# Letka 13 also known as 13.(Slow)/JG 52



## imalko (Mar 31, 2009)

Authors : Stanislav Bursa and Jozef Anďal
Translated from Slovak language by imalko

By the number of aircrafts available Slovak Air Arms (Slovenske Vzdušné zbrane or SVZ) was one of the smallest air forces in World War Two. Already in first days of its existence, in March 1939, its members were forced to defend their country from Hungarian aggression. Then came a moment of false glory with participation in German attack on Poland in September 1939. Most controversial and at the same time most successful period in short history of the SVZ was deployment of several Slovak squadrons on the Eastern front during 1941-1943. The joining of the majority of members of SVZ to the Slovak National Uprising against the Germans in the fall of 1944 marked the simbolic end of its existence. This is the short history of the pilots and airplanes of the most successful and famous unit of the SVZ in World war Two - 13th fighter squadron or (in Slovak language) Letka 13.

Letka 13 was formally established on 31st of January 1940 and equipped with Avia B.534 biplane fighters. In July 1941, the squadron was sent to its first tour of duty on the Eastern front as part of larger contingent of air and ground units of Slovakian army. Succesfull deployment of outdated biplanes B.534 on the front was possible only due to the absolute air suppremacy of the Luftwaffe. However, with comming of the winter there were no doubts that this planes are not suitable for deployment in harsh front conditions. Therefore Letka 13 was returned to Slovakia without any confirmed air victory.

If unit was to be deployed on the front again, reequipment with more modern fighter planes was essential.
Therefore Slovakia made agreement with Germany on purchasing Bf 109 fighter airplanes and training of Slovakian pilots in Luftwaffe’s training centers. In February 1942 men of the Letka 13 arrived to Gröve in Denmark for training on Bf 109 fighters. In July first 12 examples of Bf 109E were delivered to Slovakia. These were old and many times repaired aircrafts, which saw service with the Luftwaffe in France and North Africa.

Since the Germans demanded immediate deployment of Slovak squadron on the front, as soon as in October 1942 first group of 14 pilots and associate ground personnel arrived on the Eastern front for their second tour of duty. Slovak squadron was assigned to the II Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 52 becoming officialy 13.(Slowak)/JG 52. Slovak pilots were engaged in air fighting over the southern part of the Eastern front - over Caucasus and Cuban areas. Messerschmitts Bf 109E with which squadron was equipped were quickly loosing their battle effectivnes, they were old and immediate replacement with new aircrafts was needed. In that situation the Germans „loaned“ to Letka 13 some Bf 109Fs and later also Messerschmitts Bf 109G-2 and G-4. First group of Slovak airmen remained on the front up until July 1943. Althogh exhausted with continuous combat activity, they were very succesfull. During the period October 1942-July 1943, pilots of Letka 13 flew 1504 combat sorties, engaged in 206 air battles and achieved 154 comfirmed and 16 uncomfirmed air victories. Most succesfull fighter pilots in history of Slovak Air Force became: Ján Režňák (32 air victories), Izidor Kovárik (28 victories) i Ján Gerthofer (23 air victories).

First group of Slovak pilots on the front was replaced by the second group in July 1943. Upon their return to Slovakia, some members of the first group of front pilots were deployed on mission of home defence against Allied air raids, flying outdated Bf 109Es once more. In the meantime, situation in the East changed considerably in favor of the Soviets and this had negative effect on the battle moral of the second group of Slovak pilots. Germans were on retreat and Letka 13 always remained in the first lines. Slovak pilots began to evade air combat and three pilots with their Bf 109G-4s defected to the Soviets. Desertions began in some Slovak ground units too. In that circumstances German command decided to withdraw Slovak squadron from the front. Before their return to Slovakia, pilots of the second group flew 1100 sorties and shoot down 61 confirmed and 13 uncomfirmed Soviet aircraft. Together, both groups of Slovak pilots managed to shoot down total of 215 Soviet aircrafts in the East.

