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Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG54.8 (+~ $Erwin Leykauf Russia 00 Profile 00: Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4 flown by Oblt. Erwin Leykauf of 8./JG54, Siverskaya, June 1942. It is thought that Leykauf was flying this aircraft when, between 23.10 and 24.00 hrs on the night of 22 June, he shot down six Soviet R-5 reconnaissance aircraft. At that time Leykauf was relatively inexperienced and had only one previous day victory, but when he landed he had increased his tally to seven. The camouflage on Leykauf's machine consisted of a softly merging 70 and 71 on all uppersurfaces with 76 on the undersurfaces, while the spinner was green 70 with a one-third white segment. The machine carried extensive yellow areas as shown, and the fuselage markings comprised the badge of III.Gruppe forward and below the windscreen, the Geschwader's 'Grunherz' on the side of the cockpit and a white chevron and the wavy bar of III. Gruppe, both edged in black, either side of the fuselage Balkenkreuz. The badge on the engine cowling is the coat of arms of Ansbach, Leykauf's home town, and featured a crown over a shiel, upon which were three fish on a diagonal band.
Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG54.8 (+~ $Erwin Leykauf Russia 01 Photo’s 01-02: The pilot of III./JG54 who proved himself most proficient while operating at night in Russia was Oberleutnant Erwin Leykauf. He shot down eight bombers whilst operating from Siverskaya near Leningrad, six of which he claimed in a single night.
Erwin Leykauf was born on 22 January 1918 at Germersheim. After he learned to fly at the glider school in Hesselberg, Leykauf joined the Luftkriegsschule in Dresden, studying there during 1936-37. Afterwards, he went for additional flight training at the Luftkriegsschule at Berlin-Gatow. In 1938, of his own accord, Leykauf quit the Luftkriegsschule, which was tantamount to refusing war service in the Werhmacht, to begin studies in aerodynamics and aircraft engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Munich. At the outbreak of World War 2, Fahnenjunker Leykauf was mobilized and reported to Illesheim in Franconia. In May 1940, he was transfered to JG21. Leykauf made his first victory claim with 2./JG21 during his time based in France when he shot down Gloster Gladiator bi-plane fighter on 10 May. On 6 June, I./JG21 was redesignated III./JG54 and Leykauf was assigned to its 7th Staffel. He recorded four confirmed victories during the Battle of Britain. After JG54 was rotated out of the Channel area for rest and refit, he flew a number of missions in support of the Balkan invasion during the spring of 1941.
During Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, Leykauf shot down a Russian SB-2 twin-engine bomber on 6 July 1941. The rear gunner of the bomber continued shooting at Leykauf’s Bf-109F-2 (W.Nr. 6788) (Black 3+~) and hit the radiator. Leykauf performed an emergency landing behind enemy lines near Ostrow. After many adventures, crossing swamps by day and walking by night, he managed to rejoin his unit. Later the aircraft was recovered by advancing German ground forces. In October 1941, Leykauf became the Adjutant to the Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG54, Hauptmann Reinhard “Seppl” Seiler (109 victories, RK-EL). During this time Leykauf flew many low-level attacks over the Wolchow area. On 30 March 1942, Leykauf, flying Bf-109F-4 (W.Nr. 7492) (Black 1+~), made another emergency landing, this time due to bad weather, near Krasnogwardeisk. When the Russians started resupplying their troops during the night in the early summer of 1942, using transport aircraft of various types, JG54 were active in intercepting these flights. On the night of 22-23 June 1942, Leykauf claimed 6 victories in 50 minutes bringing his score to 23. On 26 June 1942, Leykauf was awarded the Ehrenpokal. On 23 June 1942, Leutnant Leykauf received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. On 29 September 1942, Leykauf was wounded when his Bf-109G-2 (W.Nr. 13613) was hit by anti-aircraft fire and he had to bail out behind the lines. He managed to return to JG54. In 12 February 1943, III./JG54, under the command of Gruppenkommandeur Major Reinhard Seiler and his Adjutant Oberleutnant Erwin Leykauf, transferred to Vendeville near Lille, and placed themselves under the tactical command of JG26. On 6 April 1943, Leykauf was appointed Staffelkapitän of the new 12./JG54.
