The Stukists, The Stuka Units, 'Grupul 3 & 6 Picaj'

I am not 100% sure the two are Romanian. There was no RK winner in the ARR that we know of and something like this would have surfaced at least in German documents.

The Ju-87D-3 no. 7 was lost on 8 December 1943 with adj. Constantin Popescu/sgt. Visarion Horodoaba. They were declared MIA.

In the photo with the 2nd lieutenants near the Ju-87 fuselage, the two are:
-left: Constantin Dragomir
-right: Dumitru Pasare

In addition to what Denes mentioned ¨, the pilot in the middle wears Luftwaffe uniform , Luftwaffe didn't allow other axis armies to wear Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe uniforms of the 3rd Reich . Therefore the Pilot is a Luftwaffe pilot and not ARR

Al

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 17, 2005 07:21 pm

On the Hs 123 there is the personal emblem of Adolf Galand painted...

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Actually, it did. For example, Croatian pilots deployed to the Eastern Front wore Luftwaffe uniforms, completed with a distinctive Croatian badge.

Gen. Dénes

Denes

I looked through all axis pilot uniforms , inluding Spanish Detachment in Stalingrad through the books I have and not Internet...I couldnt find photos on the Croatians wearing Luiftwaffe uniforms .According my own knowledge only Austrians wore Wehrmacht uniforms in full. Please post photos if available

Alex

Adolf Galland flew Hs 123 during the battle of Poland.
Can anyone read the text on the plane,near the emblem?

C-2 ....do you have any photos of Galland photographed on the Henschel 123 ? You have a good point regarding Galland emblema.....was it a sqadron embelma or Galland personal and if yes would an other pilot fly his HS-123 ?
Al

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 18, 2005 01:19 am

Are we certain Galland flew the Hs123 ? This was a light ground attack plane, not a figher. Galland was a figher pilot who flew the Me109E and F.

In spain he had flown the Heinkel 51 (which is a bit similar in appearence to the Hs123.
I don't see why he would have flown the Hs123.
The Mickey mouse drawing was not only his personal insignia but also that of a SG (Schlacht Gruppe) fighter bomber unit, i forget which one.

look here:

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Stuka Ju-87 in philately...

Source: Scan of personal stamp, at 600 ppi.

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Actually when the remains of Gr. 7 Vt. was assigned to JG3 Udet, they were given Bf109-G with german markings and Luftwaffe uniforms and equipement.The pilots refused to fly under german coulours/uniform thus the germans painted the romanian markings on the 109's and the romanian pilots used romanian uniforms while flying :] however I found out romanian pilots using Luftwaffe issued trousers and flight jackets so I guess they did accept wearing some of the items given to them

This post has been edited by D13-th_Mytzu on January 18, 2005 07:31 am

Simply becasue he was assigned to a unit using Hs-123. In the Polish campaign Galland was the CO of the II.(Sch)/LG 2, which was equipped with Hs-123s. He flew some 87 missions in this aircraft.

Buna Mytzu nice to see you back on the air....I agree with you regarding the Luftwaffe flight gear worn by Roumanian but I need photos of Axis pilots wearing Luftwaffe flight gear in order to adop this theory.

Der Maresal yes Galland flew HS123 during Polish campaign and later moved to the 109's for Battle of Dunkirque and the Battle of England , promoted to Hauptman and proving himself with firts aerials victories. Indeed he flew the the HE-51 of Condor Legion in Spain along with Moelders and Hannes Trautloft but there very similarities as into appearence of both planes and also performance

Victor was he as Leutnant or Oberleutnant already Geschwader Komodore at the begin of the Polish campaign ? if yes it makes sense because he was the youngest General in the Luftwaffe perhaps Wehrmacht

Alex

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 18, 2005 09:33 am

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Also, on the back cover of one Magazin Aeronautic issue with Galland, it is a Me 262 and above an Hs, or He, with suplementary tank.

Iama

I made a little research on the RK pilot in the picture and I think he is a german Ace named Helmut Wick (56 victories on western front).

The plane is Galland's for sure, somewhere in 1940, but he is not the pilot in the plane in this photo (as far as I know he had a moustache in 1940). But what puzzels me is that it seems that Wick never did fly on Hs 123.

Why 1940? because Wick, the RK pilot was awarded the decoration on 27 aug 1940 (later, in 6 oct 1940 he received also the Oak leaves which are not in the picture).

Below you will find a photo of him after he received the Oak leaves.


As for Romanian Ritterkreuz holders:

There were 17 RK holders in Romania (one of them appears only in Romanian documents and archives).

The only airman awarded with RK was gen Emanoil Ionescu (on 10'th may 1944).

About Galland plane:

if no one copied his Mickey Mouse, then it is his plane all right, because he did fly Hs 123 at the begining of the WWWII, when he was Staffelkapitan of 4.(S)/LG 2. He fought with Hs 123 in Poland.
He has the Mickey Mouse since Spain where he was in command of "Mickey Mouse" squadron (all the planes were painted with Mickey in different positions). When in France he was transfered in JG 27.


If anyone can trace the Hs 123 after Galland leaved, we could figure what's with this photo.

Barbosu

PS. Source of picture is http://www.luftwaffe.cz

This post has been edited by Barbosu on January 18, 2005 11:53 am

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There was also gen. Ermil Gheorghiu. They did not win the award for service as "airmen", but as commanders of the 1st Air Corps.