[Leo Etgen]

Hello Keith

It is possible that he may have been assigned the Fw 190 A-4 rather than the Bf 109 G-2 but I did notice that I./JG 54 was equipped with the Bf 109 F-4 and Bf 109 G-2 in July 1942 as well as September 1942 so he must have had some time to become accustomed to those fighters before the conversion program began in November 1942. It is noteworthy, though, that he did not claim any victories on the Eastern Front until January 1943 so possibly he was indeed more in his element at the time flying the Fw 190 A-4. Who knows and this is pure speculation but interesting nevertheless. I must admit that I wonder if Wood is correct that he served briefly with 1./JG 54 in September 1943. We know he was serving as Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 54 from July 1943 and that by October 1943 he had been transferred as Staffelkapitän to 10./JG 54. Why would he be posted to 1./JG 54 for such a brief period and in what position if he had previously served as a Staffelkapitän? I honestly wonder if this information is in error and instead of 1./JG 54 it should read 10./JG 54? I suppose we will have to wait until a future release of the Jagdfliegerverbände series but I have my suspicions about this.

Horrido!

Leo