Hauptmann Walther Dahl Gruppenkommandeur III./JG 3

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As the Spring of 1943 gave way to Summer , American planners were eager to put into practise their plans for winning the war by precision daylight bombing of strategic targets in Germany . The Eighth Air Force was steadily expanding in the UK with fleets of B-17 and B-24 bombers . More heavily armed with defensive firepower than RAF bombers and flying in tight, mutually supporting massed formations known as 'boxes' or 'Pulks' , operating close to the limits of the high altitude performance of the defenders Bf 109 and Fw 190, the Americans expected their forces to fight their way through to the important industrial targets that lay deep within Germany. July had seen the launch of 'Blitz Week ' which had culminated in the terrible raids on the city of Hamburg.

Meantime , in response to the growing threat , the Luftwaffe High Command had formed new fighter units and brought back battle-hardened units from other fronts to protect Germany's western borders. One of the units pulled out of Russia where they had been deployed around Kursk for the failed offensive of July 1943 was III./JG 3. They were to be relocated to Münster near the Dutch border as a 'bomber-killer' Gruppe equipped with the Bf 109 G-6 fitted with underwing cannon. The Gruppe's new Kommandeur was Hauptmann Walther Dahl. A long time Geschwader-Adjutant with the Stab/JG 3, latterly with the Stab des Generals der Jagdflieger, Dahl had some 50 victories and had been awarded the Deutsche Kreuz in Gold in December 1942. There were a number of other aces in the unit, men such as Hans Schleef, Wilhelm Lemke, Oblt Bitsch Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 3 and Karl-Heinz Langer Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 3.

By August 1943 Washington was impatient to step up its strategic bombing campaign .The daylight deep penetration theory was to be put to its first real test with the combined Schweinfurt Regensburg mission, the famous raid on the ball-bearing and Messerschmitt production plants. On the 17 August Schweinfurt and Regensburg were struck by some 370 bombers . The result was a disaster - escorted only as far as the German border by P-47 Thunderbolts and RAF Spitfires, the Jagdgruppen launched wave after wave of attacks - some 60 B-17 fortresses were shot down , only some 135 managing to return to friendly territory undamaged !! ( As Regensburg was only 40 miles from the Czech border the 4th Bombardment Wing flew on to bases in North Africa ).

For III./JG 3 the Schweinfurt raid was also a disaster of sorts. This was virtually their first action since their return to Germany the previous week after two years in Russia. Hauptmann Walther Dahl;

".. We took off and were being directed out over the sea, climbing gently and carefuly since hardly any of the pilots had flown over water. But we were jumped . I was expecting something but nothing as fierce as what developed .When it finished we were all over the place. From what I heard in my earphones I knew we had suffered some losses but not how many . It was a completely new type of air war for us . Personally I preferred Russia despite the winters..."

III./JG 3 had been jumped by 222 Squadron Spitfires who were to have their best day since September 1940. Some five III Gruppe Bf 109 were shot down including the aircraft of Knight's Cross holder Lt Hans Schleef. Dahl himself had to belly land his aircraft after an engine failure. The Gruppe was transferred shortly thereafter to Bad Wörishofen east of Munich for a working up period and the German defences continued to strengthen in depth. As it was , it would be a number of weeks before American bombers overflew the Reich again. Their heavy losses essentially reflected the insufficient range of the escort fighters and the longe range fighter escort programme would now receive top priority. But even at this high point in the defender's fortunes the loss rates of the Jagdgruppen as reflected in III./JG 3's performance posed the question as to which side could best stand the attrition.

The image of Dahl's Kanonenboot above is based on the series of photos presented in Prien and Stemmer's Messerschmitt 109 im Einsatz bei der III./Jagdgeschwader 3 one of which I can present below with the kind permission of Dr Jochen Prien. The Double chevron or Doppelwinkel is outlined in white although the III Gruppe bar is not. Later pictures in Prien's work show a small black 1 behind the chevrons and the Gruppe bar on a white fuselage band. The aircraft has a Verbandführer's or formation leader's white rudder. The fuselage mottle is a very distinctive series of almost diagonal stripes. Note the area of black from the exhaust along the wing root. Note also the aerial under the fuselage for the FuG 16Y direction finding equipment fitted to a handful of aircraft in each Gruppe ( formation leaders ) which allowed the Luftwaffe ground controllers to track and direct units in the air.

Walther Dahl's Bf 109 G-6 Kanonenboot from Prien 7 stemmer with permission