JG-27 North Africa
By Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette
Aviation Art Store
The battle for
The Bf-109F out-classed the American made P-40, but
James Frances Edwards
proved that in the right hands the P-40 was a formidable advisory to the
Messerschmitt. Yet in the hands of the expert, the P-40 Kittyhawk was no match
for the Messerschmitt Bf-109F. One such Luftwaffe ace was Oberfeldtwebel Otto
Schultz with4./JG 27 who was stationed at the airfield at
Five missions later it was Edwards that caught Schultz by surprise as he was attacking another RAF fighter. Eddie was able to give Schultz a full broadside in the cockpit and along the side of the 109’s fuselage sending the Luftwaffe Ace into the dessert. Even though Schultz's 109 burned on the dessert floor Oberfeldtwebel Schultz was credited with 51 confirmed aerial victories against the RAF all of which he earned within a few months. Impressive. Edwards was in the Desert for ten months and tallied only 11 victories.
Africa Corp Ace of Aces, Hans-Joachim Marseille, before his death destroyed 17 RAF aircraft in one day. In the last month of his life, he shot down 57 British aircraft alone. Phenomenal! The top American ace only claimed 40. You can say that the Americans were rotated out more often and the American pilots did not get to gain the combat time as the Luftwaffe pilots. Please. The top English Ace who did fly and fight on and off during the whole war on had 40 victories.
I will add here over the next year more about the history of JG-27. The Luftwaffe pilot I worked with, Franz Stigler was assigned to this unit and I have his story as well as others on his web page.
Please visit in the future.
The Bf-109F above was flown by Luftwaffe Aces from JG-27 and met the RAF in aerial combat. The Luftwaffe left this machine behind during a retreat from their airfield. Eddie Edwards squadron got the Messerschmitt running and painted it up with RAF roundels. Many of the pilots including Eddie flew the Bf-109 several times giving each of the pilots the feel for the fighter and its combat characteristics.
Eddie was under the impression that the visibility for the pilot was limited because it looked so "boxy" and framed in. After taking off in the Bf-109 Edwards found that the pilot had in-fact excellent visibility and that the framework of the canopy did look "boxy," but it was well built and protected the pilot. The cockpit was the perfect size for Edwards but it could get small for a larger framed aviator.
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July 20, 2008