The War Diary of 2./JG27 (The Seige of Tobruk)

[Coopes]

Really cool man. Missing Coopes and the brigade.

Be good to have you fly with us again some time.

[Blondi]

~ Tag 152 ~


Fotografie - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre
Vorwort - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre

Sidi Azeiz Flugplatz
Libysch-ägyptische Grenze
1941-11-18

Overview
"Tommy is on the offensive. Little is known of his disposition at this moment in time, and whether this is a full blown attack, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. We've also been notified that he pulled his aircraft out of Tobruk sometime in the last few days, which is a surprised to say the least, but at least gives the DAK a much needed rest from air attacks. Reinforcements are due from Crete any day now, and as such we have been redeployed further East to Sidi Azeiz to hunt into Ägypten. But if the last few months are anything to go by, no doubt Tommy has something up his sleeve for us."

[Morgen Sonnenaufgang]

"After the thunderstorms of that last few days, sunrise this morning wasn't so oppressively hot. The whole field had a freshness about it, as if the weight of the air around us had been lightened substantially by some unseen force. Managed to take this sitting on the flight line while the ground crew fussed over the fuel line from the tender. I might just send this one home."



["Home from Home" - Sidi Azeiz]

"After Tommy pulled his aircraft out of Tobruk, we had been ordered east, closer to the front and on the Libysch-ägyptische border. The DAK units passing through had set up a field hospital on the edge of the runway to load injured soldiers onto Tante JU for quicker evacuation. A few days ago I had taken a walk by to see if we could help them with any supply issues they may have, as well as some extra Water rations from the Water tower. The blood stained Sanitäter had tried his best to hold his composure, but I could see he was stretched to his limit with very little sleep on top. I caught a glimpse of the scene he and his colleagues were dealing with inside the tent when the breeze had lifted the canvas door. I can still see those injured men in my sleep."



["Taxi" - 1.Schwarm]

"With a change in the weather, our engines could breath temperate air again. The rain had killed off the dust clouds and we were able to keep the water and oil at reasonably nominal temperature by having the sand filter open on start up and taxi. Some of us even tried parking our Emiles into the wind so the air would naturally blow into the intakes and keep the radiator surfaces cool. Not that I think it made a difference."



["Refugee"]

"As we were taxing for the runway, ground control suddenly revoked our clearance, as a heavily damaged BR20 was making an emergency landing at the field, after his squadron was jumped by Allied Aircraft. He descended in such a hurry that when his wheels touched the waterlogged dirt, it just sucked the landing gear into the mud and threw the aircraft nose first into the runway. He skidded the whole way down the length of the field until he collided with the side of the Western Hangar, right in front of the field hospital tents, and burst into flames. Ground crew frantically ran for fire suppression equipment and water from the tower, and Sanitäter ran from canvas covers with arms full of bandages and blankets to fight the flames. It was utter carnage. Aircrew leapt from broken windows and the cockpit doused in burning fuel in a frantic attempt to put themselves out, whilst others crawled through holes in the fuselage barely wide enough for a Child to fit through to escape the raging inferno their aircraft had become. We were cleared for immediate take off on the northern section of the runway. We sped past the fire on our way out. All we could do was watch."



[Form up over Azeiz]

"As we orbited the flugplatz, I could see the extent of the mud problem we had. Massive thunderstorms the night before had turned the ground into a veritable quagmire. The access road to the field's perimeter fence had become so soft that even the Opel Blitz were struggling to make it through the gate. We had several rollers out immediately after the storm had passed to make the runway at least half serviceable. It's a pity no one had informed the Italian pilots of our surface problem. From the air we could see their BR20 burning like a funeral pyre next to the hangar. I felt sick to my stomach."



["Storm warning"]

"Even with the main thunder storm's passing, ground control informed us that there were still pockets of electrical storms floating around the border and that it would be best to vector around them. We had heard stories of the effects a lightning strike could have on an aircraft. Instantaneous ignition of fuel, oil, glycol, or even ordnance stores. Apparently the bomber fields had been put out of action due to this very problem. No one would risk arming bombs for fear of the static charge in the air setting one off."



["Enemy contact!"]

"We didn't have to wait long for our first catch of the day. Just as I was lining up a shot of the Staffelkapitan at the request of a Signal Kriegsberichter at Azeiz, ground control informed us of a flight of Hurricanes directly under us. In my haste to regain control, I dropped the camera between the seat and oxygen tank and completely ruined the shot. With more serious matters now afoot, I forgot about it and began searching for the flight of Tommies. I quickly spotted them low on our 1 o'clock just south of Sollum. "Der Alte Mann" was of course the first to engage, and the rest of the Schwarm dove in to assist. As the Hauptmann and Unteroffizier Marx engaged, a second group of Hurricanes emerged from the thick soup of morning haze ahead of me. I straightened my dive and came up from under the second group, delivering a long burst of 20mm and MG fire into the wingman. The leader broke away and his second began venting every fluid his aircraft ran on from the holes all over his wings and tail. I slid low on his 6 o'clock, passed under him and pulled up into a climb as he disappeared from my sight. The radio became more frantic as the realisation set in that we were engaged with not 1, not 2, but 3 squadrons of Tommy fighters, now backed up by Tomahawks from altitude. Now on my own, I disengaged to the North towards our previously briefed reform point over Bardia. On the way I fired quick bursts of MG at two Tomahawks who were attempting to climb to diving altitude, and forced them low out of the fight."



["Castles in the Sky" - Bardia]

"Once reformed over Bardia, we commenced a secondary hunt south back towards Sollum. G50s from our cohorts in the Regia Aeronautica had engaged the Tomahawks on their own. I did say they were an eager bunch. But before we could reach them, Christian called out that he had an aircraft underneath us. He rolled over quickly to check. "Hurricane! He's damaged!". The Hauptmann immediately cleared him to engage, that he would support his attack, and I was to remain at altitude to assist and cover the pair if required. Instantly the two Me's rolled vertical and disapeared from my view. I was alone again. I zig-zagged to properly maintain a position of advantage if required to dive.
As I peered out of my cockpit window, clouds circled all sides of me. Some of them were truly gargantuan, reaching several miles across and all the way up to 6,000 meters from the ground. They had a majestic pull to them. Almost beckoning you in to fly their many troughs and peaks.
Below me I could see Schwarze 3 and 15 hound the Hurricane to the wave tops. 15 eventually finished him and he spun into the waves. There was no Parachute."

"We again reformed over Bardia with the rest of the Staffel, and were vectored towards a group of Blenheims and their escorts making a run for their lines over Sollum. Marx put in another Hurricane, and as did I, however it is at this point I would like to note that due to a malfunction with my wing camera, none of this engagement was recorded, nor was the rest of our Jagd or subsequent flight to Sidi Rezegh. For authenticity and truthfulness sake, I would rather go into detailed reports on events I have recorded evidence of, rather than dictate it word for word with none.
By the end of flight operations we had 4 probable, and 4 confirmed victories to 1 loss. During our second encounter with the Hurricanes escorting the Blenheims, Unteroffizier Emil Dörr (our new replacement for Scheyda's position) had been hit by .303 fire from a Hurricane, wounding him and forcing him to ditch in the desert. He was later picked up by an Aufklärung bike from the 21st Panzerdivision and is currently in the Feldlazarett at Azeiz."

Nach Aktion

Flugzeug-Status

• Schwarze 4 - Lost

Pilot-Status

• Unteroffizier Emil Dörr - Verwundet

Staffel Haltung

• 90 Prozent

Siegeszahl

• Lt. Alfons 'Rex' Eickhoff - Hurricane - Damaged - Dark smoke - Fate Unknown

• Ufw. Paul "Doc" Edmann - Hurricane - Damaged - Control surfaces shot away - Fate Unknown

• Uffz. Christian "Stahl" Marx - Hurricane - Abschoss - Wing shot away - Fate Unknown

• Uffz. Christian "Stahl" Marx - Hurricane - Abschoss - Control surfaces shot away - Crashed into Sea

• Uffz. Christian "Stahl" Marx - Hurricane - Abschoss - Control surfaces shot away - Spiral towards desert

• Gefr. Martin "Blondi" Juhre - Hurricane - Abschoss - Venting heavily and parts shot away - Spiral towards Sea

• Gefr. Martin "Blondi" Juhre - Hurricane - Abschoss - Venting heavily and parts shot away - Fate Unknown

[Blondi]

~ Tag 157 ~


Fotografie - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre
Vorwort - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre

Gazala Flugplatz
Nordküste, Libyen
1941-11-23

Overview
"Where do I even begin? Sidi Azeiz and most of the East has been lost, along with Sollum turning into a miniature Tobruk with their only lifeline being the Kriegsmarine. The DAK only just recaptured Sidi Rezegh (lost a few days ago), and the Tommies at the Tobruk Garrison are now pushing outwards in an attempt to pinch off the rest of our forces still tied up in the East, in conjunction with their forces driving from the South. Gruppenbefehl has ordered we assist in the halt of their break out in the vicinity of the 21st Panzerdivision, who has managed to trap some of Tommy's tanks in a pocket 10km to the South of Sidi Rezegh. The map is a complete mess, it is 30 degrees C in the shade, and as if the pressure couldn't be any worse, I am to fly as the Schwarmführer of 2.Schwarm. As such, I am unable to take much in the way of photography for the War Diary, for I fear my work has been cut out for me..."

