Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27), nicknamed “Afrika,” was one of the most famous fighter wings of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, serving from 1939 until Germany’s surrender in 1945 and operating exclusively with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in its various versions. Formed shortly after the outbreak of war, the unit participated in nearly every major theater in which the Luftwaffe fought, including the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, the Balkans Campaign, Operation Barbarossa, the North African Campaign, the defense of the Mediterranean, and later the Reichsverteidigung against Allied strategic bombing. JG 27 achieved its greatest fame in North Africa while supporting the Deutsches Afrikakorps under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, where pilots such as Hans-Joachim Marseille, Gustav Rödel, Werner Schröer, Otto Schulz, Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, and Erbo Graf von Kageneck became some of the most successful fighter aces of the war. The Geschwader earned a reputation for aggressive aerial tactics, high victory totals, and endurance under harsh desert conditions, with Marseille alone claiming 158 aerial victories, most of them while serving with JG 27 in Africa. Commanded at various times by officers including Max Ibel, Wolfgang Schellmann, Eduard Neumann, and Gustav Rödel, the wing claimed thousands of enemy aircraft destroyed during the conflict, although it also suffered heavy losses in pilots and aircraft, particularly during the later stages of the war when facing overwhelming Allied numerical superiority. Numerous members of JG 27 received prestigious decorations such as the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, Eichenlaub, Schwerter, and Brillanten, making the unit one of the most decorated fighter formations of the Luftwaffe and a lasting symbol of German fighter operations during the war.
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BRILLANTENTRÄGER
Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseille (1919-1942) was born on 13 December 1919 in Berlin-Charlottenburg to a family of French Huguenot ancestry, the son of a former World War I army officer who later joined the Berlin police; after attending Volksschule and the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium he served briefly in the Reichsarbeitsdienst, joined the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 7 November 1938, completed basic training at Quedlinburg and Luftkriegsschule 4 at Fürstenfeldbruck, graduated from Jagdfliegerschule 5 in Vienna on 18 July 1940, and began combat flying with I.(Jagd)/Lehrgeschwader 2 during the Battle of Britain, claiming his first victory on 24 August 1940 but accumulating only seven confirmed kills amid repeated disciplinary problems stemming from his bohemian lifestyle, womanising and tendency to break formation. Transferred first to 4./Jagdgeschwader 52 and then, on 24 December 1940, to 1./Jagdgeschwader 27 under the more tolerant Gruppenkommandeur Eduard Neumann, he arrived in North Africa in April 1941 and, after early setbacks including two shoot-downs by Free French pilot James Denis, rapidly mastered desert combat flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109; by February 1942 he had reached 50 victories and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 February 1942 as Leutnant and Flugzeugführer of 3./Jagdgeschwader 27. Promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 27 on 8 June 1942, he claimed his 75th victory in early June and received the Eichenlaub on 6 June 1942; only twelve days later, after raising his score to 101, he was awarded the Schwerter on 18 June 1942. His greatest single-day achievement came on 1 September 1942 when, in three sorties, he claimed 17 enemy fighters, bringing his total to 126 and earning him the Brillanten (fourth recipient) on 3 September 1942; promoted to Hauptmann effective 1 September, he continued scoring until 30 September 1942, when engine failure forced him to abandon his Bf 109 G-2 over the desert near Sidi Abdel Rahman, Egypt—his chest struck the vertical stabiliser as he left the cockpit, either killing him instantly or rendering him unable to open his parachute. In 382 combat sorties he was officially credited with 158 aerial victories, all but seven against the Desert Air Force, making him the highest-scoring German pilot against Western Allied aircraft.
