A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945, Volume Two: North African Desert, February 1942 - March 1943 by Christopher Shores Giovanni Massimello Russell Guest Frank Olynyk & Winfried Bock

Author:Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, Russell Guest, Frank Olynyk & Winfried Bock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
Published: 2014-07-18T16:00:00+00:00

Monday, 7 September 1942

I./JG 27 suffered another severe loss next day when four Bf 109s which had taken off on a Freie Jagd at 1450 were intercepted by seven Spitfires of 601 Squadron, 25 miles south-west of El Alamein. The latter were providing high cover to Hurricanes of 33 and 213 Squadrons which were escorting a TacR aircraft, when their pilots spotted a small force of Axis fighters and attacked them. Flt Lt Curry and Plt Off Frecklington each claimed a Bf 109 shot down, and each also claimed one damaged; at the same time Flt Lt Bruce Ingram claimed a probable and Plt Off Scherk an MC.202 damaged. These pilots can have had little idea of the calibre of the pilots they had shot down, one of whom, Lt von Lieres, force-landed. The other was Lt Hans-Arnold ‘Fifi’ Stahlschmidt. Friend of Marseille and the third-ranking ace of the whole desert campaign, Stahlschmidt had been credited with 59 victories and had received the Ritterkreuz; some 18 months later came the posthumous award of the Eichenlaube and promotion to Oberleutnant. Coming after the loss of Steinhausen, this was a heavy blow to the unit. In his last letter home, Stahlschmidt had written: “I don’t know what fate awaits me. Perhaps things are going otherwise than our thoughts and wishes desire. But, if it should happen, then I know that I have done my duty with all my heart.” At the time of his death he had flown the greatest number of operational sorties of any German pilot in North Africa – over 400.

At 1810 four Kittyhawks of 4 SAAF Squadron provided medium cover to 2 SAAF, 5 SAAF, 260 and the 64th and 66th Squadrons on a Stuka interception. 2 SAAF Squadron lagged behind, cruising at only 170mph instead of about 190, and as a result the formation arrived ten minutes after the Ju 87s had left the target area. The wing was ordered back to base, whereupon the P-40Fs of the two American units pulled up in front of the other squadrons and turned, causing them to split up. At this moment Bf 109s of I./JG 27 which had been providing indirect support to the Stukas, attacked the formation ten miles south of El Alamein. Maj du Toit of 4 SAAF Squadron claimed to have shot one down, but received a cannon shell in the tail of his aircraft which caused damage to the elevators.

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