Jagdgeschwader 52

The establishment of Stab./JG 52, the command group (Geschwaderstab), at Böblingen had been planned for the third week of August 1939, but was delayed by the invasion of Poland. Late September finally saw the formation and posting of Stab./JG 52.[6]

A Bf 109E, as would have been flown by JG 52. This particular Bf 109 is an E-3 type.

As JG 433, I. Gruppe flew D and E models of the Bf 109,[7] and began transitioning to the F series while based in the Netherlands in mid and late 1941. I. Gruppe flew the Bf 109Fs for a year until moving to the G models while stationed at Bakhmut (then Artemivsk) and flew them for the rest of the war, though I./JG 52 also flew the Bf 109K in the last year of the war.[8]

The Bf 109G6 of Gerhard Barkhorn as it would have appeared in September 1942.[9]

Two Staffeln, JG 72 and 71, were raised in the last weeks of peacetime as stopgap formations with the intent of forming a second Gruppe for JG 52. The first was 11.(N)/Jagdgeschwader 72, activated on 15 July 1939 as a night fighter Staffel with Arado Ar 68Fs. It was commanded by Oberleutant August-Wilhelm Schumann and based at Böblingen with I./JG 52. When the latter formation moved bases on 26–29 August 1939, 11./JG 72 was equipped with its Bf 190Ds. On the same day, 1./Jagdgeschwader 71 was activated at Schleißheim with Avia B-534s, commanded by Oberleutant Heinz Schumann. Until officially merging into II./JG 52 in early October 1939, the two Staffeln appear to have continued using their designations while being referred to as "Jagdgruppe Schumann" or as 4. and 5./JG 52.[10]

A Bf 109E-1, whose markings indicate it as belonging to 7./JG 52.

III./JG 52 was formed from men and equipment from I. and II./JG 52 on 1 March 1940 at Strausberg, 17 miles (27 km) east of Berlin.[12]

The Gruppe was transferred out of JG 52 to I./JG 28, which was based at Pipera, Bucharest from October 1940 to 4 January 1941, at which point it resumed being III./JG 52.[13][14]

As JG 28 and early III./JG 52, III. Gruppe flew the Bf 109E until being stationed in Bucharest, where they transitioned to the F model. III. Gruppe moved on to the G series, which the Gruppe used for the rest of the war, while stationed at Taganrog and Luhansk.[14][13]

A Bf 109G6 of JG 27 in operation in 1943.

The 13th Staffel of JG 52, made up entirely of Slovakian Luftwaffe personnel, was formed on 27 October 1941 in Piešťany, Slovakia and was disbanded in January 1944. As with the rest of JG 52, Staffel 13 only flew the Messerschmitt Bf 109. From its formation in October 1941, it flew the Bf 109E until transitioning to the F model at Krasnodar in January 1943. While being stationed at Kerch only a month later, they transitioned again to the G model series, which 13./JG 52 flew for the rest of the war.[15]

15./JG 52 was one of two Croatian air squadrons raised for the Luftwaffe.[16] The Staffel flew the Bf 109E from their formation until July 1942, when they transitioned into the Bf 109G, flying it until the end of the war for Croatia.[17]

54 hours into the invasion of Poland, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, beginning the Second World War. The remainder of 1939 have been dubbed the "Phony War" or sitzkrieg, as German, French, and British ground forces idled and dug in. Air units, however, mounted local patrols and recon sorties as the weather permitted.[6]

On 6 September 1939, 11./JG 72 scored JG 52's first kill, as well as the first German aerial victory on the Western front. A French ANF Les Mureaux 115, of the reconnaissance unit GAO 553, was spotted while the Staffel was patrolling south of Karlsruhe and intercepted. On 6 October, 2./JG 52 brought down a LeO 451 performing reconnaissance on Luftwaffe bases in the Ruhr. The shooting down of a Bristol Blenheim IV from No. 114 Squadron RAF, as it was performing reconnaissance of German defenses, a week later is attributed to 1./JG 52. In the first week of October, II./JG 52 was established from 1./JG 71 and 11./JG 72, as was Stab./JG 52, turning JG 52 into a Geschwader of three Gruppen commanded by Major Hubert Merhart von Bernegg. Stab./JG 52 and II./JG 52 transferred from Böblingen to Mannheim. On 8 November, II./JG 52 made its first two kills as a formation of JG 52: a French observation balloon near Karlsruhe and a Morane MS 406 near Bitche.[20]

Over the rest of November 1939, the Luftwaffe reorganized its fighter units on the Westwall in preparation for the offensives of the next year. As part of this, I./JG 52 was transferred to Lachen-Speyerdorf on 21 November and was placed under the control of Luftflotte 3 along with the rest of JG 52. That same day, Hptm. Klein-Ellguth and his wingman Leutnant Christoph Geller were shot down by French fighters. Both survived, but Klein-Ellguth was too severely injured to return to service. JG 52 suffered its first fatality on 22 November when Unteroffizier Hans-Joachim Hellwig's plane suddenly went into a steep dive and crashed behind French lines while on a high-altitude patrol. Harsh winter weather brought aerial action to an end for the rest of 1939.[21]

On 1 February 1940, II./JG 52 was moved to Speyer, then gave up men and material with I./JG 52 to form III./JG 52 late in the month. III./JG 52 trained at an airbase near Berlin for six weeks, then joined Stab./JG 52 at Sandhofen on 6 April 1940.[12]

Messerschmitt Bf 109G4

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.

Although JG 52 was not directly involved in the final stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, III./JG 52 was 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 the 4th Panzer Army in late 1942. During this time, the 4,000th victory mark was reached, on 10 December 1942. The first half of 1943 saw action centered around the Strait of Kerch and the Crimea. By mid March, II. and III. Gruppen had the task of protecting 17th Army's main line of retreat. On 20 April 1943, Hauptmann Günther Rall scored the Geschwader's 5,000th victory.[24]

I. and III./JG 52 moved into the Ukraine in July 1943 in preparation for the massive Kursk offensive. By this time, German pilots faced the new generation of advanced Soviet fighter aircraft (such as the Yak-9 or La-5 of the La-5FN version) and improved battlefield tactics on the part of Soviet pilots. An aerial victory claimed by Oberleutnant Paul-Heinrich Dähne on 7 July during Operation Citadel was counted as 800th aerial victory by I. Gruppe and the 6,000th of JG 52 overall.[25]

• 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