations) and were thus the most experienced veterans of all the combatant nations. Luftwaffe aircrew did not have rest periods, tours of operations or 'rotations' like Allied Air Forces- they flew until they were incapacitated, taken prisoner or were killed.

Foreign contingents

JG 52 was also home to attachments from other Axis air forces' fighter arms. A "Staffel" (13(Slow.)/JG52) of attached Slovak Air Force pilots claimed 215 air kills flying Bf-109G's during a tour of operations on the Eastern Front in 1943, while Croatian pilots formed 15(Kroat.)/JG52, serving periodically with JG 52 between October 1941 and mid 1944, claiming over 300 kills in 5,000 missions.

Commanding Officers

Kommodore

*"Major" Merhart von Bernegg (19 Aug 1939 – 18 Aug 1940)
*"Major" Hanns Trübenbach (19 Aug 1940 – 10 Oct 1941)
*"Major" Wilhelm Lessmann (15 Oct 1941 – 2 Jun 1942)
*"Oberstleutnant" Friedrich Beckh (3 Jun 1942 – 21 Jun 1942)
*"Major" Herbert Ihlefeld (22 Jun 1942 – 28 Oct 1942)
*"Oberstleutnant" Dietrich Hrabak (1 Nov 1942 – 30 Sep 1944)
*"Oberstleutnant" Hermann Graf (1 Oct 1944 – 8 May 1945)

Gruppenkommandeure

I./JG 52

*"Hauptmann" Dietrich Graf von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (1 Nov 1939 – 21 Nov 1939)
*"Hauptmann" Siegfried von Eschwege (1 Dec 1939 – 26 Aug 1940)
*"Hauptmann" Wolfgang Ewald (27 Aug 1940 – 24 May 1941)
*"Hauptmann" Karl-Heinz Leesmann (25 May 1941 – 6 Nov 1941)
*"Oberleutnant" Carl Lommel (acting 6 Nov 1941 – ?)
*"Hauptmann" Helmut Bennemann (14 Jun 1942 – 12 Nov 1943)
*"Hauptmann" Johannes Wiese (acting 11 May 1943 – 12 Nov 1943)
*"Hauptmann" Johannes Wiese (13 Nov 1943 – 20 May 1944)
*"Hauptmann" Adolf Borchers (11 Jun 1944 – 31 Jan 1945)
*"Hauptmann" Erich Hartmann (1 Feb 1945 – 8 May 1945)

II./JG 52

*"Hauptmann" Hans-Günther von Kornatzki (1 Sep 1939 – 26 Aug 1940)
*"Hauptmann" Wilhelm Ensslen (27 Aug 1940 – 2 Nov 1940)
*"Hauptmann" Erich Woitke (3 Nov 1940 – 28 Feb 1942)
*"Hauptmann" Johannes Steinhoff (1 Mar 1942 – 24 Mar 1943)
*"Hauptmann" Helmut Kühle (25 Mar 1943 – 31 Aug 1943)
*"Hauptmann" Gerhard Barkhorn (1 Sep 1943 – 15 Jan 1945)
*"Hauptmann" Helmut Lipfert (acting 1 Jun 1944 – ? Oct 1944)
*"Hauptmann" Erich Hartmann (acting 16 Jan 1945 – 31 Jan 1945)
*"Hauptmann" Wilhelm Batz (1 Feb 1945 – 8 May 1945)

III./JG 52

*"Hauptmann" Wolf-Heinrich von Houwald (1 Mar 1940 – 24 Jul 1940)
*"Major" Alexander von Winterfeldt (1 August 1940 – 6 Oct 1940)
*"Major" Gotthard Handrick (7 Oct 1940 – 22 Jun 1941)
*"Major" Albert Blumensaat (23 Jun 1941 – 30 Sep 1941)
*"Major" Hubertus von Bonin (1 Oct 1941 – 5 Jul 1943)
*"Hauptmann" Günther Rall (6 Jul 1943 – 18 Apr 1944)
*"Major" Wilhelm Batz (19 Apr 1944 – 31 Jan 1945)
*"Hauptmann" Adolf Borchers (1 Feb 1945 – 8 May 1945)

Knight's Cross recipients of JG 52

References

*Bergström, Christer (2007). Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July-December 1941. London: Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2.

* Christer Bergström, Graf & Grislawski: A Pair of Aces. Eagle Editions, 2003. ISBN 0-9721060-4-9

* Christer Bergström, Black Cross/Red Star: The Air War over the Eastern front. Vol. 1, Pacifica Military History, 2000. Vol. 2, Pacifica Military History & Classic Publications, 2001. Vol. 3, Eagle Editions, 2006. ISBN 0-9761034-4-3

* Christer Bergström, Barbarossa: The Air War. Midlands/Ian Allan, 2007. ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2

* Niko Fast, Das Jagdgeschwader 52. Bensberger Buchverlag, Bergisch Gladbach, 1988-92.

* John Weal (2004), Aviation Elite Units "Jagdgeschwader 52 The Experten". Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-84176-786-7

Notes

ee also

Organization of the Luftwaffe during World War II

External links

* http://www.jg52.de/ Traditionsgemeinschaft JG 52
* http://www.graf-grislawski.elknet.pl/index.htm Graf & Grislawski
*http://www.feldgrau.com/JG52.htm A list of commanders and the organisation of JG 52
*http://www.feldgrau.com/JG52.htm A list of commanders and the organisation of JG 52