Joachim Marseille’s Bf 109 Refueling at Quotaifiya Airfield, Egypt — I. Introduction

October 1, 1942, Quotaifiya, Egypt — 78 years ago today.

The disconsolate, careworn faces of the attendees contrasted sharply with the upbeat cadence of the Cuban Rumba Azul playing on the wind-up gramophone. The pilots and ground crews of Luftwaffe Fighter Wing JG 27 paid their final respects before the remains of their fallen comrade were to be flown to Derna, Libya, 300 miles west, where the body would be interred at the Heroes’ Cemetery that same day. Once in Derna, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, the Wehrmacht’s Commander in Chief in the Mediterranean, delivered an emotional paean, recalling the deceased’s legendary aerial exploits.

Marseille’s body lies in state in Derna, Libya, on October 1, 1942.

Clearly, this was no ordinary funeral. This final farewell was for a highly decorated hero of the Third Reich, a man who had earned oak leaves, swords, and diamonds to his Knight’s Cross, the Luftwaffe’s youngest captain, and one of the greatest pilots of World War II. His unparalleled technical skills had earned the respect of comrades and foes alike, and his rebellious, yet kind, nature had won their admiration. The newly departed was a maverick – an iconoclast who, eschewing Nazi ideology, counted a black German-speaking South African POW as one of his closest friends and enjoyed “degenerate” American jazz and Latin music — Rumba Azul his favorite melody.

Marseille (left) with South African friend Matthew “Matthias” Letuku (right).

Hans Joachim Marseille, the 22-year-old “Star of Africa,” had shot down 158 enemy aircraft when the engine of his new Messerschmitt Bf 109G malfunctioned over the Egyptian desert on September 30, 1942. When the smoke from the engine filled the cockpit, entirely clouding visibility, Marseille baled out of his Gustav, accidentally hitting his head against the rudder that heralded his many victories. He was rendered unconscious immediately, before he could deploy his parachute, and plummeted thousands of feet to his death.

Members of JG 27 survey the wreckage of Marseille’s Bf 109.

Marseille was a legend even in life. In his eulogy, just one day after Marseille’s passing, Kesselring summed up Marseille thus: “Hauptmann Marseille is fallen. Unbeaten. With his passing, a heroic individual, a marvelous colleague, an artist in the air and the best fighter pilot in the world is gone from our ranks forever.” Adolf Galland, a Luftwaffe legend himself, called him “the unrivaled virtuoso among fighter pilots of the Second World War” in his memoirs.

Marseille was a man who clearly understood that each of his victories meant the loss of a son, father, brother, or husband. In a letter to his mother after his very first victory on August 24, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Marseille wrote: “Today I shot down my first opponent. It does not set well with me. I keep thinking about how the mother of this young man must feel when she gets the news of her son’s death. And I am to blame for this death. I am sad, instead of being happy about the first victory. I always see the face of the Englishman in front of me and think about his crying mother.”

It is a tragic irony that following Marseille’s last seven victories — 152-158 — Erwin Rommel, the vaunted “Desert Fox,” called September 28 to request that Marseille accompany him to Berlin to attend a ceremony on September 30 — the day Marseille met his fate — where Marseille and Rommel were programmed to sit on either side of Adolf Hitler. Not fond of the Führer, Marseille declined, arguing that he would rather save his leave for December, when he intended to travel to Berlin to marry his fiancée. One can only wonder what destiny had in store had Marseille accepted Rommel’s invitation.

Marseille with Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel.

Marseille’s career as a pilot spanned barely two years – from his first victory in August 1940 to his last in September 1942. Yet he is the subject of several books, countless articles, numerous documentaries, and a full feature German-Spanish film — Der Stern von Afrika (The Star of Africa). The reader is referred to those sources for an account of his aerial accomplishments and a sense of his extraordinary character. 

This post is but an introduction to a 1/72 scale diorama depicting Marseille’s aircraft refueling in Quotaifiya, Egypt, circa late September 1942, just days before his death. The diorama will comprise several components, each the subject of a separate post as follows:

I. Introduction – The foregoing post provides a brief sketch of Marseille and outlines the components of the project.

JG 27 engineers and ground crew, stripped from the waist up and wearing shorts and pith helmets due to the extreme heat in the desert, refuel a Messerschmitt Bf 109.

II. Marseille’s Messerschmitt Bf 109s – Marseille flew a number of different Messerschmitt Bf 109s throughout his career. To my knowledge, four different manufacturers – Atlas, Corgi, Easy Model, and Gemini – have produced a total of six prebuilt 1/72 diecast models of Marseille’s various aircraft spanning the two years from his first victory in August 1940 to his last in September 1942. I will be using one of these six for the diorama. This post will provide photos and observations of these models.

