Remembering the Battle of Britain 

Robert Olejnik remembers
 
  
 During the Battle of Britain, Robert Olejnik was a Luftwaffe fighter pilot flying Me 109s, with 1/JG3 and he very kindly shared some memories of the Battle in early September 1940. The photo below shows Robert Olejnik in July 1943 when he was Commander of III/JG3 operating FW 190s. 

"On September second, my unit was stationed on a small aerodrome at Colombert. We had forty Me 109Es and two transport aircraft. Our quarters were in a local chateau about one kilometre from the airfield whilst our technical personnel were in tents close to the aircraft dispersal points. Our day commenced as usual half an hour before sunrise and at 0815 hours we began a patrol over Littlestone, Kent but failed to draw up any British fighter planes and returned to refuel. It was not long before we received instructions from Divisional control to fly cover for a Kampfverband, our rendezvous with the bombers was to be at 1300 hours over Cap Gris Nez. At 1250 hours, eighteen Me 109s took off and met the bombers and climbing steadily in formation headed for London. 

Until our arrival at the English coast we had to observe a strict radio silence and take up positions at the side of the bomber group at stepped intervals of altitude. However, owing to the limited speed of the bombers this meant the fighters were compelled to circle them. During the flight over the target we were attacked by enemy fighters but managed to return without loss and claimed three Spitfires shot down. 

In the late afternoon we were ordered to meet a bomber group over Maidstone and escort them back to home territory. At the very moment that our fighters joined with the bombers we were engaged by several enemy Hurricanes, which attacked us from above. Leutnant Rohwer suffered a hit in his radiator and had to turn away and down. He plunged to the sea in a steep dive, but managed to make an emergency landing on the water not far from the French coast. He was observed by several of our aircraft and was later picked up by a German motor boat. Oberfeldwebel Buccholz shot one Hurricane down and it was seen to hit the water. 

The next day our fighter division was given a well-deserved rest, the pilots going by bus to Le Touquet to swim. The transport aircraft, a Ju 52, flew to the island of Guernsey to purchase vegetables, grapes, tomatoes, whisky and cigarettes. The fresh food and fruit were particularly welcome because we needed to have our vitamins replaced after a period of living out of tins. 

On the fourth, the weather was not so good but we were obliged to provide an escort to air-sea rescue aircraft. To carry out this task we flew sorties in a schwarm of four aircraft, the first sortie at 1230 to 1355 hours, another at 1534 to 1707 hours and a third from 1802 to 1907 hours. During the final sortie, 1934 to 2055 hours, a schwarm was patrolling near the English coast, from Dover to the Isle of Wight, when they encountered about 9 Spitfires. As the air-sea rescue aircraft was not in position having sighted a rubber dingy the schwarm leader, Leutnant Kloiber, had already despatched one rotte (two aircraft) for home under Feldwebel Stenzke. The Spitfires now attacked the remaining Rotte and Leutnant Kloiber suffered several hits to his aircraft. He was forced to put his aircraft on the water whereupon it sank immediately. The subsequent rescue operation failed to find him in the deteriorating light and he was listed as missing. His body was washed ashore on the fifteenth near St.Cecile where he is buried.

September fifth began with clear blue skies, and promised another eventful day. At about 0900 hours our gruppe received its first orders for the day; to escort a bomber formation. It was to be met at 1030 hours and at 5,000 metres over Cap Gris Nez. At about 1015 hours, seventeen Me 109Es of 1/JG3 took off for the rendezvous with the twenty-two Dornier 17 bombers. Our gruppe had instructions to envelop the bombers in rotten, or pairs -- a newly-ordered tactic for the escort. Up to then we had always flown in staffel formations around our charges. By flying in rotten around the bombers the countermeasures became more mobile and intensive. Following the bomb drop on the southern edge of London, we made contact with some 15 to 20 Spitfires. Singly and from much greater altitude they dived on to the bombers and escorts, passed between the bombers in knife-like flights, broke away again and positioned themselves to the rear of individual bombers and fighters, fired and then fell away. In this intensive air battle from the southern edge of London to somewhere near Canterbury, between 6,000 metres and 8,000 metres, our group scored six kills: Oberleutnant Raumschussel, two; Hauptmann von Hahn, one; Feldwebel Ehler, one; Feldwebel Vollmer, one Spitfire and Leutnant Bock one Hurricane. Oberleutnant Lammers was lost sight of by his rotte partner, Leutnant Bosch, while an unknown Me 109 flew through our bomber formation and was subsequently listed as missing. Leutnant Schnabel failed to return from this encounter with the enemy. Unteroffizier Grabow from the 3rd Staffel sounded very agitated over the radio telephone, saying that he was hit, that he had to make an emergency landing and so on. His very loud and shrill voice was hardly understood, and he did not return from this fight. Three Me 109Es were rendered unairworthy or destroyed in this battle, their pilots having to parachute to earth or make emergency landings. Even though the loss of three aircraft was painful they could soon be replaced, but experienced pilots were much more difficult to replace. They had either fallen into captivity in England or died. Their loss was not easy for the individual fighter units to make good. On the other hand, an English pilot taking to his parachute or making an emergency landing could go up again in another machine, providing he was not wounded.