Upon return of all members of Letka 13 to Slovakia, the squadron was reorganized and deployed as Readiness squadron (Pohotovostna letka) in home defence and equipped with new fighters Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6. However, in this new circumstances Slovak pilots were unwilling to fight the Allies. They flew intercept missions but peacefully tolerated Allied bomber formations which were on their way to targets in Germany or Austria. However, after Allied raid on Slovak capitol city Bratislava and German repeated accusations of cowardice, pilots of Letka 13 attacked American bombers on 26th of June 1944. Result was virtual destruction of Letka 13 at the hand of nummerically superior American fighter escort. In air battles fought on that day three Slovak pilots were killed and one was severelly wounded. Letka lost 7 fighters Bf 109G-6 and, indeed, only one Slovak Messerschmitt returned to its base undamaged. Pilot Gustav Lang managed to shoot down one American bomber B-24, but later was shot down and killed by the Allied P-38 escort fighters. Several other American planes were damaged by the action of Slovak pilots. The ellite fighter squadron of SVZ never again recovered from losses suffered on 26th June and when allout national uprising against the Germans began in late August, this unit ceased to exist. Number of pilots and two Bf 109G-6 of the former 13th squadron participated in the uprising as the part of insurgent so called Combined squadron (Kombinovana letka), achieving some air victories against German and Hungarian aircrafts. After Germans suppresed the uprising some Slovak pilots managed to join 1st Czechoslovak Air Division in Soviet Union.

That is all for now. I hope some of you guys will find this interesting. I will post further informations on this subject, most notably about top scoring Slovak fighter pilots. But since all my materials are in Slovak language it will take some time to translate them to English.

This text and fallowing pictures are from HT model Špecial, which had several publications published on this subject.

All comments, opinios, questions... or maybe some aditional informations that I might have overlooked are welcomed.

Here are some pictures: Aircraft and men of Letka 13, first tour of duty on the Eastern front, summer 1941


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## imalko (Mar 31, 2009)

Training on Bf 109E at Grove, Dennmark


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## imalko (Mar 31, 2009)

Departure to the second tour of duty in the East, October 1942...


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## imalko (Mar 31, 2009)

Letka 13 also known as 13.(Slow)/JG 52 in summer 1943 at Anapa...


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## seesul (Mar 31, 2009)

Hello,

their most succesful pilot Jan Reznak lived in Piestany, about 70 miles away from my born town. Passed away on Sept. 19, 2007.
A friend of mine was in touch with him.


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## Njaco (Apr 1, 2009)

Wow, thanks for the info and the pics!


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## imalko (Apr 2, 2009)

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, W.Nr. 161 717, "white 6", flown by Pavel Zeleňak from Letka 13, damaged in combat with Allied escort fighters and crash landed at Horna Streda on 26th June 1944. 

Picture and illustration from HT model Špecial, artist Vaclav Hochmuth


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## imalko (Apr 2, 2009)

Wreck of Bf 109G-6 flown by Gustav Lang (picture from "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944 volume 2") and....

... Ján Režňák carrying Lang's medals during funeral service (picture from Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 58 - Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2).

Lang managed to shoot down one B-24 on 26th of June but he himself was shot down and killed by Allied escorting fighters.


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## Milos Sijacki (Apr 2, 2009)

Great post and pics


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## Wayne Little (Apr 2, 2009)

Nice pics and info!


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## rochie (Apr 2, 2009)

great info on what is for me a lesser known aspect of WWII

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## imalko (Apr 2, 2009)

seesul said:


> their most succesful pilot Jan Reznak lived in Piestany, about 70 miles away from my born town. Passed away on Sept. 19, 2007.
> A friend of mine was in touch with him.



I knew Režňák had lived in Piešťany, but I wasn't aware he had passed away.


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## seesul (Apr 3, 2009)

Can you read Czech? I´d post you an interesting interview with him...