Marseille with his Messerschmitt Bf 109 “Yellow 14.”

III. Marseille’s “OTTO” Kubelwagen – Upon Marseille’s downing of eight RAF P-40 Tomahawks in a 10-minute sortie on September 1, 1942, the Italians in the camp “borrowed” Marseille’s kubelwagen and painted “OTTO” – “eight” in Italian – on its sides, adorning the four letters with desert fauna. This post will describe the kubelwagen I intend to use for this diorama.

Marseille’s kubelwagen “OTTO.” Note the distinct balloon tires made specially for desert cross-country driving and the pennant on the driver’s side — characteristics often missed by model manufacturers.

IV. Luftwaffe Opel Blitz Tankwagen – The Luftwaffe used the Opel Blitz tankwagen Kfz. 385 to refuel their aircraft throughout the conflict, including in North Africa. As far as I know, three manufacturers have produced 1/72 model kits of the Kfz. 385 – two in plastic by Roden and MAC Distribution and one in resin by FM Detail Sets. This post will briefly discuss the tankwagen I intend to use for this diorama.

An Opel Blitz tankwagen refuels a Bf 109 of JG 27.

V. Neumanns bunte Bühne – JG 27 Commander Eduard Neumann’s trailer, known as “Neumanns bunte Bühne” (Neumann’s colorful stage), served as the headquarters of JG 27, Marseille’s fighter wing. There is no available model of this trailer in any scale so I will be creating it with plastic card mostly from scratch. Given that, to my knowledge, only a handful of photos of the trailer exist, information on dimensions and details is lacking. Of necessity, a significant portion of this effort will be educated guesswork. This post will describe this most challenging part of the project.

The headquarters of JG 27, a trailer Commander Eduard Neumann had appropriated in France.

VI. The Figures and other details – No diorama is complete without the figures to bring it to life and provide a sense of scale. We may not know the wingspan of a Messerschmitt Bf 109, but a human figure next to it provides immediate perspective. I am aware of two figures in 1/72 scale – one from Preiser and one from Dragon – clearly intended to represent Marseille. This post will cover these two figures as well as the approximately 60 other figures (plastic, resin, and metal) from many figure sets that I will use in the diorama. The challenge is that there are currently no shirtless figures wearing shorts and pith helmets. Thus, the project will involve many conversions using torsos, heads, and limbs from different figure sets.

Engineers of JG 27 enjoy a break. Again, note the pith helmets, shorts, and lack of shirts.

Lagniappe: Rumba Azul, by the Lecuona Cuban Boys

Finally, for those curious about Rumba Azul, here’s a YouTube video. Music begins at about the 30-second mark and lyrics at about the 90-second mark.

As is probably clear, this is an extremely ambitious project, at least for me, and it will likely take months to complete. Please bear with me and visit the site often.

Thank you for your indulgence and I hope you enjoyed the post. If something looks amiss, please let me know. I would be delighted to correct inaccurate information so that this may be useful to other 1/72 scale collectors and wargamers. As always, comments, questions, corrections, and observations are welcome. 

Operation Eiche: The Liberation of Benito Mussolini in 1/72 Scale

I recently read Fallschirmjager at the Gran Sasso: The Liberation of Mussolini, by Oscar Gonzalez Lopez. The Fallschirmjager’s daring rescue of Mussolini on September 12, 1943, is one of the most famous raids of WWII and needs no recounting here. Suffice it to say that Gonzalez Lopez’s account is an excellent read with a somewhat new interpretation of the raid — essentially giving credit to Major Harald Mors, who planned the rescue operation, rather than the flamboyant Otto Skorzeny, who Gonzalez Lopez claims was given credit at the time for propaganda purposes.

Here’s one of many photos taken during the rescue operation. Skorzeny, with binoculars, appears on the far left, next to Mussolini.

1/72, 6134, Bujeiro, Campo Imperatore, FA724005, Falcon, Fallschirmjager, Fi 156, Fieseler Storch, German, Gran Sasso, Italeri, Italy, Kriminalpolezei, Luftwaffe, Mussolini, Operation Eiche, Paratroopers, Skorzeny, TQD

On the book cover was this wonderful illustration by Ramiro Bujeiro, inspired by several photos taken during the raid, including the one above. In addition to the colors, I loved the way Bujeiro captured an entire event with just six elements: Mussolini smack in the center, Skorzeny walking behind him, the paratrooper representing the 82 Fallschirmjager who took part, the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch essential for the escape, the Campo Imperatore alpine meadow, and the Gran Sasso Mountain in the background.

