Ambassador
Franz Elles
Franz Elles began operations in 1940 with 1 Staffel, I./JG-27
and saw action during the battle of Britain under the command
of Edu Neumann. Transferred in early 1941 with I./JG-27, to
North Africa he flew as wingman to the famous Knight's Cross
holder Karl-Wolfgang Redlich. At the end of that year, Elles,
defending his leaders tail in a close air combat, was shot
down behind enemy lines an taken prisoner. He spent the remainder
of the war as a POW in Canada. After the war, Franz Elles
joined the German diplomatic service and rose to become German
Ambassador to Central Africa.
Captain Fritz
Keller
Fritz Keller flew and fought with
JG-27 from the outbreak of war in 1939 right through to the
cessation of hostilities in May 1945, most of the time with
I./JG-27. He took part in all major actions in the Desert
and fought in the skies over El Alamein. Fritz Keller finished
the war as Kommandeur of II./JG-27 with a total of 13 victories.
He was a close personal friend of the legendary Hans-Joachim
Marseille and was highly respected by all those that flew
with him.
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Brigadier
General Friedrich Körner
Friedrich Körner joined 2./JG-27,
in North Africa in July 1941, where he quickly learned many
of his combat skills from his friend and colleague Hans-Joachim
Marseille. He soon became a very successful fighter pilot
with 36 victories over the Desert. On the 4th July, 1942,
out numbered after a fierce aerial combat with R.A.F. Spitfires
near El Alamein, he was shot down and taken prisoner for the
rest of the war. A holder of the Knight's Cross, Friedrich
Körner flew more than 250 missions over the Desert and
scored 36 victores.
Oberst Eduard
Neumann
A veteran of the Spanish Campaign,
Eduard Neumann, at the start of the war, was leading 4./JG-26
in France later promoted Adjutant of I./JG-27. He took part
in the Balkan Campaign before moving in 1941 to North Africa,
where I./JG-27 was the only German fighter unit for the first
nine months. In 1942 he became Kommodore of JG-27, a position
which he held throughout the remainder of the Desert Campaign.
He was credited with molding the careers of many outstanding
pilots, the best known being the young Hauptmann Marseille.
Following the defeat of Rommel's Afrika Corps at El Alamein,
JG-27 covered their retreat back to Tunisia. When his wing
left the desert, 'Edu' Neumann was transferred to the Staff
of General of the Fighter Arm, where he remained until 1944.
Promoted to Oberst in the autumn of that year, he took over
as Fighter Commander of Northern Italy. Edu Neumann ended
the war as one of the Luftwaffe's most highly respected Commanders. |