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## imalko (Apr 3, 2009)

Sure! (I am Slovak by nationality you know.) As I wrote earlier all additional informations on the subject are welcomed. Although I'm not sure if it would be ok to post a text in Czech language in this thread or if it would be better suited for multilingual corner. Anyway I'm looking forward to read it.


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## tomo pauk (Apr 3, 2009)

Hi,all. As a sidenote this might be interesting: 
During the time I spent in the ex-Yu army, one of my comrades was also a Slovak (born in Vojvodina, Serbia). We were stationed in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and were involved in the 'Slovenian war'. My SP AAA battery (fielding Praga V3S 30/2mm vehicles) were separated into 2 platoons and were tasked to aid some infantry units to recapture the alpine border crossings from Slovenian police territorial defence units. My Slovak comrade (1st name was Jan, last name I can't remember) was with the other platoon now.
Anyway, there was not much of a fighting since Slovenian forces decided it's wiser to negotiate a withdraw from those crossings. So, they've allowed to leave, only to block us afterwars. After 4 days there, we negotiated a retreat to Kranj, and there my father visited me (I was 19 years old then). We eventually moved back to our barracks in Ljubljana.

Now comes the Slovak fellow part. His platoon was captured by by Slovenians and all soldiers were allowed to go home. He returned to Vojvodina, only to be ordered to join an army unit, and he found himself as a crew member of a tank!
Don't know what happened to him after that (he might be involved in Vukovar/Osijek area fightings in Croatia, late 1991, but that's pure speculation).

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## seesul (Apr 3, 2009)

imalko said:


> Sure! (I am Slovak by nationality you know.) As I wrote earlier all additional informations on the subject are welcomed. Although I'm not sure if it would be ok to post a text in Czech language in this thread or if it would be better suited for multilingual corner. Anyway I'm looking forward to read it.



O.K., so just to avoid boring the other members by copying the whole text in Slovak language here, here´a link: Ako pilot bojoval na strane Nemcov, no ne¾utuje to | História | aero.sme.sk

Btw, where where you born, in Slovakia and then moved to Slovenia, or in Slovenia and one of your parents has Slovak nationality?


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## imalko (Apr 3, 2009)

seesul said:


> Btw, where where you born, in Slovakia and then moved to Slovenia, or in Slovenia and one of your parents has Slovak nationality?



OK, this is little off-topic, but since you asked...

Roman, you have probably misunderstood Tomo's post. He was talking about someone else and in fact I had been in Slovenia only once when I was a kid.

I was born and live in Vojvodina, which is northern region of Serbia. Both my parents are Slovaks. In fact there is a large national minority of Slovaks living in Vojvodina today (around 60 000 people). Our ancestors settled here in second half of 18th century, which was then Military frontier of Habsburg Empire. They served as soldiers in Grenzer regiments of Austrian army and as Protestants enjoyed considerable religious liberties in turn.

We have preserved our language and national identity to this day and we even have elementary schools with Slovak teaching language in almost every town where Slovaks live in numbers in modern day Vojvodina. There is also one high school and one faculty with Slovak teaching language in Bačsky Petrovec.

But I do have relatives in Slovakia too. My sister and her husband moved to Bratislava six years ago, so I go to visit them when ever I can, but at least once a year.

By the way, that was excellent interview with Režňák. Many thanks for posting that link.


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## seesul (Apr 3, 2009)

Aha, thx for the explanation!
I´m often in Bratislava, at least once in a month...for a business trip as we have some customers there. It´s 2 hours away from here by car...


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## imalko (Apr 5, 2009)

Roman had kindly provided a link to a great interview with top scoring Slovak fighter pilot Ján Režňák. Interview is in Slovak language so I have translated most interesting parts for other members to be able to read it.

......

