"After the successes of the last few days, Tommy is now in retreat. This also means our mission time table has been stepped up. It's imperative that we continue to hound his vulnerable formations, afford him no respite, and pin down his Air Force until Rommel can consolidate a stronger defensive front on the DAK's newly capture ground. We've been ordered to escort a flight of Italian Bombers on a bombing mission to close off "Half-way House Pass"; a road being used to evacuate Britische Units currently in danger of being cut off. Once complete, we are to conduct a Frei-Jagd in the area of Sollum. Strafing any enemy vehicles/aircraft and, or, positions we come across. If all goes well, this could well be the beginning of the end for Tommy and his offensive operations in the East."
["Teacher's Pet" - "Schwarze 3" of 1.Schwarm 2./JG27 West of Sidi Rezegh]
"Flying with 1.Schwarm as No.3 today. Take off was a nightmare with crosswind, and a few of us had to make two attempts to get airborne, stopping just in the nick of time before the point of no return.
It's still incredibly hot. Almost burned my hand this morning on the KG stick. Maybe others were struggling in the heat.
Still getting to grips with this new Camera. It's amazing what technology is available to us these days."
[Fiat BR.20 Cicogna's of the Italian 4 Squadriglia - East of Sidi Rezegh]
"Delay to our take off meant we had to throw caution to the wind with the engine and gun it to meet our rendezvous with our escort mission. These Italienisch BR.20s are a bizarre aircraft. You would be forgiven for mistaking them for a passenger craft or some sort of transport. They don't look very much like a warmachine. Then again, that might work in their favour."
["The African Expanse"]
"Never have I seen such an vastness of nothing. The dust just doesn't seem to end, and with the haze you might think the sky and sand become one the further you go.
We heard a few rumours from some DAK Schützen around Gazala that were waiting for transport to the front, that there's some kind of group of trucks rolling around the deep desert shooting up parked aircraft and blowing up whole airfields, that they only come at night, and what's even more bizarre; there's barely a handful of them. It may sound like the rumblings of a mad man, but these men seemed visibly shaken, even afraid. Many of us thought nothing of it, that it was some sort of Britische trick to sow discontent among the lines. Still, I think I'll sleep with my P38 tonight."
["Little Friends" - Fiat G.50 fighter]
"Arrived over Sidi Rezegh and handed off the BR.20s to their "Kleine Freunde".
By no means a match for our Emiles, the G.50s were all the Italians had to spare at the minute. A number of Jagdgeschwader have had near misses with them in the past, often mistaking their shape for Hurricanes, only to realise at the last minute, or worse, too late. They lack horsepower and their weaponry just about makes it combat effective. But what they lack in machinery, these pilots make up for in eagerness."
[Dropping Tanks - Sollum]
"I never enjoyed flying with extra fuel. The tank increased your drag and take off weight, and made you slower. In a War where speed was very much everything, this was a detriment to your well being. 400 Litres is plenty, however we found that barely managed to get us from Gazala to Sollum. A necessary evil unfortunately. Where possible we tried to be cognisant of where we jettisoned them. I would have hated myself if some Landser down there begged for rain and receive a 300 Litre fuel tank travelling at 300kmph instead."
["Contact" - Fighting over Sollum]
"Schwarze 3" piloted by Staffelkapitän Hauptmann Fritz Reichert engaged with Desert Airforce Aircraft, South of Sollum.
"Our Frei-Jagd was quickly cancelled as ground controllers vectored us towards the Italiener. They were in trouble, having been attacked by a large group of Tommy's Air Force still in the area. We made best speed to their aid, and found them in a terrible state. Hauptmann Reichert wasted no time in calling an immediate Staffel attack to relieve them."
["A Shark by his tail!" - 8mm film from "Schwarze 9"'s Gun Camera]
"Tomahawks. We knew some Amerikanisch equipment had made it to Afrika, but we hadn't had the opportunity to seem them up close. Now we have. Large engine in the front as well as 6 machine guns, and very manoeuvrable for their size. Earlier in the fight, one had almost taken my tail off with a quick burst, however I was able to avoid his shooting, or so I thought. Many of them sported "The Shark's Mouth" on their cowling, and if they dove on you from above they were an exceptional dangerous foe indeed... But not this one."
"Both myself, Hauptmann Reichert, and Unteroffizier Scheyda went to work on him and his Wingman, as they attempted to bring down a lone BR.20 that was frantically disengaging from the fight. My first pass on the leader was unsuccessful but "Der Alte Mann" separated him from his wingman, and followed him up with a short burst of Maschinengewehr and Minengeschoß. I rolled around his attack and dove down slightly to increase speed, pulling up behind the Tomahawk in a vertical climb. I gave him a quick burst from my MGs and then a concentrated burst from the Cannons as well, but due to my low speed the gunnery was sub par and missed.