1/72, 6134, Bujeiro, Campo Imperatore, FA724005, Falcon, Fallschirmjager, Fi 156, Fieseler Storch, German, Gran Sasso, Italeri, Italy, Kriminalpolezei, Luftwaffe, Mussolini, Operation Eiche, Paratroopers, Skorzeny, TQD

Following up on Bujeiro’s painting, here’s a recreation in 1/72 scale — just six elements.

1/72, 6134, Bujeiro, Campo Imperatore, FA724005, Falcon, Fallschirmjager, Fi 156, Fieseler Storch, German, Gran Sasso, Italeri, Italy, Kriminalpolezei, Luftwaffe, Mussolini, Operation Eiche, Paratroopers, Skorzeny, TQD

I don’t know whether this photograph was originally in color or was later colorized. Either way, I tried to capture the fall season look of the grass at the Campo Imperatore meadow.

1/72, 6134, Bujeiro, Campo Imperatore, FA724005, Falcon, Fallschirmjager, Fi 156, Fieseler Storch, German, Gran Sasso, Italeri, Italy, Kriminalpolezei, Luftwaffe, Mussolini, Operation Eiche, Paratroopers, Skorzeny, TQD

For those interested, here’s the source of each piece:

  • Mussolini: TQD Castings TQD112 WWII Era Kriminalpolezei metal figure set with machine gun cut out;
  • Skorzeny: Italeri 6134 German Paratroops (Tropical Uniform) set;
  • Fallschirmjager: Italeri 6134 German Paratroops (Tropical Uniform) set;
  • Aircraft: Falcon Models FA724005 Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, “Gran Sasso”;
  • Meadow: Styrofoam base painted with acrylic colors to look like Campo Imperatore;
  • Background: Photo of actual Gran Sasso Mountain.

I hope you enjoyed the post.  As always, your comments are welcome.

Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm Flak Gun Crew in Action in North Africa in 1941

This photo is from Waldemar Trojca’s 8.8cm Flak 18-36-37, Katowice-Speyer 2005. Erwin Rommel used the 88mm Flak gun extensively as an antitank weapon in North Africa, having learned its value in that role in 1940 at the Battle of Arras, in France. Some mistakenly claim Rommel was the first to use the 88mm as an antitank weapon. All that can be said with confidence is that he was among the first.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Here’s the recreation. The original photo doesn’t depict the detail or disarray surrounding the gun but photos of other 88 guns do. Thus, as you will readily notice, I took lots of artistic license.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Here’s a view directly facing the gun. The 88s could take out enemy tanks a mile away but you first had to spot them. The soldier up front has a range finder, while the officer on the right has binoculars. At the far right are scissors binoculars, which are sometimes present in these scenes. I “borrowed” them from the Revell German Armoured Infantry set.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Here are a couple of photos of the gun itself. The gun suffers from several inaccuracies, which I’ll cover at some point in a separate review.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Here’s a close-up of the gun.  Note the awesome kill rings.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

I converted the Altaya Flak 37 from its traveling position to a stationary gun and then pilfered the trailer. The trailer is plastic with metal axles that had to be cut from the metal base of the gun. I painted the trailer desert yellow, applied decals, and gave it a wash. The detail on the trailer is quite nice as it is plastic and compares well with the Airfix and Hasegawa kits, though it’s not as detailed as the Revell kit.

Note the detail work on the towing bar and on the “forks” to which the gun attaches. Because the plastic is very hard, it was actually easy to carve them out. For the first time in many years, I reluctantly applied decals using Microsol on very old Afrikakorps palm trees from Almark. The result exceeded my expectations and I cursed myself for not having tried decaling sooner.

This photo also shows the brass ammunition and wicker ammunition baskets well. Note that I drilled out two holes in one of the baskets. It turned out to be easier than I expected.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

The crew was included in the Italeri 8.8cm Flak 37 AA Gun kit. Of note is the soldier with a Hermann Meyer cap, to my knowledge one of only two modeled in plastic. (The soldier talking to Rommel also wears a Meyer cap but that figure is made of white metal.) Plastic Soldier Review (PSR) described this set as follows: “All the figures are crisply sculpted and crisply moulded, and while some of those handling ammunition have a little excess plastic, no one has any flash and these are very good quality figures . . . . At an average 24.5 mm the height of the men is good, so with the very good detail these are excellent.” (See PSR’s review at http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/ShowFeature.aspx?id=48.)