*After the war Czechoslovak communists were trying to justify participation of Slovak airmen in war in the East by saying that their air victories were made up, that they had evaded combat and sabotaged German aircraft.*

*Režňák:* That is simply not true. Germans had such sophisticated observation system, that if a dog fight occurred somewhere, they knew about it even before our return to the base. For every aircraft claimed we were obligated to write and sign a statement describing in detail a fight in question. It happened on more than one occasion, that while I was still in the air my air victory was already confirmed. In fact, I have achieved one kill even without a single shot fired. I have engaged in a dog fight above the clouds. Russian pilot tried to escape by diving into the clouds. He haven‘t saw the ground level and crashed. I was fallowing him. When I saw explosion I‘v started to poll-out just in time to save my life. I was credited for destruction of that aircraft, though.

*Have you ever met any pilot you have shoot down?*

*Režňák:* No, but I saw a group of around 30 shoot downed Soviet pilots at Krasnodar once. We were giving them food. They were very scared of being tortured or shoot, but we told them not to be, becouse it is only propaganda.

..............

*What was your relationship with German pilots?*

*Režňák:* We had get along nicely. Our Gruppenkommandeur was Dietrich Hrabak. He was a great man. Some five years ago I’v wrote to him if he remember one of our missions when we were escorting German bombers. That took some 15 minutes and afterwards I told my wingman Jozef Štauder that I will proceed on Freie Jagd. However he had some engine troubles so I went alone. I was on the Russian side of the frontline. We called Russian fighters „Indians“ and I was on alert if some of them should appear. Suddenly I noticed four dots in distance. They had noticed me too. I’ve told myself that one of them is surrelly going down. I was ready to fire when I have noticed that these were in fact Messerschmitts. They too had reckognized me as one of their own. Shortly after I have returned to base, a staff car came. Hrabak came out of it and I was expecting to be punished. Then I saw he was smiling. We shook hands and he congratulated me for my brave behaviour. I was happier becouse of that more then if I had shoot down 10 Russians.

.........

*After your return to Slovakia 13th squadron was criticized by the Germans for not attacking Allied bomber formations, but this was allegedly because SVZ command was saving planes for planned uprising.*

*Režňák:* We received unofficial orders to evade combat with Americans. There were hundreds of American fighters out there, you know. And there were only 8 of us in our squadron. If we had attacked Americans, that would be plain suicide.

*Eventually you did attacked them and it ended with a disaster.*

*Režňák:* I was already in my Bf 109G on that 26th of June and ready to take of, when my friend Zeleňák asked me if he can go instead. He even went to our commanding officer, who ordered me through the radio to let him to take my place. When they took off, I have seated to cockpit of one broken down Messerschmitt and listened the course of the battle through the radio. Our commanding officer Haluzický was with me asking me all the time what is happening. I knew it won’t end well becouse our fighters could not concentrate in time and their formation was scattered. I was listening with great anxiety. Haluzický wanted to abbort the mission but he didn’t had the authority to do so. Zeleňák was shoot down at Horna Streda. I saw three Lightnings chasing him. He had crash landed to the field and broke his back. After 10 years he died.

*Have you ever regreted that you were fighting against the USSR?*

*Režňák:* No, never. When we were there, we were living with families which respected and loved us even when we were fighting against their fathers and sons. I myself lived in house of a woman called Lyda and her husband was major in Red army. While I was there, she only benefited of it. She respected me for living in her house.

*You could have killed her husband...*

*Režňák:* She never said a word about it.


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## seesul (Apr 6, 2009)

Many thanks for the translation!
Sprichst Du auch Deutsch? If yes, here´s a very interesting interview with Günther Rall...very fresh.
Günther Rall über - Helden - Nachrichten - sueddeutsche.de


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## imalko (Apr 6, 2009)

seesul said:


> Sprichst Du auch Deutsch? If yes, here´s a very interesting interview with Günther Rall...very fresh.



Well, I do have limited knowledge of German language, but I'm afraid that it is beyond my ability to understand or translate any German text (including this one) without an extensive use of a dictionary.