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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
Hauptmann Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (1919-2007) was born on 2 February 1919 in Köln-Lindenthal and died on 5 September 2007 in Bad Pyrmont after a distinguished career as one of the Luftwaffe’s leading fighter aces. Following service in the Reichsarbeitsdienst he entered the Luftwaffe in April 1939, completed flight training, and in April 1941 joined the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 before transfer in June 1941 to the 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77. He scored his first aerial victory on 8 August 1941 during the opening phase of the campaign on the Eastern Front and by the summer of 1942 had risen rapidly through the ranks while accumulating kills against Soviet aircraft. On 1 July 1942, as Unteroffizier and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 77, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes after achieving his 53rd aerial victory, recognition of sustained combat success in the intense fighting over the Soviet Union. Only three months later, having reached his 100th victory on 3 October 1942, he received the Eichenlaub on 7 October 1942 (the 131st award) as Feldwebel still serving in the same Staffel, now credited with 103 victories. Reinert subsequently fought with distinction in the Mediterranean theatre, including North Africa and Italy, before transferring to Jagdgeschwader 27, where he served as Staffelkapitän of several Staffeln and later as Gruppenkommandeur of the IV. Gruppe. On 1 February 1945 he was awarded the Schwerter (the 130th award) as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 12./Jagdgeschwader 27 in recognition of his cumulative total of 174 confirmed aerial victories together with successful ground-attack missions in which he destroyed sixteen aircraft, ten tanks and six locomotives on the ground. He ended the war as Hauptmann after conversion training to the Messerschmitt Me 262 with Jagdgeschwader 7, having flown 715 combat sorties. After brief captivity he worked in civilian life until joining the Bundeswehr Luftwaffe in 1956, retiring in 1972 as Oberstleutnant, and later trained as a Heilpraktiker.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Hauptmann Erbo Graf von Kageneck (1918-1942), born Arbogast Graf von Kageneck on 2 April 1918 in Bonn and who died on 12 January 1942 in Naples from wounds received in combat, was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and ace of aristocratic descent who flew Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft during the Second World War. After volunteering for the Luftwaffe in 1937 and completing training, he served initially with 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 1 before joining 8. Staffel and then, from 18 September 1940, becoming Staffelkapitän of 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27, attaining the rank of Oberleutnant on 1 October 1940; he participated in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Battle of Britain and operations over Malta before his unit deployed to the Eastern Front for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. There, in the northern sector under VIII. Fliegerkorps, he achieved the majority of his 67 confirmed aerial victories in 329 combat missions, with 48 over Soviet aircraft, including an ace-in-a-day performance on 14 August 1941 when he claimed his 39th through 43rd victories—an I-16 fighter and four DB-3 bombers—near Novgorod during operations around Staraya Russa and Lake Ilmen; he also logged his 300th combat mission on 20 August before a forced landing. For these successes, which brought his total to 37 victories by late July 1941 amid intense ground-support and air-combat missions, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 July 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 9./Jagdgeschwader 27; continued outstanding leadership and combat performance on the Eastern Front, raising his score to 65 victories by mid-October, earned him the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 October 1941 as the 39th recipient of this distinction. Transferred later to North Africa with III./Jagdgeschwader 27, he claimed two further victories before being seriously wounded in a dogfight on 24 December 1941 south of Agedabia and dying in hospital despite evacuation. He was posthumously promoted to Hauptmann.
Oberst Gustav Rödel (1915-1995) was born on 24 October 1915 in Merseburg as the son of a locksmith and joined the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker in 1936, completing fighter pilot training before serving as a Leutnant with Jagdgruppe 88 of the Legion Condor during the Spanish Civil War, for which he received the Spanienkreuz in Bronze mit Schwertern. At the outbreak of the Second World War he flew with I./Jagdgeschwader 21 and scored his first aerial victory on 1 September 1939 over Poland. Transferred to Jagdgeschwader 27, he took part in the campaigns in the West and was appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./Jagdgeschwader 27 in September 1940, claiming ten victories during the Battle of Britain. After further successes over Greece and a single victory on the Eastern Front, Oberleutnant Rödel was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 June 1941 as Staffelkapitän of 4./Jagdgeschwader 27 following his twentieth confirmed aerial victory. Posted to North Africa, he continued to fly the Messerschmitt Bf 109, became Gruppenkommandeur of II./Jagdgeschwader 27 as Hauptmann in May 1942, and on 22 April 1943 assumed command of the entire Geschwader as Major und Geschwaderkommodore. For raising his total to seventy-eight victories he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 20 June 1943 as the 255th recipient. Rödel later led the Geschwader in the defence of the Reich and over Normandy, scoring his ninety-eighth and final victory on 5 July 1944. Promoted to Oberst, he commanded the 2. Jagd-Division from early 1945 until the end of the war. Credited with ninety-eight victories in nearly one thousand combat missions, almost all against the Western Allies, he joined the Bundeswehr in 1957 and retired in 1971 as Brigadegeneral. Gustav Rödel died on 6 February 1995 in Bonn.
Major Werner Schröer (1918-1985) was born on 12 February 1918 in Mülheim an der Ruhr and joined the Luftwaffe in 1937, initially serving with ground personnel before completing pilot training and being posted in August 1940 to Jagdgeschwader 27. After limited action over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain, his unit transferred to North Africa in April 1941, where he scored his first aerial victory on 19 April against a Hawker Hurricane near Tobruk. Rising steadily amid intense desert fighting alongside figures such as Hans-Joachim Marseille, he became Staffelkapitän of 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27 in July 1942 and achieved rapid success, claiming multiple victories in the battles around El Alamein. For reaching 49 confirmed aerial victories, predominantly against British and Commonwealth fighters and bombers over North Africa, Leutnant Schröer was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 October 1942 while serving as Staffelkapitän of 8. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27. Promoted further and appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 27 in April 1943, he continued operations over Sicily and southern Italy, adding numerous claims including several four-engined bombers during the Allied invasion period. For a total of 84 to 85 victories, Hauptmann Schröer received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 2 August 1943 as Kommandeur of II. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27. Later commanding III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 in the Defence of the Reich and achieving his 100th victory, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet” in February 1945. Operating on the Eastern Front in the war’s final months, he claimed twelve further victories and, after reaching 110 aerial successes overall, was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz with Eichenlaub on 19 April 1945 as Major and Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet”. Credited with 114 victories in just 197 combat missions, including 61 in North Africa and 26 four-engined bombers, Schröer surrendered with his unit in May 1945, was released from captivity in 1946, later worked for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, and died on 10 February 1985 in Ottobrunn.
