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Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke
One of the outstanding younger Luftwaffe pilots, Willi Reschke was one of the leading members of JG300 Wilde Sau flying the Fw190A in the 'Defence of the Reich'. Towards the latter months of the war he transferred to the Stabsschwarm of JG301, still flying the Fw190A. Awarded the Knight's Crossin April 1945, he was credited with 26 victories - all in the west - including 18 four engined bombers. He died on 5th July 2017.
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The Long Short Days by Robert Taylor. It was known as the Jagdverbande, the fighter arm of the Luftwaffe, and by June 1940 it boasted some of the world's greatest fighter pilots. With tactics honed to perfection, these battle-seasoned veterans dominated the skies of Europe. But as the war progressed, the Luftwaffe fighter pilots faced another battle, the increasingly desperate war of attrition as the Allied air forces slowly, but inevitably, ground the German war machine into defeat. By early 1945 Allied air supremacy was overwhelming. And yet despite overwhelming odds, from within their ranks came the most successful air Aces ever to fly in combat - names such as Hans-Joachim Marseille, the top-scoring fighter pilot in the West, the legendary Erich Rudorffer who scored more multiple victories than any other pilot and of course the Fighter General, Adolf Galland, who achieved all of his 104 victories in the West. In total more than 100 Luftwaffe fighter pilots are known to have scored 100 or more victories, and 568 Jagdverbande flyers were holders of the Knight's Cross, Germany's highest awarded military honor. Robert Taylor's stunning painting, beautifully captures a group of Bf109Gs from III./JG26, as they return to their forward base after a long fighter sweep along the Channel coast in early 1944. In his unmistakable style, and with inordinate skill, Robert deftly evokes a moment of rare tranquility amidst the carnage of war as the lengthening sun glints across the frozen landscape during the short days of winter. |
Hunters at Dawn by Robert Taylor. Those Aces with over 100 victories were exceptional. To reach 200 victories was a spectacular achievement. Yet two men went even further and accomplished a feat that will never be repeated - both of them shot down more than 300 enemy aircraft which placed them in a league of their own. They were the elite of the elite, and their names are legendary - Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn. It is no surprise that these iconic Aces scored their victories whilst flying with the legendary fighter wing JG52. Active from the beginning of the war, the unit fought in the Battle of France, but suffered terrible losses during the Battle of Britain before transferring to the Eastern Front at the outset of Operation Barbarossa, and it was here that it solidified its fearsome reputation. Operating the Bf109 throughout the war, the Geschwader boasted some of the greatest Luftwaffe pilots of world war two among its ranks - including the top three Aces of all time. Such renowned pilots as Gunther Rall (275 victories), Wilhelm Batz (237 victories), Hermann Graf (212 victories) and Helmut Lipfert (203 victories) helped this formidable unit notch up more than 10,000 victories, making it the most successful fighter wing in history. Hunters at Dawn features Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG52. The great Ace, flying his Bf109 G-6, leads the Stab as they climb out from their base near the Black Sea, early November 1943. The crisp air of day break is temporarily punctuated by the roar of Daimler-Benz engines as the deadly Messerschmitt fighters set off on their daily hunt for Soviet aircraft over the front line. |
Dawn Eagles Rising by Robert Taylor. September 1940: The Battle of Britain reaches a crescendo as Me109s of the 1./JG52, their bright yellow noses glinting in the sun, gather speed and altitude as they form up after take-off from their base at Coquelles, near Calais. Led by Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald, the Scharwm settle into their loose, finger-four formation, the pilots alert for danger and ready for yet another raid on England, just a few miles across the Channel. |
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Willi Reschke - photograph taken c.2000 as he signed the print Timber Wolf. |
| Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke Aircraft details |
 Fw190 Manufacturer : Fokke-Wulf | Fw190 The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. | ||||||
