Jagdgeschwader 300 was a Luftwaffe fighter wing formed on 26 June 1943 in Deelen as Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann under Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim "Hajo" Herrmann, redesignated Stab/JG Herrmann on 18 July and officially as Stab/JG 300 on 20 August 1943. Created to implement the Wilde Sau night-fighting tactic devised by Herrmann, it employed single-engine day fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A against RAF Bomber Command raids. Pilots relied on searchlights, target-indicator flares and ground fires for illumination rather than radar, operating freely over the target area. The first major action occurred on the night of 3/4 July 1943 during the raid on Cologne. Initially comprising three Gruppen (I. Gruppe at Bonn-Hangelar, II. Gruppe at Rheine and III. Gruppe at Oldenburg), a IV. Gruppe was added later from I./Jagdgeschwader 76. Successive Geschwaderkommodore included Oberstleutnant Kurt Kettner, Oberstleutnant Walther Dahl, Major Anton Hackl and finally Major Günther Rall. From mid-1944 the wing shifted primarily to daylight operations in the Defence of the Reich, intercepting USAAF bomber streams, though night sorties continued sporadically. JG 300 claimed approximately one thousand aerial victories, mostly four-engine bombers, but suffered severe losses, with hundreds of pilots killed, missing or wounded. The Geschwader remained active until the end of the war in May 1945, when its remaining elements dissolved or surrendered.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberst Hans-Joachim "Hajo" Herrmann was born on 1 August 1913 in Kiel and died on 5 November 2010 in Düsseldorf. He joined the Hamburger Polizei in May 1933 and transferred to the Luftwaffe on 1 August 1935. After training he served with Kampfgeschwader 253, later Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever". From 1936 to 1937 he flew as a bomber pilot with the Legion Condor in the Spanish Civil War, completing about 50 missions. At the outbreak of the Second World War he flew with 7. Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 4 over Poland and Norway. On 20 June 1940 he became Staffelkapitän of 7./KG 4 and took part in the Battle of Britain. For his achievements as a bomber pilot, including attacks on Polish concentrations in the Kutno pocket and the fortress at Drøbak during the Norwegian campaign, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 13 October 1940 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 7./Kampfgeschwader 4. His Staffel later transferred to Kampfgeschwader 30. In April 1941, operating from Sicily, he scored a direct hit on the ammunition freighter Clan Fraser in the harbour of Piraeus; the resulting explosion destroyed eleven ships totaling over 40,000 GRT and rendered the port unusable for months. As Gruppenkommandeur of III./KG 30 he attacked Arctic convoys, including PQ-17. In 1942 he joined the Luftwaffenführungsstab. Concerned by the limitations of conventional night fighters, he developed the "Wilde Sau" tactic of using single-engined day fighters over illuminated cities at night. He formed and commanded Jagdgeschwader 300, scoring nine victories against four-engined bombers. For the Clan Fraser attack, the creation of Wilde Sau tactics and his aerial victories he received the Eichenlaub on 2 August 1943 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 300. Appointed Inspekteur der deutschen Luftverteidigung, he was awarded the Schwerter on 23 January 1944 as Oberst for his nine victories and innovative fighter tactics. He later commanded the 1. Jagddivision and 9. Flieger-Division and initiated the Rammjäger of Sonderkommando Elbe. Altogether he flew roughly 320 to 370 combat missions, sank twelve ships of about 60,000 to 70,000 GRT, and was shot down four times. Captured by Soviet forces in May 1945, he remained a prisoner until October 1955. After studying law he practised as a Rechtsanwalt in Düsseldorf.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdgeschwader_300
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