Anti bomber pilots, in defense of the fallen idea of a madman. Part 2

Hitler's obsessive thinking about the bomb hit a British city, didn't allow to focus on the defense of their own country. Those pilots in the second half of the war, were doomed, but always showed, unquestionable usefulness of fighter units and high qualifications of the Luftwaffe staff.

Messerschmitt Bf109 G6/R of 12./JG3 fitted  with loaded underwing 21 cm WGr mortar tubes photographed at San Severo, in central Italy, in August 1943

Know your enemy -  under the Mediterranean sun, Sicily-based Germn fighter pilots receive open air instruction on how to attack a B-24 in 1943

Leutnant Ernst Börngen in December 1941 while he was serving in North Afica with 5.27. From spring 1944 he went on to serve in various command positions with JG27 in the defence of the Reich. On 19 May 1944, he shot down his 16th and last Viermot.

Major Werner Shroer ( Gruppenkommndeur of II./JG27 from April 1943 to March 1944) was credited with the destruction of no fewer than 23 four-engined bombers during the bttle of Sicily and later in the defence f the Reich.

Final check re carried out to the Bf109 G-6 of Leutnant Günther Seeger of 7./JG53 at a muddy Reggio airfield, in Italy, In October 1943. His Bf109 is fitted with  drop tank and underwing MG151 20 mm cannon, with each gun installation holding 142 rounds.

Hauptmann Ernst Düllberg stands beside his bf109 (possibly G-2) marked with the chevrons of the Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG27. He held this position from 11 October 1942 to 30 September 1944, when he assumed commnd of JG76. Düllberg would destroy16 Viermots while with JG27, including severl double-victories in one mission.

Know your enemy -by mid- 1943, german fighter pilots bsed in the West and the Reich were never allowed to forget theeir priority target. Here, the formidable frontl view of B-17 has been painted in scale on the doors of hngar for rnge and gunnery purposes. Groundcrew standing belowe the straboard wing lend scale to the artwork.

The pilots of Sturmstaffel 1 line up in front of an Fw190 at Salzwedel on 29 April 1944. First from left is Oberlaeutant Othmar Zehart, thisr from left is leutnant Siegfried Müller, then Leutnant Rudolf Metz,major Hans-Günther von kornatzki, leutnant Werner gerth, Feldswebel Wolfgang Kosse and Oberfeldwebel gerhard marburg. Four from right is Unteroffizier Willi Maximowitz and third from right Feldwebel oscar Boesch.

Oberfeldwebel Adolf Glunz, Staffelkapitän of 5./JG26 nd one of the most successful german fighter pilots in the West, hoists himself from the cockpit of his Fw190 A-7 at Cambrai-Epinoy on 22 February 1944. Glunz had just led 5. staffel against an American bomber raid on factories in central germany. During his unit's attack, he shot down three B-17s and claimed Herrausschüsse aagainst two others, as well as downing P-47. Glunz would end of the war ith 19 four-engined kills to his name.

Feldwebel Franz Steiner, I./JG11, in 1944. Steiner was accomplished fighter pilot who was credited with the destruction of nine four-engined bombers. In early 1945 he was selected by Adolf Galland to join JV44, with whom he flew the Me262.

Photos taken form Luftwffe Viermot Aces 1942  - 45, Robert Forsyth