On this day, two Fw 190 As were lost when downed by anti-aircraft fire in the Schlisselburg area. Yellow 4 was to be one of the 25 machines I./JG 54 lost from the summer of 1942 to the early winter of 1943, with another 52 machines reported as damaged. The personnel losses, including Oblt. Gunther Götze (MIA), was ten pilots killed or missing in action with another three taken prisoner and six others wounded or injured.

During this 10 month period the Gruppe's pilots filed claims for no less than 548 Abschuss from 1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943. Included in this group were the Luftwaffe's highest scoring pilots with the I. Gruppe represented by house hold names like Hans Philipp (64,) Walter Nowotny (46), Otto Kittel (31) and Hans Götz (30).

With his eight confirmed claims (the first a Yak-1 on 25 August 1942) Gunther Götze belonged to the less successful pilots in the Gruppe. Although an accomplished pilot and somewhat steady claimer with a LGG-3 on 24 September and an I-153 on 5 November, his best day came on 7 November when he manage to bag three VVS machines, the first a MiG-3 then followed by two I-153s.

In early January of 1943, when the weather finally turned for the better, strong Soviet forces again attacked to the south of Lake Ladoga with the goal to open a land corridor to the besieged city of Leningrad. Fighting soon encompassed the area around Pogostje and Kolpino. The first day of fearsome air battles in the skies over the battlegrounds was on 12 January and would continue well onto late January.

During this period I./JG 54, flew many missions and would score heavily, claiming a total of 191 VVS aircraft. Götze participated in the January battles and would add a DB-3 on 18 January. And finally on 29th he filed his eighth claim (and in fact his last Abschuss with the Gruppe) during the battles over Leningrad, an Il-2 downed at 14:50 hours. Three days later on 1 February his Fw 190 A-4 was shot down and he was taken prisoner and is still listed as missing in action.

Oblt. Götze's Fw 190 had the typical green camouflage over its original grey RLM 74/75/76. Its Werknummer reveals that it was another AGO Oschersleben-built A-4, though its characteristic camouflage is completely obscured with the temporary water-based white paint for winter concealment. The monotone appearance was brightened by the full complement of JG 54 markings including I. Gruppe and Geschwader crests as well as the yellow Ostfront recognition markings.

Regarding Profile Book No 14. Tomorrow on 27 May, finally, the profile book No 14 is printed. This date my old costomer could also start to pre-order this bok.

The publishing date is on 18 June, first I will start shipping out the books to all the pre-paying customers.

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 205. Finally, four Me 262 and a captured P-51B Mustang is included.