FW 190 of Johannes Seifert

[Jan Gazda]

In Luftwaffe in Focus Ed.9/2006 there is a snapshot of Hptm. Johannes Seifert next to the rudder of his Fw 190 A-2 (W.Nr. 5304) with 13 kill bars. As Seifert achieved his 13th victory on July 14, 1941, and the next one on July 21, 1941, this picture should have been taken somewhere in between those two dates. However, according to Caldwell book on JG 26 the Geschwader started their conversion to Focke Wulfs in August with its II. Gruppe and the I./JG 26 converted to FW 190 as late as in November and December of that year. Can somebody bring some light to the puzzle when was really the photo in question taken?

Thanks in advance

Jan

[Jim P.]

That is not Seifert in the photo. It is his 'old' plane as there are other photos of this same machine with Seifert in the them. I think the flyer in the photo is Emil Babenz, though I could be wrong.

[Milos Gazdic]

Question:
How soon after the claim would the victory bar apply to the aircraft? Immediately of after the RLM's approval only?
That would also help determine the dates of some photos of the aircraft with the victory bars. (Not necessarily in the above case since it's obvious from Jim's post that aircraft in case was passed over...)