Hptm. Adolf Galland's RK a/c with Stab III./JG26 circa 1.8.40

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

In the EOE's effort to document fully the a/c of the RK winners during 1940, we're lacking any photos of Galland's RK a/c. He was awarded the RK on 1.8.40 for his 17th victory, which he achieved on the Channel Front. Has anyone ever seen a source for photos of the a/c he was flying that day, including 16 or 17 victory tabs on the fin/rudder?

Regards,

[mmoustaf]

Originally Posted by Larry Hickey

Hello,

In the EOE's effort to document fully the a/c of the RK winners during 1940, we're lacking any photos of Galland's RK a/c. He was awarded the RK on 1.8.40 for his 17th victory, which he achieved on the Channel Front. Has anyone ever seen a source for photos of the a/c he was flying that day, including 16 or 17 victory tabs on the fin/rudder?

Regards,

Only with 22 and 23.

[mmoustaf]

There was also a photo of his Bf 109E <<+| 9/JG26 without victory bars but I don't know the exact date. First 12 victories were scored by Galland in JG27.

[Don Pearson]

Originally Posted by mmoustaf

There was also a photo of his Bf 109E <<+| 9/JG26 without victory bars but I don't know the exact date. First 12 victories were scored by Galland in JG27.

Since the chevron markings would be a Gruppe rather than a Staffel marking, would it stand to reason that this aircraft could possibly be the one in question?

Don

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,
What we know is that Galland's first 14 victories were scored in E-4 W.Nr. 936, which he flew both with the Stab of JG 27 and later, to July 20, 1940, as the Gr Kdr of III./JG26. When III./JG26 returned to the Channel front from Germany on July 21st, he was flying another Bf09E-4, W.Nr. 2764, presumably the one with the Hellhound insignia on 9./JG26 on the fuselage under the cockpit. It was in this a/c that he scored his 15th through 17th victories, and is the one for which I'm seeking a photo of his scoreboard depicting 16 or 17 victories. The aircraft "mmoustaf" posted was his next a/c, an E-1, W.Nr. 4820, with which he scored his 18th and 19th victories. He then got another E-4 which he flew into early Sept. However, W.Nr. 4820 must have continued to serve as his back up machine after he got his next E-4, because it has been shown in a number of photos with 22 victory tabs on the rudder. So his ground crew must have been updating the scoreboard on this aircraft, even though he didn't fly it again. The new E-4, and the rest of his planes through the end of 1940 and into 1941, are known from photography. It seems strange to me that an early Knights Cross winner's a/c scoreboard would not have been well photographed, but to my knowledge (reaching back over 50 years), this has never been published anywhere. So where are the photos of this a/c and it's scoreboard? The aircraft of other very early KC winners, such as Mölders and Balthasar are well documented photographically, but not Galland. I would also be most interested in any photos of Galland's 109 with Stab/JG27 or Stab III./JG26 displaying any of his first through 14th victories. Does anyone have such, or can refer me to where these have been previously published? I know that a photo has appeared in an IPMS Germany publication of W.Nr.929 showing three victory tabs from a pilot on the Stab of JG27 during the French Campaign. In the captioning, this was purported to be Galland's machine, but it was not. He didn't fly this a/c during the FC, and scored all of his victories during that campaign in 936.

I hope someone can help me fill this gap in the photographic record of Galland's early Bf109s. If you don't want to post your info here, send me a P.M.

Regards,

[Flavio]

Interesting topic; I have not the answer for what Larry is asking, but I would like to add my opinion to this thread.

I think the plane posted by mmoustaf was W.Nr. 936.

In my opinion Galland (or his groungcrew) used what I call the "victory bars colour code"; there are several photos of Galland planes where it is possible to see victory bars in two different colours; according with the only color photo (at least I know) showing W.Nr. 5819, these colours were black and gray; according with these photos, the black for used for kills gained with that very plane while the gray for kills gained with different planes.

Assuming this, in the plane quoted above, the black bars are the first ten; this is why it could be the plane flown by Galland with Stab./JG 27, W.Nr. 936.

Just my opinion...

Flavio