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Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.3 (Y14+) $Hans-Joachim Marseille W. Nr. 8693 Martuba Feb 1942 01
Photo 01: Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille posing with his Bf-109F-4/Z Trop, W. Nr. 8693, at Martuba. The red primer finish rudder carries 48 yellow bars, the last two representing two P-40s claimed on 15 February 1942 south-west of Gambut. The Z in the aircrafts designation indicates that GMI boost equipment was fitted.
Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.3 (Y14+) $Hans-Joachim Marseille W. Nr. 8693 Martuba Feb 1942 02 Photo 01: On 21 February 1942, Lt. Marseille shot down his 49th and 50th victories, both Curtiss P-40s over Fort Acroma, for which he qualified for the Ritterkreuz. Here, these two victories are being added to the rudder of Marseilles aircraft.
Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.3 (Y14+) $Hans-Joachim Marseille W. Nr. 8693 Martuba Feb 1942 03 Photo 01: The next day Marseille was awarded the Ritterkreuz and about this time was promoted to Oberieutnant. At noon on 27 February, Marseille claimed two more P-40s destroyed and thus had a total of 52 victories when these photographs were taken.
Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG27.3 (Y14+) $Hans-Joachim Marseille W. Nr. 8693 Martuba Feb 1942 04
Pilots JG27.3 $Hans-Joachim Marseille 01 With two recent British counter-offensives having been repulsed, the stand-off on the ground continued. But now I./JG 27 began to probe even deeper into Egyptian airspace, often staging through Gambut, a complex of airfields closer to the frontier, in order to increase their combat radius. Towards the close of a relatively uneventful August the newly promoted Leutnant Hans-Joachim Marseille, who had not scored for over two months, claimed a South African Air Force (SAAF) Hurricane just off the coast of Egypt near Sidi Barrani.It was Marseille’s 14th victory. On 9 September he downed two more Hurricanes over Bardia, an important Axis base, and port, 12 miles (19 km) inside the Libyan frontier. On both 13 and 14 September Marseille was credited with single Hurricanes. And then something extraordinary happened. Hans-Joachim Marseille himself later described 24 September 1941 as ‘the day everything suddenly fell into place’. It was on this date that his innate skills – long suspected by such as Hauptmann Neumann, but never before properly displayed – all fused as one to enable him to shoot down a quartet of Hurricanes and a twin-engined Martin Maryland bomber. These victories boosted Marseille’s score to 23. It would take several more weeks of combat to hone his ‘almost uncanny’ talents to perfection, but soon the young Berliner’s lethal abilities became the stuff of legends: his remarkable eyesight, which meant he could detect the smallest of specks in the far distance vital seconds before anybody else; his complete mastery of aerobatics, which invariably allowed him to place himself in a position of tactical advantage; the ferocity of the assault upon his chosen target; the computer-like instinct which told him the exact moment to open fire in any given situation, however great the angle; the precision marksmanship to hit the vital spot. In fact, it was later calculated that Marseille required an average of only 15 rounds to despatch an opponent – far fewer than any other Luftwaffe fighter pilot. He often returned from sorties which had netted him multiple kills – sometimes as many as six – with more than half his ammunition still in its magazines! Many rated him the best shot in the Luftwaffe. http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php?title=S5384&ser=AEU
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