Besides, this is little off-topic since Rall wasn't a Slovak pilot.  8)


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## Milos Sijacki (Apr 6, 2009)

Liked the interview with Režňák, always did wondered about Slovak pilots on the Russian front. Thanks for the info guys. 

Imalko, you live in Vojvodina? Where exactly? I'm in Novi Sad.


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## imalko (Apr 6, 2009)

I'm in Stara Pazova. You can stop by and visit me next time you go to Belgrade.


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## seesul (Apr 6, 2009)

imalko said:


> Well, I do have limited knowledge of German language, but I'm afraid that it is beyond my ability to understand or translate any German text (including this one) without an extensive use of a dictionary.
> 
> Besides, this is little off-topic since Rall wasn't a Slovak pilot.  8)



I know Günther is not Slovak but this interview is very interesting.
Well, I´ll post a new thread about it and let´s see if someone will try to translate it...I´d like to but really don´t have enough time...


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## Milos Sijacki (Apr 6, 2009)

When I visit Belgrade, I'll make sure to visit Stara Pazova.

Cheers


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## imalko (Apr 12, 2009)

To complete our story about Ján Režňák here is a short biography of this top scoring Slovak fighter pilot written by Jozef Bystrický and Peter Šumichrast and translated from Slovak language by imalko. 
(Note: I added some interesting details, which wasn’t part of the original text).

Ján Režňák, born on 14th April 1919 at Jablonica, was the most successfull Slovak fighter pilot of WW2 with 32 confirmed air victories. In 1938 he took flying lessons within the action „1000 new pilots...“ Member of the prewar Czechoslovak Air Force. In 1942 he completed training on Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters at Gröve in Dennmark. As a memeber of 13th squadron (Letka 13) he served two tours of duty on Eastern front in 1941 and 1942-43. During this time he flew combat sorties on Avia Bk.534 biplanes (in 1941) and Messerschmitts Bf 109E, F, G-2 and G-4 (in 1942-43). After his return from the front he became member of so called Readiness Flight (Hotovostný roj) - established in summer 1943 and equiped with 4 Bf 109E fighters for home defense dutyes. After the return of entire Letka 13 from the front and its reorganisation to the Readiness squadron for home defense (Pohotovostna letka), Režňák rejoined his old unit. In may 1944 Letka 13 was equiped with brand new Messerschmitts Bf 109G-6, which Režňák considered to be the best of all fighter aircrafts he flew during the war. Režňák didn’t took part in the ill-fated action of Slovak fighters on 26th June (see interview in one of previous posts for details). He also haven’t participated in Slovak national uprising but remained in regular Slovak army.
In the years 1945-1948 Režňák was a member of postwar Czechoslovak Air Force. In February 1948 he was discharged from the Army. In 1950 he was deprived of his rank of Rotmajster in reserve. On 1st January 1997 Minister of Defence of Slovak Republic exeptionaly promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant of Air Force in Reserve. Ján Režňák passed away on 19th September 2007 at the age of 88.

Here are some pictures: Režňák in the cockpit of Bk.534 in 1941 and in the cockpit of Bf 109G "Yellow 10" in the spring 1943.

Pictures from books "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944 Vol. 1 and 2".


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## imalko (Apr 12, 2009)

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-4, W.Nr. 19347, Yellow 9, is one of the best known machines of 13.(Slow)/JG 52. Ján Režňák shoot down 7 Soviet planes flying this aircraft.
The paint scheme on this aircraft was factory standard for that period, only upper engine cowling was painted overall with some darker paint (probably RLM 74) with irregular patches of lighter color (RLM 75?). Plane carried yellow fuselage band, lover engine cowling and lover wingtips indicating Eastern theatre of operations. Tip of the propeler spinner was painted with white-blue-red rings (Slovak national colors) - a recognition feature of 13.(Slowak)/JG 52.
Čatnik L.Dobrovodský later defected to the Soviets with this plane. According to some historians it was Anton Matušek who defected to the Red Army flying this machine.