He rolled over to escape, and I dove after him, adamant to finish the Shark off. My rounds hit his lower right tail and some of the cannon burst impacted his left wing, but failed to bring him down. I went back into the vertical, and looking over my shoulder saw the Staffelkapitän put the finishing blow into him as the Tomahawk's altitude lessened, and he belly landed in the dust."
[Royal Air Force Tomahawk MK IIb - South of Sollum]
"I suddenly became aware of the second Tomahawk in our midst after he narrowly avoided colliding with me. He passed my nose and I instinctively pulled the trigger flush against the control stick. A few puffs of impacts were seen, but the aircraft continued on unfazed. I rolled upside down and performed a splint S to keep my speed up, but he was pulling away in the direction of Buq-Buq. However, he was not alone.
Behind him I saw the two unmistakable shapes of Me-109s. Scheyda and Hauptmann Reichert had come down on him from a height and caught him unaware."
[Gun Camera footage from "Blondi" Juhre's BF-109E7 "Schwarze 9"]
Hauptmann Fritz Reichert (Schwarze 3) and Unteroffizier Josef Scheyda (Schwarze 4) engage Tomahawk attempting to flee towards Buq-Buq.
Schwarze 3 overshoots and Schwarze 4 successfully engages and overshoots Tomahawk.
Schwarze 3 second pass.
Schwarze 3's shots impacting at close range.
Schwarze 3 passes under floundering Tomahawk. Pilot bails out. Schwarze 4 can be seen in the background.
"I watched the Tommy bail out almost in front of my prop and tumble away, parachute deploying behind him. Reichert ordered immediate reform over Bardia, and we swooped low to mainly speed and separation from any other Tommies who might want to go another round. As we pulled up over the cliff face, I shot a glance over my shoulder only to see Unteroffizier Scheyda's aircraft being tailed by a pair of aircraft. I tried to warn him, but I was far too late. To my horror tracer engulfed the Me and it began to spiral out of control into the ground. There was no call for help. No parachute. Just a mass of tattered metal and flames.
The Hauptmann ordered full power and I threw the throttle forwards to get everything out of the engine that I could. Behind me, the two aircraft broke away in the direction of Buq-Buq and disappeared into the late afternoon haze."
["An unplanned stop" - Amseat Flugplatz, just West of Sollum]
"This was not the time to lament Schwarze 4's loss. We reformed what little we could of the staffel. One Schwarm of 4 and another of 3.
We had lost Unterfeldwebel 'Doc' Edmann in defence of the BR.20s, having seemingly been struck by Tomahawks and bailed out into the desert. We are still unsure if he survived.
Leutnant Eickhoff had vanished as well. Though none of his Schwarm could confirm what had happened, they did report a parachute.
Vowing to press on, we flew for Buq-Buq. We would hunt around their airspace for any stragglers that may yet be looking for safe harbour. As we rounded the coast over Sollum again, within striking distance of the Tommies, I pushed the throttle forward slightly to stay in position and suddenly my whole aircraft began to violently shake. Almost immediately I began to lose engine power and slipped from formation. I called out that my aircraft had suffered a catastrophic failure, and I was making best speed for Sidi Azis, the nearest operational Flugplatz.
As I pulled away, I could hear the rest of the Staffel being ordered to return to Sidi aswell due to our reduction in combat strength. I cannot help but feel like this was my fault, and that I had forced the Staffel into early retirement from the field. These thoughts became swept from my mind when my engine finally gave up the Ghost and my RPM spun to zero. I radioed that I could not reach Sidi Azis, and that I would be putting down on Amseat Foward Flugplatz. It was abandoned for all I knew, but the hope was that there might be Afrika Korp units already in that area.
I trimmed out my aircraft, lowered my landing gear and braced for a rough landing on the unkept dust bowl. Thankfully, I was able to direct the aircraft onto the aerodrome in a three point landing. I couldn't save the engine, but at least the airframe was undamaged.
I rolled to a halt just in front of a group standing on the Northern end of the field. I was unsure of their allegiance, so as I opened the cockpit canopy, I unbuckled my P38 holster for what little good it would do me. Fortunately, the grubby faced Afrika Korp Engineers approached my aircraft and helped me out of the cockpit.
I was exhausted. Between the heat, strain, and adrenaline, I could barely stand. I explained to them what had happened, to be on the lookout for any other pilots, and that I needed transport immediately to Gazala. They helped me to the wing and motioned to my engine. I could now see why my machine had died. A single .50 calibre shaped hole right into the cowling, oil spilling out. The Tomahawk I evaded had hit me with a single round from his burst.
I had been extremely lucky, however a great many of us had not."