Profile by Dan Taylor
FW 190 D-9 W.Nr 600 424 'Red 1 + ' of Lt. Heinz Sachsenberg, Staffelkapitän of the Platzschutzstaffel of J.V. 44, München-Riem, Germany, April 1945

'Red 1 + ' was built in December 1944 by Fieseler at the Kassel factory, and almost certainly saw service with J.G. 2 before being passed to J.V. 44 (J.G. 2 flew W.Nr 600 420, 600 421 and 600 426). The inscription under the cockpit is "Verkaufts mei Gwand, Ich foahrs in Himmeil", which is dialect (southern) for "Sell my kit, I'm going to Heaven". According to E. Brown Ryle, the aircraft is camouflaged as follows: fuselage RLM 82/83/76, upper wing and stabiliser RLM 82/83, spinner rear RLM 70. This aircraft was flown by the Staffelkapitän of the Platzschutzstaffel, Lt. Heinz Sachsenberg, who had shot down 104 aircraft with J.G. 52 (see table below for some of his victories).

The Platzschutzstaffel of Jagdverband 44
During the final weeks of the war, Generalleutnant Adolf Galland's Me 262-equipped Jagdverband 44 established a special Platzschutzstaffel (airfield protection unit) equipped with FW 190 Ds. Aircraft used by the Staffel include:

FW 190 D-9 W.Nr 600 424 'Red 1 + ' of Staffelkapitän Lt. Heinz Sachsenberg (104 victories)
FW 190 D-9 W.Nr ... ... 'Red 3 + ' of Hptm. Waldemar Wübke (~15 victories)
FW 190 D-11 (V58) W.Nr 170 933 'Red 4 + ' of an unknown pilot
FW 190 D-9 W.Nr 400 240 'Red 13 + ' of Oblt. Klaus Faber (2 victories)

Two other pilots who flew with the Staffel were Lt. Karl-Heinz Hofmann and Fw. Bodo Dirschauer.

Each aircraft of the Platzschutzstaffel had unique inscriptions under the cockpit, along with the unit emblem of a black-white checkerboard within a red circle. Another obvious and unique marking was the red and white striped pattern applied on the undersurfaces. This served as recognition for any trigger-happy German anti-aircraft gunners.

Table: Victory List for Pilots of the Platzschutzstaffel of J.V. 44
Date Pilot: Tally Unit Type Location: Altitude Time Source
04.01.43 Oblt. Waldemar Wübke: 7./J.G. 54 Il-2 07 761: 300 m 14:15
05.01.43 Oblt. Waldemar Wübke: 7./J.G. 54 Il-2 97 834: 200 m 09:10
04.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-1 61 383: 1,000 m 11:12
04.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 LaGG-5 61 363: 1,000 m 13:40
04.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 LaGG-5 61 271: 400 m 13:47
04.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 R-5 61 292: low-altitude 16:00
06.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-1 61 394: 800 m 16:00
06.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Il-2 m.H. 61 363: 300 m 10:54
07.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 LaGG-5 60 832: 600 m 18:30
08.08.43 Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Boston III 60 744: 5,500 m 18:22
03.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-7 66 644: 4,000 m 11:15
17.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Airacobra 66 641: 6,500 m 09:04
17.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Airacobra 66 564: 3,500 m 11:37
17.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-7 66 613: water 14:40
18.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-7 66 641: 5,000 m 09:32
24.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-1 66 643: 200 m 07:10
24.01.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-1 66 594: 200 m 12:48
07.02.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-7 66 643: 4,000 m 11:05
07.02.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-9 66 532: 2,000 m 13:43
12.02.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Yak-9 66 641: low-altitude 08:36
15.02.44 Fhj.Fw. Heinz Sachsenberg: 6./J.G. 52 Airacobra 66 641: 4,000 m 08:37

Further Reading
E.B. Ryle & M. Laing, Walk Around FW 190D, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, 1997

80 pages, some text, many photos (colour and B & W), twelve page colour profile section with reference photos (17 profiles), diagrams. This book is reasonably priced, and is a very good reference for the Focke-Wulf 190 D. Two J.V. 44 machines are profiled, including 'Red 1 + ' and 'Red 4 + '. Walk Around FW 190D is highly recommended for modellers and researchers.


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