Hello everyone,

I'm building a co-op campaign for a couple of buddies, set in the Western Desert using the new 4.09 MTO map.
I try to make the missions (semi)historical. Luckily, there's a lot of info on the internet about the desert war and JG27 (it's a german campaign). However, I can't find when and how long the Bf 109F-2 was used by JG 27. It seems I/JG27 converted to Bf 109F-2's at first and later switched to the F-4. I think other gruppen in JG27 converted directly to the F-4.

Does anybody know this? I'm anxious to know, I wouldn't want to fly the F-2 too long, as it's firepower is severely lacking I think

Short answer is:

According to my osprey book, JG27 never took F-2's to the desert.

IJG27 deployed to the desert in April '41 with E-7's. IIJG27 Came to the desert after they recieved their F-4's in a post Balkans conversion. Upon II Guruppe's arrival, I Gruppe rotated a Staffel a month back to Germany to recieve their F-4's.

There's more, but that's the short answer.

B50

By the time the Friedrich came to Africa the F-2 would have already been upgraded with the F-4's MG 151/20 instead of the old peashooter MG 151/15. There were a few F-2 in Africa, namely with II./JG 27 which came to Africa in September 1941, but the great majority were F-4. It would be correct to use the F-4 as it was the more relevant model.

But not before late September 1941!

I can't seem to find a specific date, but you might be able to extrapolate. The F-1 appeared in January of 1941, the F-2 soon after and both were available for Barbarossa in June of '41. According to the Wikipedia entry of Hans-Joachim Marseille, his Staffel rotated back to Germany in November/December '41 to convert to the F-4/Trop.

II/JG 27 was the first to convert to the F-2, having received them for Barbarossa. When they arrived in North Africa in September 1941, I/JG 27, who had been there since April, rotated back to Germany to replace their E with the F-2. This from the Wikipedia entry on JG 27.

Hope that helps.

Thanks guys, but we have a bit of conflicting information here...

I have seen a couple of aircraft profiles of I/JG27 F-2 in a desert camo, so that's why I figured they had the F-2 first. On the other hand, Osprey is usually a reliable source?
Would I/JG27 have been retrofitted with F-4's later on? what date would that have been?

Anyway, I'll use the F-4 as it was indeed the more dominant type in late 1941 I think...

quote:

Originally posted by Vanderstok:
Thanks guys, but we have a bit of conflicting information here...

I have seen a couple of aircraft profiles of I/JG27 F-2 in a desert camo, so that's why I figured they had the F-2 first. On the other hand, Osprey is usually a reliable source?
Would I/JG27 have been retrofitted with F-4's later on? what date would that have been?

Anyway, I'll use the F-4 as it was indeed the more dominant type in late 1941 I think...

Most likely best to go with Osprey. The wikipedia info is always something you need to verify, and the book I was referencing (Me109 by Martin Caidin) is pretty old. It listed the F-3 as appearing in early '42, but no date on the F-4.

I agree, use the F-4. If you are starting around the end of '41, it should be just fine.

Osprey is not the epitome of historical accuracy all the time, either.

I./JG 27 appeared in Africa in April 1941 and flew Emils exclusively (until it was relieved by II./JG 27 and reequipped with F-4 in October 1941)
II./JG 27 took part in "Barbarossa" only for the first week (flying Emils) and then returned to Germany, reequipping with a mix of Bf 109 F-2 and F-4 (the F-4 production was in full swing by that time) - first combat mission in Africa IIRC September 24 1941
III./JG 27 left the Eastern Front in October and got a load of brand-new F-4s in Germany before they joined the rest of the Geschwader in December

Thanks. The campaign starts in april 1941, with JG27 flying Emils. I think I will go on until somewhere around Marseille's death (septemeber 1942) and the pullback of JG27 from Libya (october). So we will be mainly flying E7's and F-4's and perhaps the odd G2 in the end. Was there a JG 27 squadron flying E4B fighter bombers as well in North Africa?

There was a semi-autonomous Staffel of JG 27 named 10.(Jabo)/JG 27 but was soon incorporated into "Jabogruppe Afrika". Ultimately these Jabos formed the backbone of the new Schlachtgeschwader 2.