On 25 July 1936, eight days after the Spanish Civil War erupted on 17 July, Adolf Hitler authorized German assistance to the Nationalist cause under the codename Unternehmen Feuerzauber (Operation Magic Fire).

On 27 July, the pilots of I./JG 132 "Richthofen" at Döberitz (He 51-equipped) and I./JG 134 "Horst Wessel" at Dortmund (Ar 65 and 68-equipped) received an appeal for "volunteers". Those interested would join a mysterious expeditionary force destined for an unidentified foreign country.

Hannes Trautloft recalled: "On 28 July 1936, whilst serving as an Oberleutnant with 9./JG 134 at Köln, I received a telephone call from my Kommandeur, Hauptmann Horst Dinort. His first question was "Are you engaged to be married?" I stated that I was not. He then swore me to secrecy and began to explain to me about the situation in Spain and the need for well-trained pilots in that country. Before he even had the chance to ask me if I would be prepared to go there, I said to him "I volunteer!"

The first contingent of German volunteers arrived at the roadstead off the port of Cádiz on 6 August and the next day sent by train to Seville. Four days later their Heinkel He 51B fighters were assembled and ready for operations. However it was not until the afternoon on 25 August that the German fighters made their operational debut in support of the Nationalist´s drive on the capital Madrid.

In the haze of this summer day, flying to the west of Madrid, the German patrol led by Oblt. Trautloft suddenly spotted three Republican Breguet XIXs about two kilometers away over the outskirts of Madrid, flying towards and about 500 meters below them. With his hands "shaking from excitement", Trautloft switched on his gunsight, entered into a dive out of the sun, closed to within 30 meters and opened fire with his MG 17s: "As I approach I see the gunner aiming his gun at me and then the muzzle lights up as he opens fire. It all looks rather harmless. With my first burst, the gunner disappears - his machine gun points vertically towards the sky. The "Red" now pushes over into a steep dive. My second burst is brief, but on target, because all of a sudden the Breguet rears up, rolls over, roars towards the earth in a steep, uncontrolled dive and smashes into the ground north of the village of Comenar."

Trautloft had claimed what is believed to be the first aerial victory by German forces in Spain. He would add another four confirmed victories in the Spanish skies with his second, a Potez 540, downed over Sierra Guadarrama on 30 August. Then two days later on 1 September a Ni-H.52 fell before his guns. On 30 September another Potez 540 was claimed as his fourth in the Ávila area.

Then things started heating up, when the He 51-equipped J/88 began encountering superior enemy fighter types, the Soviet-supplied and often piloted I-15s and I-16s Rata. Better equipment was urgently needed and finally in December the new revolutionary Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft began arriving at the front in an effort to tip the balance. I

n fact, of the three Versuchs (prototype) machines received ­ V3, V4 and V6 ­ the V4, the first pre-series production Bf 109 completed, was allocated to Hannes Trautloft. However, he would not score any victories in this machine with his last claim, filed on 8 December 1936, made while flying a He 51B-1. Incredibly, one of the superior I-16s was his victim.

Finally, on 14 December, Oberleutnant Trautloft test flew Bf 109 6-1 for the first time, his machine sporting the green "Thüringen-herz" from his beloved home state under the cockpit on both sides of the fuselage. Note that parts of the Revi gunsight is situated in front of the windscreen of this pre-series Messerschmitt.

Regarding Profile Book No 14. This week we have been working with the final proof reading of the manuscript. Hopefully the book will be printed within thefollowing two weeks. When the books is prined all my old custimer would get an invitation for a pre order of this book, Luftwaffe fighters in Profile,Profile Book No 14.

Included in the Profile Book No 14, the reader would find, Four Bf 109 A and B:s, 17 Bf 109 Emils, 27 Bf 109 Fs, 23 Bf 109 Gs, and another 13 late war Bf 109 Gs including K-4s. When it comes to the Focke Wulfs: 30 Fw 190 A-1 to A-8 would be included and seven Fw 190 Doras, another late war Fw 190 prototyp, one He 162, and another Me 163, This together with a Macchi 202 flown by Marseille. Finally, four Me 262 and a captured P-51B Mustang is included.