German scientists test a Messerschmitt Bf 109, 1940.
The facility was the Hermann Göring Aviation Research Institute. It was located in Volkenrode, a suburb of Braunschweig, and was the most modern wind tunnel testing facility in the world at the time, although most of the equipment could never be fully calibrated due to the war.
The motto on the eagle behind the aircraft reads: “The German people will force their rightful place in the world through the conquest of the air.” Translated, it would read: ” The German people will force their rightful place in the world through the conquest of the skies .”
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 E3 was designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Walter Rethel and completed its first test flight in 1935. The all-metal aircraft featured an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear.
Powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel V-engine, it reached a top speed of 550 km/h and a range of 660 km. It was 8.65 m long and had a wingspan of 9.87 m. The aircraft was armed with two machine guns and two 20 mm cannons.
The first Bf 109As were deployed during the Spanish Civil War. By September 1939, the Bf 109 had become the Luftwaffe’s most important fighter, replacing the biplanes. It played a key role in giving the Wehrmacht air superiority during the Blitzkrieg.
During the Battle of Britain, it became an escort fighter, a role for which it was not originally designed, and was frequently used as a fighter-bomber and as a photo reconnaissance platform.
Despite mixed results over Great Britain, with the introduction of the improved Bf 109F in early 1941, the type again proved to be an effective fighter during the invasion of Yugoslavia (where it was used by both sides), the Battle of Crete, Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR and the Siege of Malta.
The Bf 109 claimed more kills than any other aircraft of World War II. Many of the victories were achieved during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 against poorly trained and poorly organized Soviet forces.
The Soviets lost 21,200 aircraft at this point, about half of them in combat. If a plane was shot down, Luftwaffe pilots could land in friendly territory or parachute and return to the fight. Later in the war, as Allied victories brought the battle closer and then into German territory, Luftwaffe bombing raids provided numerous targets.
This unique combination of events resulted in the highest number of victories ever achieved by a single pilot. 105 Bf 109 pilots each destroyed 100 or more enemy aircraft. Thirteen of these men achieved more than 200 kills, while two achieved more than 300. In total, this group of pilots was credited with nearly 15,000 kills.