["Launch! Go go go!" - Scramble from Gazala]

"We could not afford to waste time. 1.Schwarm had already launched by the time my engine came to life. I quickly taxied to the runway, ordering my Schwarm to take to the runway in whatever order got them in the air quickest. We would sort out formation in the air once we made contact with the Stukageschwader we were detailed to escort."



["Home" - Gazala]

"Below me I could see the 3.Schwarm beginning to roll (editor note: center of photo below bunkers), with 6 G.50s of the Italienisch squadron starting their engines (editor note: bottom of photo). You never really appreciated how confined Gazala was until you got into the air. We had to share a runway with the Italiener, and this sometimes became a point of controversy. We had several close calls, and even a few accidents due to crowding on the runway. Tensions had run high several times, and in a bid to calm tempers in the blistering heat, "Der Alte mann" had suggested a cross community activity to give us all somewhere to cool off. So, just to the West of us on the shoreline, several of the Geschwader's ground crew and pilots, along with the Italiener, had fixed a makeshift jetty that went out several feet into the water. The Mediterranean had now become our own private swimming pool."



[1.Schwarm and Stukageschwader - West of Tobruk]

"Once again we were escorting our Stuka collegues from Tmimi. Their target was the Merchant shipping and landing transports currently docked at Tobruk. During our ingress to the target, 2.Schwarm had been sent around to the Eastern side of Tobruk to screen from potential enemy incursions. None such came. The whole affair was uneventful, and the Stukas seemed to clearly miss all of their targets and simply trundle off home without so much as a thank you."



[2.Schwarm]

"I had been told from the outset that a Schwarmführer is only as good as his wingmen, and I certainly felt confident with mine.
"Schwarze 12" piloted by Gefreiter Uwe Petersen, my Number 2. He'd joined the Geschwader a few months after me and was the newest of our group. He'd been in some tough scraps with us this far, and to anyone else outside they would have thought he'd been here from the start.
"Schwarze 8" and my Number 3, Unterfeldwebel Paul 'Doc' Edmann. He had joined with the Staffel shortly before I did, his family had originated from Poland. I initially thought he had been drafted after the Invasion, but was surprised to hear that he had volunteered. An experienced pilot before his service with us, Paul never missed a turn or roll, no matter how hard you pulled.
Finally, my Number 4; "Schwarze 9" flown by Unterfeldwebel Jakob 'Spit' Matuschka, another unlikely volunteer from Brazil. It was no secret to us that Germany had diplomatic, or even friendly, ties to some South American countries, but we would never have imagined someone volunteering for our outfit and crossing an ocean and half the globe. Especially after the Ammis strong armed the Brazilians into a defence agreement at the War's outset. Regardless, Matuschka was a capable pilot and spoke excellent German.
I had no worries about the rest of my Schwarm, and the only concern was for myself, that I would lead them into combat, and lead them back out. In one piece."



[Gun Camera film taken from "Schwarze 9"]

