IIII./JG26 Officers signatures Christmas 1939

[Huib Ottens]

Hi Gruppe,

Please find attached an image of a title page of a book I have recently purchased. On this page you can see the signatures of officers serving with III./JG26 during Christmas 1939. I have been able to identify some signatures but I am looking for help/information to identify the other signatures.



I have identified the following signatures:

• Maj. Ernst Freiher von Berg
• Oblt. Eduard Neumann
• Oblt. Gerhard Schöpfel
• Lt. Joachim Müncheberg
• Lt. Haiböck

I hope someone can provide a list of officers serving with III./JG26 during Christmas 1939 or otherwise help me with identifying the other signatures.

TIA and as always Nurflügel Forever!

Huib

[VtwinVince]

Hi Huib,

Firstly, congratulations on this nice item. Some people I can make out are:

Troha - fourth from top on left (he succeeded my uncle as CO of 9. JG3)
Kugler - seventh from top on left
Naumann - eleventh from top on left
Ebeling - thirteenth from top on left
Daig - vertical on left
Rosenbaum - fourth from top on right
Christenneke - fifth from top on right
Buerschgens - eighth from top on right (signed from hospital in Essen after his wounding after scoring the Geschwader's first victory, and an old friend of mine)
Mueller-Duehe - tenth from top on right

If you ever want to sell or trade this book, please let me know.

[Huib Ottens]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply and the identification of quite a number signatures!

Sorry, I don't plan to sell or trade this book!

I hope other JG 26 experts will join this thread as well to help identify the other signatures.

[Don Caldwell]

Hi Hulb --

I might be able to help you, but I can't enlarge the thumbnail to a size that I can read -- it's too low-res. The problem is probably my ignorance, but in the interest of time, could you post a larger image or a link to one?

Best regards,

Don Caldwell

[Peter D Evans]

Try the link below Don (to enlarge it, left click on it)

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/s...939resized.jpg

BTW: What has happened to the excellent Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" website?

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[Don Caldwell]

Hi Peter --

Thanks for the link. I've now got a full-sized printout of the signature page, and will see what I can do with it. I've got a dozen (commissioned) pilots to match with the u/i signatures. One mystery is Oblt. Geog Beyer, the 7. Staffel Kapitän at that time. Logic would say his signature would be on the top right, but I'll be danged if that is Beyer.

The JG 26 site comes up fine at http://don-caldwell.we.bs/jg26/schlageter.htm

We had to change the address several months back, and if you have an old URL, it's probably not forwarding. Unfortunately the site is pretty much dormant at this time. Les and I are too busy with other things to try to make it "interactive", but we'll keep it up as-is for as long as we can.

Horrido!

Don

[Don Caldwell]

Hello Hulb --

This is surprisingly hard. All I can add so far is:

Lt. Walter Blume (7.) - 9th from top, right side.

I've never come across a list of the III./JG 26 ground staff, but from the evidence of this signature card they were quite high-ranking. There are 3 Hauptmänner, including the NO, but I can't read the names. I know that except for the Grkdr. there were no flying officers with ranks greater than Oberleutnant.

Best regards,

Don

[Peter D Evans]

Many thanks for the revised link Don... I'll update the links on the LEMB

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[RolandF]

Just by reading I could add:

Oblt. Hollweg (1st right)
Oblt. Preiser (3rd right)
Lt. Christianeder (5th right)
Hüsgens, Kreisleiter(?) Essen (8th right)
Reichs Standartenführer ... (11th right)
Oblt. Meier-Roth 7.St. (9th left)

The rest is hard to read...

Regards

Roland

[Don Caldwell]

Hello Roland --

Hollweg, Preiser -- looks like you have the letters OK, but they don't correspond to anyone I know of in III./JG 26.

Christenneke, Bürschgens, & Müller-Dühe were real 7. Staffel pilots, and these are obviously their signatures. B. was in the "Krankenhaus Essen" at this time, just as he says.

Reichs Standartenführer -- could be, but what does this mean, and to whom does it refer?

Best regards,

Don