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Helmut Wettstein probably joined I./JG 54 in February 1943 when the Gruppe was on a rolling rest and refit schedule based at Heiligenbeil in Eastern Prussia. Very soon after his arrival to the 1. Staffel however, he would file his first victory on 14 February by downing an Il-2. During this time the Gruppe participated in the heavy fighting over Leningrad and also in the eastern part of the front area between Lake Ladoga and Volkhov, scoring heavily. As a consequence just three days later he filed his second claim, another Il-2. However, on the following day (the 18th) the engine of his Fw 190 was hit forcing him to belly-land east of Ljuban with his 'White 1' being 20% damaged. On that day the German's launched Operation "Ziethen", the evacuation of the Demyansk pocket though the Gruppe was not initially involved. On the 19th they certainly were and filed claims for no fewer than 19 Abschüsse, without any own losses, and obtaining the Geschwader's 4,000th confirmed victory. Back into the fight Lt. Wettstein claimed his third Il-2 on the 23rd, this being his final claim during February. On 19 March he added another VVS fighter to his tally, a LaGG-3. This however was followed by his second belly-landing, this time near Krasnogvardeisk due to ground fire with his Fw 190 A-4 receiving 15% damage. A slow but steady scorer, his next on 23 March was a Yak-1, and thereby he reached five confirmed victories. There followed another two claims in April and it was not until the summer months that he would score again. During the German offensive actions in July mainly at Kursk he would add another four victories including his 10th, a LaGG-3, on 9 July. From July to the end of the year I./JG 54 continued to file incredible numbers of downed VVS aircraft totaling no less than 1,079 claims. With 11 victories by the end of 1943, one would not characterize Wettstein as one of the I. Gruppe Experten. Whether he had lost his "shooting eye" after the failed summer offensive or he had simply become more cautious as a fighter pilot will never be known. However, the fact that he apparently continued to shoot down enemy aircra ft from time to time, and unlike his other pilot friends, managed to survive the war is proof of his successful approach. And despite his rather mediocre results as a fighter pilot he was entrusted to lead his pilots, taking over Nowotny's old 1. Staffel as its new Staffelkapitän on 27 December 1943. Thereafter he held a number command positions ending up as the leader of 11./JG 54 and responsible for the evacuation of his pilots and personnel from the Kurland pocket in early May 1945. Finally, on 8 May 1945, Hauptmann Helmut Wettstein with 34 confirmed victories under his belt touched down with his Fw 190 A-9 'Yellow 1' at Skrydstrup airfield in Denmark and became a prisoner of the British. Lt. Wettstein's Fw 190 was an AGO-manufactured A-4 completed sometime in the spring of 1942. It wore the Green camouflage over its original factory-applied RLM 74/75/76 scheme. On top of that the machine was given a temporary water-based white paint at the unit level for winter camouflage. Some color is provided
by the full complement of JG 54 markings including I. Gruppe
and Geschwader markings as well as the yellow Ostfront recognition
markings. Note also that his machine was "inherited"
from the II. Gruppe with an overpainted old numeral and horizontal
Gruppe bar. |
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