"We now moved to perform Combat Air Patrol duties over Sidi Rezegh and the pocket created by the 21st Panzerdivision. We did not have long to wait. Ground control vectored us onto a group of Hurricanes escorting Blenheim bombers towards Sidi. We ran into them at roughly 4-5,000 meters and engaged in earnest. I ordered 2.Schwarm to break into elements and engage a pair of Hurricanes that were attempting to fly over us and dive towards our rear. They overshot, and as did my element, but as I rolled up and over to keep my speed up, I noticed a pair of Tomahawks gaining on Petersen and ordered him to break. As he did so, I continued my loop to gain altitude for the dive after them. But as I pulled over, they were gone. Everyone was gone. Not a plane in the sky. I frantically searched left and right for any shape or shadow I could use for reference as the Radio blared out in my ears. Suddenly I spotted two shapes dancing around each other on my nose. It was Edmann tangling with a Hurricane, but his quarrel's Wingman was coming down behind him out of the sun. I called to him that he had a six, and threw the throttle open to close the distance. Within a matter of seconds I had closed on his tail, just as the second Hurricane came out behind him. I squeezed the trigger and sent a burst of MG over his canopy. Immediately he began to perform violent evasive manoeuvres in an attempt to shake me, but I cut throttle and deployed flaps, mimicking his movements blow for blow. Realising he had no way of shaking me, the Hurricane pulled directly upwards and seemingly stopped in mid air. Unable to follow, I overshot, pulling into the vertical and rolled over to dive on him again as he sped for the desert floor. Confident I could catch him in my energy state, I threw open the throttle again, only to be over taken by "Doc", who had come down from a higher altitude. I moved aside to cover his attack, and watch his cannons strike the Hurricane on the right wing, sawing it away and causing the Tommy to crash into the dust and explode. We climbed out towards the Coast, reforming with Jakob and headed West over Rezegh again. At this point, Paul's engine gave out and he was forced to divert to the airfield below us. This close to the front was a dangerous call, but it was better than landing in Tommy territory, or worse still, the desert expanse itself."



["Wakeup Call"]

"Now down to 2 aircraft, we circled Sidi Rezegh several times, and attempted to vector torwards 1.Schwarm as they had engaged a group of unescorted Blenheims (perhaps stragglers from the first group?). However after 15 minutes and no joy, the order to return to based was given and we headed West in the direction of Gazala. After we crossed the Coast for a "Feet wet" (editor note: feet wet refers to aircraft over water) approach to the Flugplatz, a moment of mischief crossed my already heat sapped mind; We would "Hot Dog" (I believe that's the term the Ammis use to describe it) Gazala's populace. Such antics were forbidden within training circles, and heavily frowned upon by higher ups, but they never failed to lift the spirit of whoever was on the ground watching. I ordered Uffz. Matuschka to my right side, and on my command, we rolled over in a dive, closing all our radiators to maximize speed, and pulled up mere meters above the line of tents on the Western side of the runway. I managed to snap a photo of how low we were when we passed over head. I could see men parting left and right to clear the way, and I remember Jakob remarking on the Radio:"It might not be the Red Sea, but it'll do!". Some even ran outside to watch us come in. The Chief Mechanic even managed to take a photo of us passing overhead which he gave to me to keep as a memento. We were cheered back to our parking area."



["Final" - 1.Schwarm arrives back at Gazala]

"Shortly after we touched down and parked, 1.Schwarm returned from their Blenheim hunt. Unteroffizier Marx had claimed one, and Unteroffizier Dörr (fresh from ditching in the desert) claimed another for two victories."



["Down wind" - Approach into Gazala]



"Now on the ground, there was at least some reprieve from the madness. Our first battle had been complete Chaos over the radio. Albeit I wasn't involved save for following Uffz. Edmann, but listening to the other Staffel members talk about their engagements made me realise just how lucky I had been to be out of the loop so to speak. As I write this, I've only been out of my cockpit for a matter of an hour or two, and my hands are still slightly trembling. Things seem to be tipping the other way now, Tommy on the offense and we scrambling to find a ditch to hold up in. His Air forces seem completely undaunted and are very keen to close and engage with us, but that's been demonstrated to us before over der Ärmelkanal. The loses other units have been reporting have made for grim reading. All we can do now is keep flying and knocking them down wherever we find them. It's up to der Wüstenfuchs to do the rest. The heat is unbearable in this tent now, and I'm still in my flying clothes. Think I'll go for a swim."

Nach Aktion

Flugzeug-Status

• Schwarze 8 - Damaged governor

• Schwarze 4 - Flaps damage

Pilot-Status

• Unterfeldwebel Paul 'Doc' Edmann - Emergency landing - Sidi Rezegh

Staffel Haltung

• 90 Prozent

Siegeszahl

• Hptm Fritz Reichert - Hurricane - Abschoss - Light Smoke - Crashed into Desert

• Ufw. Paul "Doc" Edmann - Hurricane - Abschoss - Right wing shot away - Crashed into Desert

• Uffz. Emil Dörr - Hurricane - Abschoss - Parts shot away - Crashed into Desert

• Uffz. Emil Dörr - Blenheim - Abschoss - Parts shot away - Crashed into Desert

• Hptgefr. Hannes Büttcher - Tomahawk - Abschoss - Forced into dirt - Crashed landed in Desert

[Blondi]

~ Tag 171 ~


Fotografie - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre
Vorwort - Gefr. Martin 'Blondi' Juhre

