Hans Joachim Marseille- A Tribute

Hans Joachim Marseille

A Tribute To A Legend

60 years ago today, on 30 September 1942, a young German airman sailed unconscious through the clear North African sky, falling thousands of feet to his death. The life story of Hans Joachim Marseille is very well known, and there are a number of good references documenting his meteoric career over the sands of North Africa with JG27. A new publication concerning Marseille is currently underway by Dr. Jim Kitchens III and John Beaman; both gentlemen are well-known in Luftwaffe research circles, and the resultant work will no doubt be of the highest quality. Thus, we shall concern ourselves only with some details of the aircraft of Marseille rather than delve into his life story.

In the course of his "African adventure", Marseille flew at least four different Bf109Fs, perhaps more... the three best known, however, are W.Nr. 12593, W.Nr. 10137, and W.Nr. 8673, his final Friedrich. Photos of his first known F, 12593, are plentiful thanks to an enterprising PK (Propaganda Kompanie) crew who documented his landing and the resultant congratulations after scoring his 50th victory in February 1942. Another machine listed as 10059 is depicted in Prien and Rodeike's "Bf109F, G, & K Series" on p.46; the aircraft displays 68 victories, and it is presumed the photos were taken on 1 June 1942, the day Marseille scored his 69th kill. This W.Nr. may not one which Marseille flew, however... further investigation is underway to determine the ID of this aircraft.

10137 is also fairly well documented photographically; an article by Beaman and Kitchens in an old IPMS Journal specifically notes this aircraft as being flown between victories 70 through 101. In the photo at right, JG27 ground crew are busily adding another victory mark on the rudder of 10137.

In the photo at left, Marseille can be seen being exiting the cockpit of one of his aircraft, very possibly W.Nr.10137... both "10059" and 8673 were rather clean aircraft, and this photo shows quite a bit of staining in the vicinity of the cockpit and gun hood.

The following series of photos offer mute testimony to the final days of one of the greatest aces of all time; they document Marseille's final Friedrich, W.Nr. 8673.

In the photo to the right, a beaming member of the ground crew poses proudly with Hauptmann Marseille's aircraft, currently bearing 132 kills. Points of interest for the modeler are the white wingtips, the masked over "Reifendrück" stencil beneath the tailplane, and the overall clean state of the aircraft.

Same aircraft, but another four victories have been added to Jochen's tally. Further points to note on this Erla-built machine are the retrofitted external stiffeners added across station 9, the trim tab outline stencil on the elevator, and a small black stripe across the bottom of fuselage station 9 indicating a trestle point. This aircraft would have originally been delivered in a standard 78/79 scheme with a mid-fuselage demarcation line; however, at some point the aircraft was fully repainted with the 79 Sandgelb being brought all the way down the side. The masked "Reifendrück" stencil is a clear indication of this.

Emblematic of the declining fortunes of the Afrika Korps, this October 1942 photo shows a stoic JG27 crewman posing with the rudder of 8673. It shows the full tally of 158 victories achieved by Marseille before his untimely death on 30 September 1942 due to an engine fire in his brand-new Bf 109G-2 W.Nr. 14256. The crewman is posing in front of a derelict 3./JG27 Emil coded either "gelbe 8" or "gelbe 9"; it shows well the original scheme carried by JG27 aircraft upon their arrival in the North African theatre.

Today the rudder of 8673 is on display at the Luftwaffen Museum in Gatow, as shown in this photo from Mikael Olrog's excellent site dedicated to surviving Axis aircraft. The rudder was gifted to Marseille's family by the German High Command, and they in turn donated it to the museum.

Sixty years on, the exploits and the story of Hans Joachim Marseille continue to amaze and amuse us; his talent as a pilot was otherworldly, and his personality and bearing completely opposite to that expected of a German officer. He loved jazz, he partied with German film stars, and stories abound of his practical jokes and sense of humor... in short, he loved life and lived it to the fullest. He has been officially commemorated within the Bundeswehr with the naming of the "Marseille Kaserne" at Uetersen - Appen on 24 October 1975, and his skill and love of life are still worth remembering today.