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JG302 |
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Name : JG302 Founded : 1st November 1943 Disbanded : September 1944 Country : Germany |
Jagdgeschwader 302 (JG 302) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. JG 302 was formed on 1 November 1943 in Stade with a theoretical establishment of Stab and three Gruppen (groups) known as a "Wilde Sau" (wild boar) single-seat night fighter unit. After re-equipping with the Focke-Wulf 190 A-8, I./JG 302 was redesignated III./JG 301 on 30 September. JG 302 made a known total of at least 348 air victory claims On 16 April 18 Bf 109G-6s of I gruppe intercepted USAAF bombers over Plattensee. Some six bombers, two P-51s and a P-38 were claimed for three JG 302 fighters downed. On 2 July I./ JG 302, led by Hptm. Richard Lewens, attacked 603 B-24 Liberators of the 15th Air Force, attacking targets near Budapest; they were escorted by 270 fighters. Combats ranged from Budapest into Southern Slovakia. I./ JG 302 claimed 19 B-24s and two P-51s, but lost 12 Bf 109s and 10 crewmen killed in the battle. Unteroffizier Willi Reschke was JG 302's most prolific ace, scoring 14 of his eventual 26 combat claims with JG 302. He achieved his first success when he shot down two B-24s over Budapest on 2 July. Reschke rammed a B-24 on 7 July when his guns malfunctioned, successfully baling out of his stricken fighter. On 8 July 1944 I./JG 302 took off from Götzendorf under Hpt. Heinrich Würzer to intercept 15th Air Force heavy bombers over Bratislava and Vienna. The unit claimed nine B-24s and three B-17s, with I./ JG 302 losing one pilot killed and four wounded. On this day Hpt. Wurzer shot down two B-24s. However, he was wounded in the right arm during this combat and had to make an emergency landing with his Bf 109 G-6 near the Götzendorft airfield. On 25 July 1944 420 B-17s and B-24s bombed the tank factories in Linz while other bombers hit the Villach marshalling yards. Nearly 200 Luftwaffe fighters opposed the attacks, drawn from II./ JG 27, Stab, I. and II./JG 300 and I./ JG 302. 16 bombers were downed, while the USAAF bombers and escort fighters claimed over 60 fighters shot down. I./ JG 302 lost four killed, two wounded, and 12 planes lost for six bombers claimed destroyed. On 24 August, Reschke claimed a further B-24 but shortly afterwards, during an attack on a second, his aircraft was hit by return fire, and he baled out when P-51 fighters attacked his Bf 109. Hpt. Wurzer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 302 on 28 August 1944. In September I./JG 302 was reformed as III./JG 301 and re-equipped with the Fw 190 A-8. A new commander, Ritterkreuz holder Hpt. Wilhelm Fulda (one victory), was appointed to lead the unit. |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Pilot or Aircrew | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
Obergefreiter | unknown | unknown | 19th July 1944 | ||||
Feldwebel | unknown | 4th December 1943 | Killed in Action | ||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Oberfeldwebel | unknown | 3rd December 1943 | Killed in Action | ||||
Oberleutnant | unknown | unknown | 27th November 1943 | ||||
Feldwebel | unknown | 20th December 1943 | Killed in Action | ||||
Feldwebel | unknown | 2nd December 1943 | Killed in Action | ||||
Feldwebel | unknown | 10th December 1943 | Killed in Action | ||||
Unteroffizier | unknown | unknown | 20th December 1943 | ||||
| Pilots and Aircrew for : JG302 | ||
| A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
| Angermann, Gunther Click the name above to see a profile of Angermann, Gunther | Angermann, Gunther | |
| Becker, Kurt Click the name above to see a profile of Becker, Kurt
| Becker, Kurt Killed on 4th December 1943 when his Fw190A-5 0155868 Yellow 1 of JG302 crashed near Freiburg. | |
| Benning, Anton Click the name above to see a profile of Benning, Anton
| Benning, Anton | |
| Dreissinger, Karl Click the name above to see a profile of Dreissinger, Karl
| Dreissinger, Karl Killed on 3rd December 1943 when his Fw190A-6 0550764 of JG302 was damaged or destroyed in a landing accident at Luneburg airfield. | |
| Gossow, Heinz Click the name above to see a profile of Gossow, Heinz | Gossow, Heinz | |
| Gottuck, Hans Click the name above to see a profile of Gottuck, Hans | Gottuck, Hans On 27th November 1943, his Fw190A-5 0180925 of JG302 was shot down by British aircraft near Bremen. He survived, probably baling out. | |
| Hartl, Andreas Click the name above to see a profile of Hartl, Andreas | Hartl, Andreas | |
| Leiner, Josef Click the name above to see a profile of Leiner, Josef
| Leiner, Josef Killed on 20th December 1943 when his Fw190A-5 0160079 of JG302 crashed near Husum. | |
| Lenz, Gerhard Click the name above to see a profile of Lenz, Gerhard
| Lenz, Gerhard Killed on 2nd December 1943 when his Fw190A-4 0147086 of JG302 was shot down by British aircraft near Brandenburg. | |
| Nehrlich, Gunther Click the name above to see a profile of Nehrlich, Gunther
| Nehrlich, Gunther Killed on 10th December 1943 when his Fw190A-5 0710063 Yellow 1 of JG302 crashed near Kiel. | |
| Palzkill, Leonhard Click the name above to see a profile of Palzkill, Leonhard | Palzkill, Leonhard On 20th December 1943, he escaped injury when his Fw190A-6 0530307 of JG302 crashed near Bad Bruckenau. He most likely baled out. | |
| Seidel, Heinz Click the name above to see a profile of Seidel, Heinz | Seidel, Heinz | |
| Welter, Kurt Click the name above to see a profile of Welter, Kurt