Pictures and illustration from Htmodel Špecial No. 903 and No. 912, artists Václav Hochmuth, Jozef And’al and Tomáš Poruba.


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## imalko (Apr 12, 2009)

Ján Režňák (32 kills) and Izidor Kovárik (28 kills) were two top scoring Slovak fighter pilots and only ones decorated with high German medal *Deutsches Kreuz in Gold*, which was presented to them by Gen.Lt. Ludwig Keiper (chief of Luftwaffemission in Slowakei) on 25th April 1944. 

On the picture far bellow: Kovárik (left), Keiper (middle) and Režňák (right).

Pictures from book "Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch" published by Magnet Press Slovakia in 2004.


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## imalko (Apr 12, 2009)

... and the last picture: Aspirant MUDr Dubay (medical officer of Letka 13) reading an article about Režňák (with Režňák's photo on the cover) in Army newspaper "Vzdušna flota Juhovychod" (Luftflotte Sudost) at airfield Anapa. Behind him stands Messerschmitt Bf 109G "Yellow 8". Photo taken at Anapa in June 1943.

Picture from HTmodel Špecial No. 912


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## Njaco (Apr 12, 2009)

Great stuff imalko! I love reading about other heroes from other air forces.

I may do his 'Gelb 9' for the Eastern Front Group Build when we get there.

Thanks!

Do you have any other pics of his plane? It looks like that 'Gelb 8' had a yellow tailfin - maybe his did too?


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## imalko (Apr 12, 2009)

Hi Njaco!

I have found only one more picture of Režňák's "Yellow 9". If I find some more I will post them as well.

According to my sources Slovak Bf 109G's didn't have yellow rudders. So, this last picture may be deceptive and rudder of "Yellow 8" just appear to be yellow becouse of the angle of light in the photo.

There were yellow rudders of some Slovak Emils however...

As before, picture is from HTmodel Špecial No. 912.


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## Njaco (Apr 12, 2009)

> ...just appear to be yellow becouse of the angle of light in the photo.



I was thinking that also. Thanks for the info!


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## imalko (Apr 16, 2009)

Written by Jozef Bystrický and Peter Šumichrast
Translated by imalko

Continuing with biographies of leading Slovak pilots here is a life story of Major Ondrej Ďumbala, who wasn’t an ace by number of air victories achieved (he shoot down only one Soviet fighter plane), but who as the first commander of 13th squadron on Eastern front deserves a mention. He was distinguished officer, great pilot and leader loved by his men. He served his country with honor, joined Slovak National Uprising and ended his life tragically at Mauthausen Concentration camp

Ondrej Ďumbala, born on 25th November 1912, was a first commander of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 on the Eastern front. In prewar Czechoslovak army he finished School for officers of Infantry in Reserve (in 1934), Military Academy at Hranice na Morave (in 1936) and became qualified fighter pilot. At that time he served in Letka 37 Leteckeho pluku 3 (37th fighter squadron 3rd aviation regiment). After the creation of indenpendent Slovak State (fallowing the dissolution of Czechoslovakia after Munich Agreement) in March 1939 he became commander of Letka 37.(Note: New army of independent Slovakia at first retained all aviation units in their original prewar designation, and only some time later units were reorganised and renamed).

As a commander of new Letka 13, Ďumbala completed training in Germany at flight fighter school „Sclessheim A Schulle Klagenfurt“ in period January-March 1940. He also completed training on Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters with group of selected Slovak pilots at Gröve in Dennmark in period February-July 1942. He participated in defense of Slovakia from Hungarian agression in spring of 1939, then in attack on Poland in September 1939 and finally in two tours of duty on the Eastern front in 1941 and 1942-1943. In January 1943 he shoot down one Soviet fighter plane. After return from the Eastern front he was in turn appointed to several command duties. He was decorated with many Slovak medals and decorations and with Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class as well.

