Rudo Božík - slovak fighter ace in WWII and his Bf 109 G's

[Marc-André Haldimann]

When one strolls in the Web, one never knows where he ends...

Folllowing this Picasa account, some other great photos, unknown to me - do one up. Among them, a full bunch of Bf 109 G-1 or G-3's, in Mediterranean front markings of an unknown JG. Could it be 13. (slow.)/JG 52? Anyway, an exceptional serie of photos.

Bf 109 E
1. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...87449317085410
2. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89512935150610
3. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89796286448658
4. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...00579853789106


Bf 109 E and Fw 189
5. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...88213585713730

Bf 109 G-1 or G-3
6. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...52774788819458
7. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89187663659538 note "Weisse 2"'s engine cowling odd camouflage, to be seen in the following pics too.
8. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89226142108642 Close-up of the engine cowling. Is this the the tell tale for a WNF produced machine? Some of the G-8's produced by this factory do sport this type of cowling camouflage.
9. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89355803194354
10. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89547543423826
11. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89588304316642
12. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89621957924146
13. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89655610990130
14. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89694703224546
15. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89764364811106
16. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89876643415474 BH+XL, seems to be an Erla produced G.
17. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...90087884492754
18. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...90170699963634
19. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94188520438226 A Bf 109 G/Trop. The W.Nr. si just too small to be read...
20. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94481049603282 A factory fresh G-3: the STMKZ is just painted out.
21. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94566158595714
22. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94817333393554 "Weisse 11", a Bf 109 G-3.
23. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94856575093922 Again this odd cowling...
24. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...95907695952466
25. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...97698933428290 With odd cowling.
26. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...98159031734354
27. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...85978626926914
28. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...86057169990882
29. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...86315412065506

Bf 109 G-2 or G-4/R6
30. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...95732570107458 and its odd cowling..
31. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...83898560743026
32. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...84193176233858
33. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...85044531958866 STMKz ..+RQ
34. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...85120471118498 STMKz ..+RQ
35. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...86932377586290
36. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...86977588087970 Probable STMKz GH+RQ. The same machine as in the above pics.
37. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...87113439558754


Bf 109 G-2 or G-4/Trop.
38. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...96388185171858
39. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...96481104440754
40. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...96508802408306
41. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...96573918357858


Bf 109 G-6:
42. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89726176393186

Bf 109 G
43. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94284458615154
44. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...94697716364626
45. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...95943050745122
46. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...97117447515426
47. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...99262643998754

Ju 52
48. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...84926955723890


Fw 189
49. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...01847123025010
50. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...02739092332274
51. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...04557181953442

Avia B-534
52. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...03373603433458

Ju 52
53. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...04093572284386

Trainer and He 111
54. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...95329039222738

He 111 H
55. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...00157013893282



Shot down P 51 D:
37. https://picasaweb.google.com/sabo.iv...89143923803826

Any thoughts about, time, place and unit?




Cheers
Marc

[the_ivan]

Those "G-1 or G-3" are G-2/G-4. It's clear they are the unpressurized variants.

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Hi there the_ivan,

Point taken; only I don't see any small airscoop under the windshield, the tell-tale feature of all unpressurized G types without "Beulen" (G-2, G-4). This leaves us with the Bf 109 G-1 or G-3, given there are no "Beulen" to be seen...

Cheers
Marc

[RT]

Probable STMKz GH+RQ.

CU+PQ in fact

Rémi

[udf_00]

For the odd P-51B http://www.airwarsk.sk/smith.html

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Merci Rémy!

Much appreciated! Do you have by any chance the W.Nr. for this machine?

Thanks udf_00 for your precisions; great to know who and where!

Cheers
Marc

[Falcon]

No.6 -> http://www.me109.info/display.php?a=e&fid=763
No.16 -> http://www.me109.info/display.php?a=e&fid=3921
No.33-36 -> it's a G-4 with CU+PQ (Bert's SKZ Database: 13.(slow.)/JG 52 April 1943)

The most are very nice and clear photos. It's a nice late Christmas gift. Source is Bundesarchiv?