Gazala Flugplatz
Nordküste, Libyen
1941-12-07

Overview
"The pocket has collapsed. Rommel has withdrawn his Headquarters to prepare a new defensive line at Gazala, and all offensive operations have been called off, due to the construction of Tommy's new Radar network. We are now a rear guard to cover the drawing of a new line in the sand. Despite this, we are to fly top cover for an Italienisch bombing mission south of Tobruk. There have been reports of an increase in Allied air activity in the Tobruk area, likely due to the extra breathing room Tommy now has. The entire Geschwader is out in force, and for the first time I am apprehensive of leaving the ground. Losses have been mounting in the wake of the blistering speed of their break out, and I fear our adversary has had his resolve bolstered ten fold. But should we meet him at his best, we intend to show him ours."



Editor note:
There appears to be no entry for the 7th of December 1941. In my research into why this was omitted, I found several contact reports from members of JG27 regarding their mission. I discovered that Gefreiter Martin Juhre was shot down over Tobruk's southern defensive line by AAA fire from the 9th Australian Division, and his support writer, Unteroffizier Christian "Stahl" Marx, was also shot down on the same sortie.

Martin Juhre was shot down flying at low level attempting to escape from a perusing Tomahawk of the South African Air Force. While using a low hill for cover, an Australian Gunner fired a short burst into the port side of Juhre's E7, critically damaging the aircraft. In an attempt to escape, Juhre jettisoned his canopy which threw the Tomahawk off his tail and bailed out on the German side of the Tobruk frontline. Injured in his right leg and arm, and unable to manoeuvre in his parachute, the breeze carried Juhre East a short distance, but far enough to put him inside British lines. He survived the War, living out the remainder of it in a POW camp outside the town of Bangor, Northern Ireland. He returned to Germany at the War's end and joined the newly reformed Luftwaffe, flying the CL-13. He resigned in protest during the 1966 "Starfighter Crisis", and became an advocate for reconciliation between the veterans of the Allied Countries and Germany. He continued to hold the pilots of Great Britain and the Commonwealth that had duelled with his squadron in the tumbling blue over Tobruk in high esteem through out his life. He passed away on the 1st of January 2020.

Christian "Stahl" Marx was not so fortunate. During the sortie he had been perused by a number of Allied fighters to ground level. During his attempt to disengage, he was shot down west of Tobruk. It is largely agreed upon that he was killed instantly before his aircraft entered it's dive. By the time British Soldiers reached the wreck, it had been burning for over an hour. His Flugzeugführer badge, and part of a charred diary was all that was recovered. His remains are buried in the Deutsche Kriegsgraberstatte at Tobruk, along with the 6,026 Germans who never came home from the desert.

By chance, I was able to locate the relatives of Christian Marx, who dumbfounded me by presenting me with the very diary the British Soldiers had retrieved from his crash site. It had arrived with his family after being hand delivered to them by one of the Soldiers who had found it in the dirt nearly 40 years earlier. Particularly poignant was the final entry, written mere hours before his final sortie:

Uffz Marx Diary entry
morning
07-12-1941


"I'd woken up with a massive headache, we had been out drinking at the beach since we weren't flying for the past few days.
It's December now, back home in Bavaria it would at least feel like it, it's currently +30c and I'm sitting in the tent, safe from the sun.
I'm looking forward to possibly rotating home around Christmas for a little holiday, I miss my family terribly.

Later that day.
I got back from the briefing and I'm still feeling unwell, although not just because of the schnapps, I have a weird feeling in me about the mission tonight, the brits have been pushing us back kilometre by kilometre every day for a while now and they are getting awfully close, too close. The task today would be to escort our Italian friends to just south of Tobruk to their target and then break off and hopefully intercept some Hurricanes with an altitude advantage.

I shook my mechanics hand as was the custom for as long as I've flown and climbed into the cockpit and sighed heavily as my head was still swinging from the drinking and the sun wasn't helping the recovery from that, not one bit. I started the might Daimler-Benz engine and kept my canopy open during the taxi to enjoy the wind in my face and lined up my 109, tapped my diary on my chest pocket and we roared into the air, this time my friend

Gefr. Juhre had given me his second camera to snap some pictures of us flying today, it's been a while since I had used one of these and I snapped a couple of pictures of our formation while we waited for the bombers to fly past Gazala."

[A collection of the last few photos taken by Christian Marx and "Blondi" Juhre's cameras, retrieved by soldiers of the 9th Australian Division, along with the Pilot badge retrieved from the crash site of "Schwarze 15"]