Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 of Gerhard Stamp, III./JG 300 "Wilde Sau".

JG 300 Wilde Sau was the brainchild of bomber pilot Major 'HaJo' Herrmann who had advocated for the use of single-engined as night fighters against RAF Bomber Command once the use of 'Window' had made German radar systems ineffective. Targets were to be identified by having the bombers silhouetted against the search lights and fires in and around a bombing target, thus not relying upon radar. Trials with a Versuchskommando Herrmann started at Deelen on June 26, 1943, and the first combat mission was flown on the night of July 3/4 against a force of some 653 RAF aircraft attacking Cologne. JG 300 was formally established on August 30, 1943, and the sister units JG 301 and JG 3012 were combined with JG 300 to form the 30. Jagd-Division, albeit with a limited compliment of aircraft. The units had a not inconsiderable amount of success during 1943, although there were many accidents, especially during nighttime landings. The Wilde Sau units were increasingly committed to daytime operations during 1944, and they were duly worn down by the Allied onslaught.

Since night flying with single-engine aircraft required considerable skill, many JG 300 pilots were former bomber pilots, and so was Gerhard Stamp. He was born on June 3, 1920, and even before joining JG 300, he was credited with sinking 35,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied merchant shipping as well as the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender on July 11, 1941 and various aircraft and vehicles on the ground while flying a Junkers Ju 88 in Lehrgeschwader 1 over the Mediterranean. Another 45,000 GRT of shipping was claimed as damaged. Stamp then proceeded to hold various positions in JG 300 before taking command of 10./NJG 11 (another night fighter unit) in October 1944. His final position during the Second World War was as the commanding officer of Kommando Stamp, an experimental night fighting unit equipped with Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters that was formed in December 1944 and tasked with bombing enemy bombers with 250- and 500 kg bombs. Kommando Stamp did claim some successes using this tactic, although these successes seem to be unconfirmed. Stamp flew 300 bomber missions and 100 fighter missions, and he claimed five enemy aircraft, although only four seem to have been confirmed:

- August 23, 1943: unidentified four-engine aircraft claimed at 01.30 over Berlin (3./JG 300)
- September 23, 1943: Lancaster claimed at 23.15 10 km west of Mannheim (8./JG 300)
- February 3, 1944: B-17 (Stab I./JG 300)
- March 22, 1944: Lancaster (8./JG 300
- October 7, 1944: P-51 claimed at 11.55 around Querfurt and Naumburg (Stab I./JG 300)

Stamp was also shot down once, on June 29, 1944, while flying a Bf 109 G-6/U-2 near Lodersleben.

Major Gerhard Stamp was decorated with the Ritterkreuz, and he joined the Bundeswehr in 1956 for a second military career. He retired in 1978 as Oberst i. G. and he passed away in 1998.

I had purchased EagleCals' Bf 109 Gs and Fw 190s JG 300 Part Three several years ago, and I had already finished a Fw 190 of "HaJo" Herrman with these excellent decals (http://cocktailtriviaandnarrowfocus.blogspot.com/2012/11/wilde-sau-fw-190a6-of-stabjg300-flown.html). Now I thought it was time for a Bf 109.

The Academy Bf 109 G-6 kit is easy to build with neither sink holes, nor flash or gaps that need to be filled. The cockpit is decent, although it lacks a sight which had to be scratch built in this case.The markings are actually of an aircraft from III./JG 11 that was flown by III./JG 300 and repainted as a night fighter. It was used by Oberleutnant Stamp in September and October 1943. It was painted RLM 75 and RLM 74 with a dark gray layer of paint to obliterate the Hakenkreuz, the crosses on the fuselage and most of the stencilling for some reason. The yellow band as well as the tiger's head is from JG 11, while the Ritterkreuz, the ship's silhouettes and the bomber clasp are Stamp's personal markings. The underside is black with the crosses covered with a thin layer of dark paint to provide a form of low visibility markings.

The decals

Gerhard Stamp

A duo of Sopwith Camels

Since I have been working from abroad for some time, modeling has been somewhat limited, and the projects a bit less ambitious. My dear host did provide a sizeable cutting mat, though, and several evenings were spent working on two Sopwith Camels, one from Revell and one from Academy,

The Revell kit is originally from the 1960s, and it was one of the few WW1 kits available in the hobby shop. The fit is decent, although some details are lacking in both pilot and aircraft, for example the rudder horns that were cut out of plastic card and super-glued to the wings and tail and the protruding part of the machine gun barrels. Rigging was made out of white sprue from a Roden kit, and the lines were painted dark gray, The kit was eventually mounted on a $2.50 photo frame.

Breadner

The decals provided with the kit were excellent, and they were used to adorn the Camel in the markings of Canadian ace Lloyd Samuel Breadner, CB, DSC. He was born in Carleton Place, Ontario, on July 14, 1894, and he received his pilot's certificate on Wright biplane after training at the Wright School. Breadner was commissioned into the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on December 28, 1915, and he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant (RNAS) on December 31, 1916, before he was posted to Naval 3 (No. 3 Squadron RNAS) in 1917. He initially flew Sopwith Pups, and he even managed to shoot down a German Gotha bomber as his fourth victory on April 23, 1917. This was also the first Gotha to be shot down by the British over the Western Front. Breadner was awarded the DSC on May 23, 1917, and the citation reads as follows:

"For conspicuous gallantry and skill in leading his patrol against hostile formations. He has himself brought down three hostile machines and forced several others to land. On the 6th April, 1917, he drove down a hostile machine which was wrecked while attempting to land in a ploughed field. On the morning of the 11th April, 1917, he destroyed a hostile machine which fell in flames, brought down another in a spinning nose dive with one wing folded up, and forced a third to land."

Lloyd Samuel Breadner claimed in all ten enemy aircraft:

Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	06 Apr 1917	1020	3N	Sopwith Pup (N5199)	Halberstadt D.II (DES)	Bourlon Wood
2	11 Apr 1917	0845	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6181)	Albatros C (DESF)	Cambrai
3	11 Apr 1917	0855	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6181)	Albatros D.III (DES)	Cambrai
4	23 Apr 1917	1030	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6181)	Gotha G.II (CAP)	Vron
5	23 Apr 1917	1730	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6181)	Albatros D.III (OOC)	Bourlon Wood
6	29 Apr 1917	1115	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6181)	Albatros D.III (OOC)	SE of Cambrai
7	23 May 1917	1345	3N	Sopwith Pup (N6197)	Albatros D.III (OOC)	Awoignt-Bourlon
8	03 Sep 1917	0725	3N	Sopwith Camel (B3782)	Albatros D.V (DES)	Belhutte
9	03 Sep 1917	0730	3N	Sopwith Camel (B3782)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	Belhutte
10	11 Sep 1917	1150	3N	Sopwith Camel (B3782)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	Thorout

(Source: theaerodrome.com)

Breadner continued serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force up to the Second World War, and he retired as Air Chief Marshal in 1945. Lloyd Samuel Breadner passed away in 1952.

The Academy Camel is probably from the 1970s, and it is an even more basic kit. There is no cockpit at all, and no pilot figure either. The Vickers machine guns are simply pieces of plastic with no detailing whatsoever, the propeller had to be replaced with a prop from an Albatros kit, and the decals were glossy and very difficult to adhere to the kit. The colors of the tail decal were inverted, so the tail had to be hand-painted instead. This kit was finished as a generic Camel with no particular markings, and it was also mounted on yet another photo-frame. The two Camels were photographed with an older iPhone, hence the regretful quality. However, by now I should be back in the United States with full access to more complete model building supplies.

 

Academy Camel below: