Monday, August 17, 2020

Four Fighter Aces from JG 51 "Mölders"

Four Luftwaffe fighter aces from I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) "Mölders", who were also Ritterkreuzträger, posed together in a photo which was taken in the spring of 1942. From left to right: Oberfeldwebel Heinrich "Tubby" Höfemeier (Flugzeugführer at 1.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 51. Ritterkreuz 5 April 1942; total 96 air victories; KIA 7 August 1943), Leutnant Erwin Fleig (Staffelkapitän 2.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 51. Ritterkreuz 12 August 1941; total 66 air victories; taken prisoner by the Russian on 29 May 1942 after he bail-out from his plane following the dogfight against the Russian MiG 3), Hauptmann Heinz "Pritzl" Bär (Staffelkapitän 1.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 51. Ritterkreuz 2 July 1941, Eichenlaub 14 August 1941, and Schwerter 16 February 1942; total 222 air victories; survive until the end of the war), and Hauptmann Heinrich "Gaudi" Krafft (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 51. Ritterkreuz 18 March 1942; total 78 air victories; KIA 14 December 1942). They all wore fliegeranzug (aviator suits), with Höfemeier and Bär wearing special fighter pilot jackets known as "Messerschmitt Jacke".

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29879&p=2171141&hilit=fleig+b%C3%A4r#p2171141

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