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Hallo David,

Thanks for your precisions! Yes, the photos are quite exceptional! The ounce is not given; Bundesarchiv would be an obvious choice, unless the late Rudo Bozik had quite an outstanding camera;-))

Anyway, this Gonzo aviation guy put up some excellent shots from Slowakia.

Cheers
Marc

[ianatheling]

An excellent set of photos. Some of these are published elsewhere. I have a few comments;

#1 to 4 The Emils were a mixture of E-2, E-4 and E-7 types. These were purchased by the Slovaks to join the First formation of the Slovak 13 Letka. White 2 is WNr. 2945 Bf 109E-4. These entered combat in autumn 1942. White 2 crashed in May 1943.


#5 The Fw189A-2 between two emils is at Piešťany in autumn 1943.

The early Gustavs are G-4 types. The colour of the numerical codes is yellow, not white and belong (mainly) to the second formation of the 13 Letka (13.(slow).JG 52)


#6 and 15 is at Anapa summer 1943
#7 and 26, 1+- had ‘Marta’ painted below the cockpit.
#8 npor Ján Gerthofer 24 victories, standing next to 2+.
#9 rtk Ján Režňák (32 victories) and Izidor Kovárik (28 victories) with 10+- G-4/Trop.
#14 G-4 6+- WNr. 199330
#16 BH+XL either WNr 19308 or 19368 ? of 4./JG 54.
#19 Probably yellow 10+- WNr. 15195.
#21 Ladislav Dubay with 8+- in background Anapa 06-1943.
#22 11+- Anapa 03-1943.
#24 and 39, 40 Izidor Kovárik (28 victories
#29, 31 32 33 34, 35, 36, 37 Bf 109G-4/R6 CU+PQ Anapa 04-1943.
#41 Ján Režňák, Ján Gerthofer and Izidor Kovárik with 10+- G-4/Trop.
#43 Ján Páleníček
#45 Ján Páleníček and Vladimir Kriško with 10+- G-4/Trop
#47 celebration for František Hanovec after his first victory over a Airacobra 22-07-1943


#52 Avia B-534.IV probably dating from late autumn 1941. To the rear is a Avia MB.200 still with 1939-40 markings.
#54 Avia Ba-122, serial no. 122.7, code S1 of Slovak acrobatic school.
#37? A scrapeyard with Slovak Letov S.328 to the rear.

(sorry if there is some repetition to points made by others, but this took some time to complete)


Ian

[ianatheling]

PS.

Božik was involved in one of my favourite stories of the war. When the Slovak fighter pilots were retired from the Eastern Front they lost the Bf 109Gs shown in many of the photos above. These had been leased to them by the Luftwaffe. Until new arrangements could be made for the defence of Slovakia, the Slovaks relied upon an assortment of obsolete types including Avia B-534 biplanes and Bf 109 Emils.

On the 13th April 1944 Božik was in the air in a Bf 109E when he spotted what from a distance he identified as a US Liberator. He began his attack upon the American heavy. However the ‘American heavy’ was a Bf 110G-2 WNr. 6397 2N+HM of II./ZG 1. From afar Božik had misidentified the two engines and fuel tanks as four engines. He realised the error as he was about to open fire.

However the crew of the Bf 110 were also guilty of a misidentification. They ignored the remote possibility that a Bf 109E was still in the air in 1944, and believed that they were about to be attacked by a US P-51. The rear gunner opened fire upon Božik. Although he had evidently realised the error, he decided to open fire himself. The Bf 110 was hit and crashed. Pilot Wilhelm Meilinger was killed, but the gunner bailed out and survived. Fortunately for Božik, the gunner sustained the story that they had been attacked by a P-51. Božik confidently claimed a victory against a Liberator.


Ian