 Me109 Manufacturer : Messerschmitt Built : 33984 | Me109 Willy Messerschmitt designed the BF109 during the early 1930s. The Bf109 was one of the first all metal monocoque construction fighters with a closed canopy and retractable undercarriage. The engine of the Me109 was a V12 aero engine which was liquid-cooled. The Bf109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and flew to the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. During the Battle of Britian the Bf109 was used in the role of an escort fighter, a role for which it was not designed for, and it was also used as a fighter bomber. During the last days of May 1940 Robert Stanford-Tuck, the RAF ace, got the chance to fly an Me109 which they had rebuilt after it had crash landed. Stanford-Tuck found out that the Me109 was a wonderful little plane, it was slightly faster than the Spitfire, but lacked the Spitfire manoeuvrability. By testing the Me109, Tuck could put himself inside the Me109 when fighting them, knowing its weak and strong points. With the introduction of the improved Bf109F in the spring of 1941, the type again proved to be an effective fighter during the invasion of Yugoslavia and during the Battle of Crete and the invasion of Russia and it was used during the Siege of the Mediteranean island of Malta. The Bf109 was the main fighter for the Luftwaffe until 1942 when the Fw190 entered service and shared this position, and was partially replaced in Western Europe, but the Me109 continued to serve on the Eastern Front and during the defence of the Reich against the allied bombers. It was also used to good effect in the Mediterranean and North Africa in support of The Africa Korps. The Me109 was also supplied to several German allies, including Finland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia. The Bf109 scored more kills than any other fighter of any country during the war and was built in greater numbers with a total of over 31,000 aircraft being built. The Bf109 was flown by the three top German aces of the war war. Erich Hartmann with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories and Gunther Rall with 275 kills. Bf109 pilots were credited with the destruction of 100 or more enemy aircraft. Thirteen Luftwaffe Aces scored more than 200 kills. Altogether this group of pilots were credited with a total of nearly 15,000 kills, of which the Messerschmitt Bf109 was credited with over 10,000 of these victories. The Bf109 was the most produced warplane during World War II, with 30,573 examples built during the war, and the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Bf109s remained in foreign service for many years after World War II. The Swiss used their Bf109Gs well into the 1950s. The Finnish Air Force did not retire their Bf109Gs until March 1954. Romania used its Bf109s until 1955. The Spanish Hispanos flew even longer. Some were still in service in the late 1960s. | ||||||
| Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke Squadron details |
Known Victory Claims - Willi Reschke | |||||||
DATE | PILOT | UNIT | JG | CLAIMED | LOCATION | TIME | FRONT |
| 02/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | 14 Ost N/GS-78: 6500m [W. Budapest] | 10.29 | Western Front |
| 02/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | 14 Ost N/GS-5: 6500m [W. Budapest] | 10.25 | Western Front |
| 07/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | 14 Ost N/CQ: 5000m [N. Preßburg] | 11.55 | Western Front |
| 13/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | Neusiedler See | 10.45 | Western Front |
| 14/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | Budapest | 9.55 | Western Front |
| 18/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | Raum München | 10.53 | Western Front |
| 18/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | P-51 | Raum München | 11.1 | Western Front |
| 19/07/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | Starnberger See: 7000m | 9.4 | Western Front |
| 16/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | MU-3: 7000m [SE Kassel] | 10 | Western Front |
| 20/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | S. Budapest | 9.45 | Western Front |
| 20/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | S. Budapest | 9.52 | Western Front |
| 22/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | 14 Ost N/GP: 5000m | 12.5 | Western Front |
| 24/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-24 | UL 3-6 Neuhaus/Böhman | 12.4 | Western Front |
| 29/08/1944 | Uffz. Willi Reschke | 1 | JG 302 | B-17 | 15 Ost S/UQ: 6500-7500m [Brünn] | 10.5 | Western Front |
| 21/11/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-17 | Magdeburg | 12.05 | Western Front |
| 26/11/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-24 | GU-HU: 7500m [Hildesheim] | 12.45 | Western Front |
| 17/12/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | P-51 | Kassel | 11.25 | Western Front |
| 17/12/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-24 | Kassel | 11.2 | Western Front |
| 24/12/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-17 | Hannover | 14.55 | Western Front |
| 24/12/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-17 | Hannover | 15.03 | Western Front |
| 31/12/1944 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-24 | Hamburg | 11.35 | Western Front |
| 01/01/1945 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | B-17 | Gardelegen | 12 | Western Front |
| 14/01/1945 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | P-47 | Kyritz | 12.55 | Western Front |
| 14/01/1945 | Fw. Willi Reschke | 9 | JG 301 | P-51 | Mecklenburg | 12.45 | Western Front |
| 14/04/1945 | Ofw. Willi Reschke | Stab | JG 301 | Tempest | Ludwigslust | 19.2 | Western Front |
| 24/04/1945 | Ofw. Willi Reschke | Stab | JG 301 | Jak-9 | Berlin | 8.48 | Western Front |
| 24/04/1945 | Ofw. Willi Reschke | Stab | JG 301 | Jak-9 | Berlin | 8.45 | Western Front |
Known Claims : 27
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