On 14 May 1943, during an alarmstart from Wevelghem airfield, a bomb exploded beneath his Bf-109G-6 (W.Nr. 19632) (Blue 11). The blast tossed Leykauf’s aircraft onto a railroad track. Leykauf only suffered shock, but the aircraft was destroyed. Leykauf left 12./JG54 on 10 July 1943, when 11. and 12. Staffel, JG54 were renamed 11./ and 12./JG26. On July 27, 1943, Leykauf arrived at III./JG54, based at Jesau, to command the new 11./JG54. On 23 August, he began converting to the Fw-190 fighter. On 25 August 1943, 11./JG54 moved to Siwerskaja on the Eastern front. Leykauf led IV./JG54, in an acting capacity, from 10 September 1943 pending the arrival of Hauptmann Rudolf “Rudi” Sinner (39 victories, DK) as Kommandeur on 10 October 1943. IV./JG54 moved to Trakehnen on 21 September 1944, to serve on Reichsverteidigung duties.
Under Gruppenkommandeur, Major Rudolf Klemm (42 victories, RK), Leykauf became the Adjutant of IV. Gruppe on 31 October 1944, before leaving to join II./JG3 at Alperstedt. Leykauf’s stay at II./JG3 ended on 26 March 1945 with a transfer to JG7 at Brandenburg/Briest, where he received training on the Me-262 jet fighter. However, he did not fly any missions before the war ended. After the war, Leykauf studied pharmacy and settled in a small town in Westfalia.
He continued his passion for gliding and was also an enthusiastic horse rider. Leykauf continued his hobby of filming, which he started during the war. He made many films of the cultural regions of the world after the war. Erwin Leykauf was credited with 33 victories. He recorded 27 victories over the Eastern front, including three Il-2 Sturmoviks.
No Date Time A/c Type Unit Location / Comments 1 10.5.1940 10:33 Gladiator 2./JG21 Tongeren 2 12.8.1940 9:32 Spitfire 7./JG54 - 3 28.8.1940 17:21 Hurricane 7./JG54 Canterbury 4 30.8.1940 19:05 Spitfire 7./JG54 - 5 2.9.1940 17:30 Spitfire 7./JG54 Dover-Folkestone 6 7.4.1941 14:45 Hurricane 8./JG54 Rovine-Bosanski Aleksandrovac / Possibly Hurricane of 106 Esk, 33 Grupa, 4th Puk, JKRV 7 6.7.1941 19:52 DB-3 8./JG54 - 8 6.7.1941 19:54 DB-3 8./JG54 - 9 14.7.1941 19:35 DB-3 8./JG54 - 10 17.7.1941 11:30 RZ 8./JG54 - 11 2.9.1941 14:15 I-16 8./JG54 N Lissino 12 13.11.1941 11:45 I-18 8./JG54 - 13 18.11.1941 15:00 I-18 8./JG54 - 14 16.1.1942 15:53 I-26 8./JG54 - 15 16.1.1942 15:55 I-26 8./JG54 - 16 6.4.1942 7:25 R-Z 8./JG54 - 17 14.6.1942 23:45 R-5 8./JG54 E Mostki 18 22.6.1942 23:10 R-5 8./JG54 - 19 22.6.1942 23:15 R-5 8./JG54 - 20 22.6.1942 23:45 R-5 8./JG54 - 21 22.6.1942 23:50 R-5 8./JG54 - 22 22.6.1942 23:55 R-5 8./JG54 - 23 22.6.1942 24:00 R-5 8./JG54 - 24 26.6.1942 0:05 R-5 8./JG54 - 25 9.7.1942 18:20 LaGG-3 III./JG54 Terbury 26 7.8.1942 12:10 Pe-2 III./JG54 18 214 27 7.9.1942 11:50 Il-2 III./JG54 00 511 28 9.9.1942 11:25 Il-2 III./JG54 10 191 29 15.9.1943 12:05 Il-2 11./JG54 00 261 30 6.11.1943 12:18 La-5 11./JG54 97 881 31 8.2.1944 10:00 La-5 11./JG54 0935 32 17.3.1944 10:50 Boston 11./JG54 99 553 33 5.4.1944 17:55 Pe-2 11./JG54 68 262 Victories : 33 Awards : Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (4 August 1942) Units : JG21, JG54, JG3, JG7 http://www.luftwaffe.cz/leykauf.html
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