Ďumbala joined National Uprising in fall 1944 where he was appointed deputy commander of Flight Group of 1st Czechoslovak Army in Slovakia. After Germans suppressed the Uprising, he joined Partisan movement but was arrested by the Gestapo at town Hybe under unknown circumstances. He was imprisoned at Liptovsky Mikulaš, Ružomberok and Bratislava. After that probably send to Mauthausen Concentration camp. He was officially declared dead on 28th March 1945.

All pictures are from HTmodel Špecial No. 912.
Color profiles by artist Ing. Jozef Anďal.


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## imalko (Apr 16, 2009)

Ondrej Ďumbala, commander of 13th squadron, in cockpit of Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 “White 1“. On the wing stands K.Sojček, commander of Aviation Regiment. The photo was probably taken at Piešťany in late summer 1942, after return of 13th squadron personel from training in Germany and before departure to the Eastern front. 

First examples of Bf 109E fighters were delivered to SVZ in July 1942. Slovak Emills remained in German camouflage colors as they were delivered, but many planes showed traces of overpainting of earlier Luftwaffe tactical markings. Similary to the Luftwaffe in the Eastern theatre of operations, SVZ adopted as standard yellow reckognition markings on its planes in form of yellow fuselage band and yellow outboard underwing pannels. Some Emills had also a yellow ruder.


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## imalko (Apr 16, 2009)

Major Ďumbala in cockpit of Bf 109G-4 “Yellow 12“. Picture taken in July 1943. This aircraft carried standard camouflage of the period, with yellow fusselage band and underwing pannels and white-blue-red “rings“ on propeler sppiner as feature of 13.(Slow)/JG 52. Traces of overpainted earlier code letters were visible under yellow number 12 on the fuselage.

It is interesting to point out that Slovak pilots didn’t have “personal“ aircraft, but flew whatever aircraft was avalilable at that moment. This is main reason why even top scoring pilots never painted victory markings on aircrafts.


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## imalko (Apr 16, 2009)

And the last photo... Courier R.Kollár (left), chief machanik R.Nerád (middle) and commander Ondrej Ďumbala (right), with Bf 109G “Yellow 10“ in the backround. Photo was taken at Anapa in April 1943.


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## imalko (Apr 17, 2009)

After 13.(Slow)/JG 52 was reequipped with Bf 109G fighters, number of air victories achieved by pilots of Slovak Staffel rose rapidly and 50th air victory for this unit was achieved by Lt. Ján Gerthofer on 21st March 1943. On this occasion Slovak fighters received many compliments. Among others, leader of 13th squadron Ondrej Ďumbala received a telegram from Goering:

_"I was informed that fighter squadron under your leadership achieved 50 air victories in short period of time in common combat against bolshevik enemy. This great success of brave Slovak fighters, who proved themselves in harsh winter battles on southern sector of Eastern front, brings me great joy. You and all members of your Staffel have my gratitude and my personal acknowledgment, with wishes for further soldiers luck."
Hermann Goering
Reichsmarschall of Great German Reich​_
Here is a copy of this telegram as printed in book "Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch" published by Magnet Press, Slovakia in 2004:


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## imalko (May 14, 2009)

*Text from Osprey’s “Slovakian And Bulgarian Aces of WW2“*

After a while here’s an update to the history of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 with biography of Izidor Kovárik, second ranking ace of Letka 13, who fought gallantly on the eastern front and destroyed 28 Soviet aricraft, only to die in his native country while flying a Go 145 biplane trainer...

Born on 29 March 1917 in Kopčany, Izidor Kovárik was the son of a carpenter. Joining the air force in the late 1930s, he and his great friend Režňák graduated from pilot training together. Assigned to 11th Squadron (Letka 11) in December 1939, Kovárik fought on the eastern front between June and September 1941, when his squadron supported operations against partisans in the Zhitomir and Ovruc areas. He flew eight combat sorties in B.534s during this time, strafing and bombing enemy forces.

