Jürgen Harder III./JG 53 and 25/26.9.1941 mystery

[Jan Bobek]

I would appreciate very much clarification of J. Harder activities on 25. and 26.9.1941. From previously published JG 53 books I had always impression that Harder made belly landing on 25. after shooting down a "V-11". However from recent book published by Mr. Prien and his colleagues it seems that these two events happened on two days - belly landing on 25. and victory on 26.9. Also degree of damage is stated in two different figures.

thanks in advance for comments



Jagdfliegerverbände 6/II:

page 167:

26. 9. 41 11:40 Stab III./JG 53 Lt. Jürgen Harder V-11 südwestlich Klimowka

page 171:

25. 9. 41 Stab III./JG 53 Lt. Jürgen Harder
Spritmangel, verorientiert, Bauchlandung bei Nowgorod, 35 %, WNr. 9121 ...

page 170:

Nach Luftkampf mit sechs als „Vultee“ bezeichneten Tiefangriffsflugzeugen und einigen Jägern und dem Abschuss einer V-11 – tatsächlich wohl einer Il-2 – erhielt Lt. Jürgen Harder am 25. 9. 1941 Flaktreffer und verlor dadurch Sicht und Orientierung; die Folge war diese Bauchlandung, die zu 30 % Schaden führte ....

[Jochen Prien]

There is indeed some confusion around Jürgen Harder's activities on September 25th, 1941; the following - somewhat contradicting - facts can be derived from the existing sources:

Flugbuch: September 25th, only one flight - take off from Konotop at 10.25 hrs, belly landing near Gremjatsch 12.25 hrs. Remarks: Emergency landing since poor visibility lead to complete loss of orientation. Aerial combat with six Vultee and 1 Pe 2, shot down one Vultee. Aircraft Bf 109 F-2, WNr. 9212, marking < o + I, the "o" with a vertical bar.

No flight at all on September 26th.

RLM claims list: 1 V-11 near Klimowka on September 26th, 11.40 hrs.

GQM loss list: Bf 109 F-2, WNr. 9212, belly landed owing to enemy fire ( Feindbeschuss ), damage 35%

The remark referring to Flak damage came from the notes of a former member of the ground personnel of III./JG 53; in the light of the remarks in the Flugbuch this seems to be incorrect.

It's up to everybody to draw his conclusions; I tend to believe that the date in the claims list is incorrect - probably a typo error - and that the remarks in the Flugbuch do actually give the complete and correct account of this sortie on September 25th, 1941.

Hope this helps

Jochen Prien

[Jan Bobek]

Thanks very much for your reply. It helps.