Seeking information or photos of two a/c flown by Oblt. Hans-Ekkhard Bob of 9./JG54 during the early Battle of Britain period.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Through numerous photos, the "1" flown by Oblt Hans-Ekkhard Bob of III./JG54 during the Battle of Britian and early Blitz period is well known, during which he served variously as the acting Gr Kdr, and Sta Kap of all three subordinate Staffeln at various times.

However, there are two earlier photos, both from 9./JG54, that could also have been flown by him during the July-August period of 1940.

1) One shows a "Yellow 9," with Battle of Britain mottling, circa July or early August, 1940, possibly with a yellow rudder tip, displaying five victory tabs on the rudder. However, it does not carry yellow wing or tail tips, or a yellow cowling, clearly placing this in the July, early-August time period. The only 9 Staffel pilot with 5 victories during this time was Bob, whose scoreboard would place this between 27.06.40 (his 5th victory) and 12.08.40 (his 6th victory), which would be entirely consistent with the markings on this a/c. So, did Bob fly "Yellow 9" during this period? The only other 3./JG21 pilot that had accumulated 5 or more victories by this time was the Sta Kap, Oblt. Georg Schneider, and he was SD on 26.05.40, with his a/c being written off. Usually he was known to have flown "Yellow 1," but if this a/c was written off during late May, he could have switched to "Yellow 9." The problem is, however, that his a/c should have been carrying at least 6 victory tabs by the approximate time of this photo.

2) Another series of photos shows "Yellow 6," WNr.5288, belly landed on a French Beach with 9 victory tabs on the fin, and still not yet carrying a yellow cowling, although the rudder appears to be yellow. The only person in 9./JG54 that this could be would again be Oblt Bob, this time from 18.08.40 to 31.08.40 (his 9th to 10th victories). Again, this is entirely consistent with the markings visible on this a/c.

Unfortunately, there is no known reason why Bob would have switched from "Yellow 9" to "Yellow 6" between these two times, and there is no Luftwaffe loss report that would account for the FL on the French beach during the available time period.

I have a copy of Bob's "reconstructed" (by Bob) FB, which is of questionable reliability in some details. For example, it shows him flying "Yellow 6" only once during this period, on 27.06.40, with his regular a/c during this period being "Yellow 4."

There is a note that could explain the forced landing on the French beach, but the page for this in my copy of the FB has a photo pasted in place over the period, and an arrow by the entry for 16.8.40 (possibly a photo of the FL, but it reproduces as black in my FB copy), and a typed note below the photo that says:

"Diese Spitfire" ...habeiach (Sp) am 16.08.40 abegessossen Sei hat (?) bei Calais eine "Bauch" landung gemacht und wurde dort gebeorgen und zum feindflugplatz Guines gebracht." Parts of this are very hard to read. According to Google Translations, this comes out as "The Spitfire" ... habeiach (Sp) shot down on 16:08:40 Sei (?), made a "belly" landing ​​at Calais and was salvaged there and taken to the enemy airfield at Guines (Bob's home base)." I suspect that this means that Bob made a belly landing at Calais after shooting down a Spifire, and his a/c was salvaged and taken to Guines. Except by being off a couple of days, this fits the photos that I have of "Yellow 6," W.Nr.5288 in #1 above.

In the handwritten entry by 16 August it says. ?? (German word for escorted?) Do17 ...?... 8 ..?.. (Spitfire)." I note in JFV 4/II that Oblt Bob did claim a Spitfire, his 8th victory, near Calais on that day.

If anyone has a clear copy of this page of the FB, or a reproducible copy of the pasted in photo that might be this FL a/c, I would very much appreciate a copy and a fully translation of the above German text, including the text that is not complete. I note that the photo of "Yellow 6" (my Item #1 above) displays nine victory tabs on the fin, but this is close enough provided that the note means that Bob FL on that day near Calais. If this referred to Bob's a/c and not the Spitfire, this does not match up with any Luftwaffe QM loss report, which means that the FL Bf109 was very lightly damaged during the beach landing and thus no loss report was submitted. The actual plane he was reported flying up through 15.08.40 is "Yellow 9," but you cant see the actual a/c that he was reportedly flying on 16.08.40. We would have expected that to be "Yellow 6," and not "Yellow 9."

Does anyone have any information that would:

a) confirm that these are BoB's a/c.
b) explain why Bob might have changed from Y9 to Y6 during this period.
c) confirm the date for the FL of "Yellow 6," on the French beach as 16.08.40?
d) fill in the missing info in the FB and perhaps provide a copy of the photo pasted in place there.
e) any more detailed account of the 16.08.40 mission that Bob might have provided during his long life.

Once again, thanx for your assistance.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator