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In June of 1941 Uffz. Wilhelm "Willi" Stratmann arrived at JG 2 and its 7. Staffel, then commanded by Lt. Egon Mayer. An old man by Jagdwaffe standards, no less than 27 years, he shortly after his arrival he showed his fellow Staffel comrades that he was an accomplished flyer and dogfighter by scoring against a Spitfire on 24 June, his first RAF aircraft of the war downed northwest of Calais. His second would however take some time, close to two months. he would down his second Spitfire on 23 August. Six days later, on 29 August the third one would be filed on this day, another Spitfire shot down during the morning hours. The victim was from the RAF's "Circus No. 88", a raid against railway installations at Hazebrouck. According to RAF loss returns three Spitfire fell to enemy fighters this day, victims of Messerschmitt Bf 109s. On the Luftwaffe side their statistics confirm that JG 2 pilots of the 7. and 8. Staffeln filed claims for four Spitfires, one of which was later was refuted by the RLM in Berlin thereby perfectly matching the RAF losses. The scoring Jagdwaffe pilots this day besides Uffz. "Willi" Stratmann were Fw. Frans Willinger (9 kills), and Uffz. Fredrick Rietzier (2 kills). . Stratmann would continue to fly in Jagdgeschwader 2 during his lengthy career as a fighter pilot. Up to 21 October 1944 he flew with JG 2's 7th, 2nd, 12th, 8th and finally its 4th Staffel. During this period, he would add another 26 Western Allied aircraft, from both the RAF and the USAAF. The majority of them were fighters, including at least eight Spitfires, one Typhoon, and three P-38s. Oberleunant Wilhelm "Willi" Stratmann would fly his last combat mission on 21 October 1944, when he was seriously injured during a clash with USAAF P-47s over Dernbach. "White 10" has a "spring of 1941 appearance", with a yellow engine cowling and with full markings, both Geschwader and Gruppe crests. Three month later in August all markings would disappear, as would the all Yellow engine cowlings. Note that a Bf 109 F-2
flown by Uffz. Stratmann in late August 1941 was published in
Profile Book No 13 as profile No 32. |
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