Oberleutnant Wolf-Udo Ettel (1921-1943) was born on 26 February 1921 in Hamburg as the son of a Junkers aircraft company representative; the family lived in Tehran and Colombia, where he attended the German school, before returning to Germany after his parents’ divorce in 1934, after which he and his two younger brothers attended the Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt in Potsdam. He volunteered for the Luftwaffe on 15 November 1939, completed blind-flying school and A/B pilot training at Prenzlau, attended a Jagdfliegerschule in Paris, and served briefly with an Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe in Denmark before being posted on 10 April 1942 as Leutnant to the 4. Staffel of II. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet.” After initial operations from Sicily against Malta the unit transferred to the Eastern Front, where Ettel scored his first two victories on 24 June 1942 by shooting down two Il-2 Shturmoviks. On 10 July he destroyed a Soviet Boston bomber but was himself shot down near Voronezh, bailed out behind enemy lines, swam the Don River and rejoined his unit four days later. He received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 24 July and 1. Klasse on 2 August, the Frontflugspange für Jagdflieger in Gold on 23 October and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold in December 1942. In intensive fighting over the Kuban bridgehead and later east of Belgorod he claimed 28 victories in March and 36 in April 1943, including five on 11 April, reached his 100th victory on 28 April and his 120th on 11 May, when anti-aircraft fire forced him to land between the lines west of Anastassiewskaja; under heavy Soviet infantry fire he escaped unharmed and that night led a patrol to salvage equipment from his damaged Bf 109. For these achievements as Staffelführer of 4./JG 3 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 June 1943, the presentation being made by General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. Promoted to Oberleutnant, he assumed command as Staffelkapitän of the newly formed 8. Staffel of III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27 on 5 June 1943, first based in Greece and then moved to Italy. During the defence of Sicily he claimed a Spitfire on 15 July and, on 16 July, another Spitfire plus two USAAF B-24 Liberators. On 17 July 1943, while leading a ground-attack mission against British anti-aircraft positions near Lentini, his Bf 109 G-6 was hit by flak and crashed northeast of Lago di Lentini, killing him at the age of 22. Credited with 124 aerial victories in over 250 missions—120 of them on the Eastern Front, including 21 Il-2s, and four over Sicily—he was posthumously awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 31 August 1943 as the 289th recipient and was buried at the German war cemetery of Motta Sant’Anastasia.
Oberleutnant Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt (1920-1942) was born on 15 September 1920 in Kreuztal, Westphalia, and entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker at the end of 1939. After training at the Flugzeugführerschule Breslau and Kriegsschule Wien-Schwechat he was posted in March 1941 as Oberfähnrich to I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 27, deploying with the unit to North Africa in April 1941. He scored his first aerial victory on 15 June 1941 and was soon promoted to Leutnant. Serving primarily with 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27 “Afrika”, he flew throughout the Western Desert campaign and on two occasions in February 1942 was forced down behind enemy lines, once escaping after capture and walking back to German positions. Awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 9 April 1942, he became Staffelführer of the 2. Staffel in July 1942 and in that month alone claimed 25 victories. After his 47th aerial victory he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 August 1942 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 2. Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 27. On 7 September 1942, while flying a Bf 109 F-4 near El Alamein, he was shot down and listed as missing; he was posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant with effect from 1 September 1942. Credited with 59 aerial victories, all against Western Allied aircraft, in approximately 400 combat sorties, he was posthumously awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 3 January 1944 as the 365th recipient. His other decorations included the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and 1. Klasse and the Frontflugspange für Jäger in Gold.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Major Wilhelm Balthasar (1914-1941) was one of the most successful early
fighter aces of the Luftwaffe and a highly respected leader whose
combat career spanned the Spanish Civil War and the opening years of the
Second World War. After serving with the Condor Legion in Spain, where
he gained valuable combat experience and achieved several aerial
victories, he rose rapidly through the ranks of the Jagdwaffe. During
the campaigns in Poland, France, and the Battle of Britain, Balthasar
distinguished himself as a fearless and aggressive fighter pilot while
commanding units such as I./Jagdgeschwader 1 and later
III./Jagdgeschwader 3. His outstanding leadership and personal combat
achievements, which included more than twenty confirmed aerial victories
by the summer of 1940, earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes
on 14 June 1940 for his exceptional success against Allied aircraft
during the Western Campaign and the Battle of Britain, where he
consistently led from the front and played a major role in securing air
superiority for German forces. Promoted to higher command, he became
Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 2 “Richthofen” in February 1941
and continued to add to his victory total. During intense operations
over the English Channel and northern France in June 1941, he increased
his score to 40 confirmed aerial victories, demonstrating both tactical
skill and remarkable determination against the Royal Air Force. In
recognition of these continued achievements and his exemplary leadership
of Jagdgeschwader 2, he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des
Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 July 1941 as the 17th member of the German
armed forces to receive this distinction. Tragically, only one day
later, on 3 July 1941, Balthasar was killed in action near Saint-Omer
while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109F, ending the career of one of the
Luftwaffe’s most celebrated fighter leaders at the age of just
twenty-seven.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdgeschwader_27
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