World War II Günther Josten

fw 190 d-13/r11, champlin fighter museum, phoenix, arizona (c.1995)

josten appointed gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of iv. gruppe of jg 51 on 12 april 1945. day, hauptmann (captain) günther schack, gruppenkomandeur of i. gruppe, injured in combat. in consequence, josten briefly took charge of i. gruppe, delaying command of vi. gruppe until 18 april. on 22 april, iv. gruppe moved airfield @ schmoldow. day, prior relocation josten claimed 2 il-2 shot down south of stettin. on 23 april, commanding general of luftwaffenkommando nordost (air force command north east), general der flieger (general of aviators) martin fiebig, visited unit @ schmoldow. fiebig held speech, demanding every german soldier should fight end , asked volunteers make kamikaze suicide attacks against soviet oder crossings. idea fly junkers ju 88 bombers, loaded high explosives, oder bridges, none of pilots vi. gruppe volunteered these missions.

flying focke-wulf fw 190 d-9 on 25 april 1945, josten claimed 9 aerial victories, successful day fighter pilot. on first mission, leading flight of three, credited destruction of 1 yak-3 , 3 il-2. on second mission, , wingman, oberfeldwebel alfred rauch, shot down 9 aircraft, 5 josten , 4 rauch. on mission first encountered 50 bostons , 30 airacobra. force, josten shot down 1 airacobra , 2 bostons. 2 ran flight of 20 il-2 , 30 yak-3, of josten claimed 2 il-2 destroyed. josten claimed last , 178th aerial victory on yak-3 on 26 april 1945. on 6 may 1945, taken prisoner british forces of raf second tactical air force in flensburg. legally, according international law, josten , comrades not prisoners of war interned.

shortly after end of war british wanted evaluate performance of german fw 190 d-13/r11 (werknummer 836017—factory number). @ flensburg, british disarmament wing wanted compare fighter s performance against hawker tempest. on 25 june 1945, josten , heinz lange flew fw 190 d-13 in mock combat against tempest piloted british pilot. mock dogfight conducted @ altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) enough fuel flight , no ammunition. machines proved evenly matched.

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