| Welter, Kurt Lieutenant Kurt Welter was Germany’s top jet fighter pilot and the highest scoring jet ace in aviation history. Welter prowled the European skies in his lethal Messerschmitt ME262, in which he shot down a significant portion of his 63 confirmed kills. Welter was the first jet pilot to fly night missions where he made impressive kills, including heavy bombers. Traveling at over 700 kph in pitch black skies, Welter could destroy an enemy aircraft and attack the next target before the formation knew what hit them. Twin engine British Mosquitos modified for night fighting were among his most frequent victims.In July, Welter claimed two United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress four-engined bombers and three North American P-51 Mustangs, two of which claimed on 19 July between Munich and Memmingen,[6] shot down by day. From 25 July 1944, Welter served with 1. Staffel/Nachtjagdgruppe 10 (NJGr 10) performing further Wilde Sau missions. He claimed four Royal Air Force (RAF) Avro Lancaster four-engine heavy bombers shot down on the night of 29 August 1944 to record his 24th through 27th victories.[5] Welter transferred to 10./JG 300 on 4 September 1944. 10. Staffel/JG 300 was established to counter intrusions by the RAF's fast de Havilland Mosquito twin-engined bombers, flying specially optimized for speed Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6/AS fighters. In September, Welter claimed seven Mosquitos downed, including one by ramming. It is thought that during his service with 1./NJG 10 and 10./JG 300, Welter recorded 12 victories in only 18 missions.[7] On the night of 19 September 1944, according to Hinchliffe, Welter may have shot down Wing Commander Guy Gibson who was leading a 300-bomber attack on Mönchengladbach and Rheydt. Gibson's Mosquito crashed near Steenbergen in the Netherlands. Welter was the only German pilot to have claimed a Mosquito.The claim is unlikely. Welter submitted his victory claim north of Wittenberg in eastern Germany, some hundreds of miles away from the place Gibson's Mosquito was found. Recent research suggests that his victim was Mosquito VI serial PZ177 of No. 23 Squadron RAF which was shot down at 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) west of Bad Münder, Holzminden. The crew, F/O. K. Eastwood and Navigator F/L. G.G. Rogers were both killed. Welter was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 18 October 1944 for 33 victories in just 40 missions Welter survived the war, and was awarded the Iron Cross and German Gold Cross | |
Known Individual Aircraft of JG302 : | ||||||||
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| Aircraft for : JG302 | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with JG302. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Fw190 
Manufacturer : Fokke-Wulf Production Began : 1940 Retired : 1945 | Fw190 The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. | |
Me109 
Manufacturer : Messerschmitt Production Began : 1937 Retired : 1945 Number Built : 33984 | Me109 Willy Messerschmitt designed the BF109 during the early 1930s. The Bf109 was one of the first all metal monocoque construction fighters with a closed canopy and retractable undercarriage. The engine of the Me109 was a V12 aero engine which was liquid-cooled. The Bf109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and flew to the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. During the Battle of Britian the Bf109 was used in the role of an escort fighter, a role for which it was not designed for, and it was also used as a fighter bomber. During the last days of May 1940 Robert Stanford-Tuck, the RAF ace, got the chance to fly an Me109 which they had rebuilt after it had crash landed. Stanford-Tuck found out that the Me109 was a wonderful little plane, it was slightly faster than the Spitfire, but lacked the Spitfire manoeuvrability. By testing the Me109, Tuck could put himself inside the Me109 when fighting them, knowing its weak and strong points. With the introduction of the improved Bf109F in the spring of 1941, the type again proved to be an effective fighter during the invasion of Yugoslavia and during the Battle of Crete and the invasion of Russia and it was used during the Siege of the Mediteranean island of Malta. The Bf109 was the main fighter for the Luftwaffe until 1942 when the Fw190 entered service and shared this position, and was partially replaced in Western Europe, but the Me109 continued to serve on the Eastern Front and during the defence of the Reich against the allied bombers. It was also used to good effect in the Mediterranean and North Africa in support of The Africa Korps. The Me109 was also supplied to several German allies, including Finland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia. The Bf109 scored more kills than any other fighter of any country during the war and was built in greater numbers with a total of over 31,000 aircraft being built. The Bf109 was flown by the three top German aces of the war war. Erich Hartmann with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories and Gunther Rall with 275 kills. Bf109 pilots were credited with the destruction of 100 or more enemy aircraft. Thirteen Luftwaffe Aces scored more than 200 kills. Altogether this group of pilots were credited with a total of nearly 15,000 kills, of which the Messerschmitt Bf109 was credited with over 10,000 of these victories. The Bf109 was the most produced warplane during World War II, with 30,573 examples built during the war, and the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Bf109s remained in foreign service for many years after World War II. The Swiss used their Bf109Gs well into the 1950s. The Finnish Air Force did not retire their Bf109Gs until March 1954. Romania used its Bf109s until 1955. The Spanish Hispanos flew even longer. Some were still in service in the late 1960s. | |
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Died : 4 / 12 / 1943