While I had the figures painted previously, I decided that I would paint shoulder straps, buttons, belt buckles, and other details. This is a Luftwaffe Flakartillerie regiment so shoulder straps are silver on a red base. I developed a headache as I focused my eyes on these suckers. If you’re over 50, don’t try this at home. 🙁 

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

The Rommel figure came from the ACE Desert Fox’s Kfz.21 kit. I have several different painted Rommel figures in 1/72; this is the best of the bunch. As previously mentioned, the officer talking to Rommel wears a Meyer cap, clearly identifying him as Luftwaffe. He comes from an SHQ white metal set that includes a Rommel figure leaning over a map. This vignette is based on a well-known photo of Rommel talking to Generalmajor Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, wherein he wears a Meyer cap.1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

The half-track is Hobby Master’s Luftwaffe Sd.Kfz.7 8-Ton Semi-Track, with decals poached from the Airfix half-track kit. Disappointingly, Hobby Master lazily released it without markings despite the promise implicit in their pre-production photos, which included the DAK palm trees. I had intended to apply divisional markings to the half-track as well but held off because I wasn’t sure to which division the gun belonged. Trojca attributes the gun to the 1./Flak Rgt. 33, which was attached to the 21.Pz.Div., while Panzerstahl attributes it to the 1./Flak Rgt. 43, which was attached to the 15.Pz.Div. In retrospect, I wish I’d given the half-track a wash to bring out its details. The tarp and Jerry cans are from ValueGear.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Note the faded Luftwaffe marking on the helmet of the soldier with the dark tunic. To my old eyes, he came out better than I expected.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

Finally, this bird’s-eye view shows the entire layout well. Note the tracks in the sand. Kinetic Sand is simply amazing.

1/72 88043 ACE Afrikakorps Airfix Almark Altaya Artillery DAK Desert Deutsches Flak Fujimi German Hasegawa HG5002 HMX Hobby Master Italeri Kinetic Sand Luftwaffe Meyer Cap North Africa Panzerstahl Preiser Revell Rommel SHQ Softskin Soldiers Thor ValueGear Waba Fun

For those interested, here’s the source of each piece:

  • Gun: Panzerstahl 88043, 8.8cm Flak, 43rd Flak Reg., 15.Pz.Div., Deutsches Afrikakorps, 1942; 
  • Trailer: Altaya 8.8 cm Flak 37, 2.Pz.Div. Moscow Area 1941 (cut out from metal base) (decals from Almark T1 Afrika Korps Palms);
  • Half-Track: Hobby Master HG5002, Sd.Kfz.7 8-Ton Semi-Track, Luftwaffe, Africa 1942 (decals from Airfix 2303 kit, 88mm Gun & Sd.Kfz.7 Tractor);
  • Crew: Italeri 7512 kit, 8.8cm Flak 37 AA Gun with Crew;
  • Field Marshal Rommel: ACE 72289 kit, Desert Fox’s Kfz.21 with Rommel Figure;
  • Generalmajor Ramcke: SHQ DK20, Rommel Command Group;
  • Dog: Preiser 14165, Dogs and Cats;
  • Scissors Binoculars: Revell 02511, German Armoured Infantry;
  • Ammunition Baskets: Hasegawa 31110 kit, 88mm Gun Flak 18 (4 baskets); and Fujimi 76026 kit, 88mm Flak 18 (4 baskets);
  • Ammunition: Thor Hobby A7203, Brass WWII German 88mm L/71 Gun Ammunition (Set 2);
  • Sandbags, Crates, Fuel Drums, Jerry Cans, and Tarp Roll: ValueGear, various sets;
  • Grass: Noch Scenemaster, Spring Grass Tufts;
  • Sand: 150-101 Kinetic Sand by Waba Fun. Had to wrest it from my kids. 😈 

I hope you enjoyed the post. Please forgive the long-winded narrative and thanks again for your indulgence and encouragement.

Planes, Camels and Donkeys: Transport in North Africa

This photo is from George Forty’s Afrika Korps at War, a serendipitous find years ago at the Strand Bookstore “18 miles of new, used, and rare books” in New York City. Anyone who has not been there should put it on their list when visiting New York. The contrast in this photo between modern transport and centuries-old transport in North Africa during WWII is striking.

Hobby Master HM HA1812 1/72 DAK Afrikakorps Afrika Korps Bf 110 & Camel and Donkey

Here’s the recreation.

Hobby Master HM HA1812 1/72 DAK Afrikakorps Afrika Korps Bf 110 & Camel and Donkey

Here’s the color photo.

Hobby Master HM HA1812 1/72 DAK Afrikakorps Afrika Korps Bf 110 & Camel and Donkey

For those interested, here’s the source of each piece:

  • Aircraft: Hobby Master HA1812, Bf 110E-2, ZG 26 “Horst Wessel,” North Africa, 1941;
  • Arab: Hat 8250, Taaishi Camelry;
  • Camel: Airfix 01719, Arabs;
  • Donkey: Matchbox P5008, ANZAC Infantry.

At some point I intend to reshoot this scene with an unsaddled camel and more Bedouins.

According to PSR, the “donkey” in the Matchbox set may actually be a mule.  Here’s a close-up to help settle the issue. 🙂  22 Donkey L (800x553) - Cropped