BF 109 G-6/AS "13 GREEN", JG 1 of WALTER OESAU

Walter "Gulle" Oesau
Oberst     Walter “Gulle” Oesau was born on 28 June 1913 at Farnewinkel in the Dithmarschen region of Holst. He enlisted in the army in 1933 and served in an artillery regiment. By 1934 he had become a Fahnenjunker and was undertaking flying training with the Deutschen Verkehrsfliegerschule. On completing his flying training he was posted to Jagdgeschwader “Richtofen”. Leutnant Oesau was one of the first fighter pilots to join J/88 in Spain in April 1938. Here he served with 3. J/88 and gained nine victories. He became one of only 27 recipients of the Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Brillanten . He was also wounded in this campaign and was awarded the Spanish Wound Badge. On 1 March 1939, Oesau joined the Stabsschwarm of I./JG 2. On 15 July, Oberleutnant Oesau was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 20 which was later redesignated 7./JG 51. Oesau gained his first victory of World War 2 on 13 May 1940. He ended the French campaign with five victories to his credit. On 18 August 1940 he became the fifth Luftwaffe pilot to reach 20 World War 2 victories, bringing him the award of the Ritterkreuz. On 25 August 1940, Hauptmann Oesau was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51. On 11 November 1940, Oesau was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 3. He led the Gruppe to the Eastern front where the invasion of Russia was launched. He recorded his 40th victory on 5 February 1941. On 6 February, he was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 9). He recorded his 50th victory on 30 June. He claimed five enemy aircraft shot down on 10 July 1941 for his 64th to 68th victories. He recorded his 70th victory on 11 July and his 80th on 17 July.  On 15 July his victory tally had reached 80 and he became only the third man to be awarded the Schwertern. At the end of July 1941 he was recalled to the Western Front to take command of JG 2. He recorded his 100th victory on 26 October, only the third Luftwaffe pilot to reach this landmark. He was forbidden to fly further combat missions, his combat experience and leadership qualities being considered too valuable to risk. A series of staff appointments followed, including being appointed Jagdfliegerführer 4 Brittany.
Stabschwarm and Kommodore JG 2: Oblt. Erich Leie (118 v.), Maj. Walter Oesau, Oblt. Rudi Pflanz (52 v.) and Ofw. Günther Seeger (56 v.)
    On 12 November 1943, Oberst Oesau returned to combat when he was appointed Kommodore of JG 1 following the death of Oberst Hans Philipp (206 victories, RK-S). He soon added at least 14 victories against the USAAF formations of B-17 and B-24 four-engined bombers. On 11 May 1944, Oesau, leading three aircraft of the Stabsschwarm, took off from Paderborn to intercept Allied bombers raiding north-eastern Belgium and Luxembourg. During his attack on the bombers he was bounced by escorting P-38s. In the ensuing combat he was shot down and killed in his Bf 109 G-6/AS (W.Nr. 20 601) “Green 13” near St Vith.
     “Gulle” Oesau scored 127 victories in over 300 combat missions. 9 victories were scored during the Spanish Civil War, 74 were scored on the Western front including 14 four-engined bombers (one B-17 as engültige Vernichtung) and 44 over the Eastern front.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 IV./JG27 Red 13+~ flown by Ofw. Heinrich Bartels, Kalamaki, Greece, September 1943

      Heinrich Bartels was born on 13 July 1918 at Linz in Austria. From early summer 1941, Bartels served with Ergänzungsstaffel/JG 26 on the Channel front. He recorded his first victory on 19 August, when he shot down a RAF Spitfire fighter. He claimed a second Spitfire shot down on 27 August. Bartels was transferred to 11./JG 1 on 27 January 1942. On 10 March, 11./JG 1 was redesignated 8./JG 5. Bartels was to become one of the most successful pilots of 8./JG 5. This unit was under the command of Hauptmann Hermann Segatz (40 victories, DK-G) and was based on the Northern or Polar front. Bartels recorded 47 Russian aircraft shot down in 100 missions in this theatre, including 21 victories in September alone.

Heinrich Bartels of 8./JG 5 after 100th combat mission on 11 September 1942. His Bf 109 F "Black 13" was named Hella.
      On 13 November 1942 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 46 victories. In the spring of 1943, Bartels was transferred to JG 27 based in the Mediterranean theatre. Oberfeldwebel Bartels was assigned to 11./JG 27. He had 49 victories to his credit at this time. Bartels gained 14 victories  in October 1943, including three USAAF P-38 twin-engine fighters shot down on 8 October (54-56) and five victories, including a further three P-38s, shot down on 25 October (57-61). By the end of 1943, Bartels score stood at 73, including four victories on 15 November (67-70), all P-38 fighters shot down on one mission over Greece. Bartels operated on Reichsverteidigung duties in April and May 1944. He claimed 12 victories, including three victories in a day on two occasions, before deploying to the Invasion front. Here, in five missions, he recorded 11 victories. For these achievements, Bartels was nominated for the Eichenlaub. By 23 December 1944, Bartels’ victory count had increased to 98.
Fw. Heinrich Bartels is showing his 70th victory bar on the rudder of his Bf 109 G-6, "Red 13", WNr. 27 169, at Kalamaki airfield in Greece on 17 November, 1943.

    At this time he was serving with 15./JG 27 formed on 12 June 1944. On 23 December, he took off at 11:00 with his flight. His wingman was Oberfähnrich Rolf Brand. Gaining altitude they flew to the Köln – Bonn area. Over Bonn, at 7500 metres, they saw fuel tanks dropping in front of their noses. Those drop tanks came from P-47 fighters of the USAAF 56th Fighter Group "Red Noses" in pursuit of the aircraft flown by Heinz Rossinger (3 v.). Bartels promptly shot down one of the American fighters on Rossinger's tail. It was his 99th and last victory. Heinrich Bartels failed to return. 24 years later, on 26 January 1968, Bartels’ Bf 109 G-10 (W.Nr. 130 359) “Yellow 13” was found at Villip near Bad Godesberg. In the cockpit was the intact parachute...
    Heinrich Bartels flew about 500 combat missions and shot down 99 enemy aircraft: 49 on the Eastern front with JG 5 and 50 with JG 27 in the Mediterranean and in defence of Germany. His score included nine P-47s eleven P-51sand fourteen P-38s!