Kovárik’s second tour in the East began in October 1942 with first front team of Letka 13, but flying Praga E.241 liaison aircraft rather than fighters. He eventually started flying Bf 109Es and soon claimed 28 confirmed kills in combat over Caucasus and Kuban - 9 LaGG-3s, 6 Yak-1s, 6 I-16s, two I-153s, two Il-2s and single MiG-3, DB-3 and Boston. His most successful day came on 29 May 1943 when he shot down four Yak-1s. Kovárik was shot down just once, on 14 March 1943, while returning with Režňák from a ground attack mission during which he had expended all his ammunition. Režňák attacked a formation of DB-3 bombers and shot down one. Kovárik also attacked the Soviet formation to draw some of the defensive fire away from Režňák, despite his magazines being empty. His Bf 109G-2 (WkNr 10473) was hit and he had to force land in a swamp near Akhtanizovskaya. The aircraft was destroyed but he escaped uninjured.

Kovárik recieved many decorations, inculding Slovakian Silver Medal of Military Victory Cross, the Silver Military merit Cross, The Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for Heroism, the German Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, Ehrenpokal and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. Like Režňák, he too was promoted to the rank of Zastavnik.

Upon returning to Slovakia, Kovárik served with the Readiness squadron (Pohotovostna letka) until April 1944, when he was transfered as an instructor to the Slovak Air Arms‘ flying school at Tri Duby. He died on 11 July 1944 shortly before the uprising when, during a training flight, the wing of his Gotha Go 145 biplane broke off for unexplained reasons and the aircraft crashed near Tri Duby. Both Kovárik and his student were killed.


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## imalko (May 14, 2009)

Pictures from Osprey’s “Slovakian And Bulgarian Aces of WW2“


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## imalko (May 14, 2009)

This Gustav displays standard Luftwaffe camouflage comprising RLM 74/75/76 with yellow fuselage bands and wingtips. Not being Slovak property - they were only ’leased‘ from the Luftwaffe - the aircraft had German national insignia. The only indication of the operator’s nationality were white-blue-red Slovak colors on the propeller spinner. Aside being flown by 28-kill ace Izidor Kovárik, “Yellow 1“ was also used by ace Vladimir Kriško. (Info from Osprey’s “Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2“)

Top profile from HT model Špecial Publication.

Profile of this same aircraft Bf 109G “Yellow 1“ was published also in „JAGDWAFFE Vol 4 Sect 3 - War in Russia (Nov 1942 - Dec 1943)“, but the artist made an mistake showing the coloured rings on the spinner in wrong order. It should be white-blue-red and not white-red-blue as depicted. Underside wingtips are also shown as not being painted yellow.


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## imalko (May 14, 2009)

Kovárik tested this aircraft Bf 109G-6 (WkNr 161735) soon after its delivery to Letka 13. It was however, most often flown by fellow Letka 13 pilot Karol Geletko (one kill), who eventually wrote it off in a landing accident at Spišska Nova Ves airfield on 14 June 1944. The fuselage shows distinct traces of the original ’Black 8‘, which was later covered with yellow band. (Info from Osprey’s “Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2“)

Profile from HTmodel Špecial.


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## Milos Sijacki (May 14, 2009)

Again, great post. Thanks for all of that info, always wanted to learn a bit more about the WW2 Slovak Air Force.


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## imalko (Jun 13, 2009)

Another update to the history of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 with biography of Ján Gerthofer, who began his career as a bomber pilot with Slovak Air Arms only to later became the third ranking Slovak fighter ace with 26 confirmed kills.

*Note: Fallowing text from Osprey’s “Slovakian And Bulgarian Aces of WW2“*

An experienced pre-war pilot, Ján Gerthofer was born on 27 May 1910 at Lab, near Malacky. He joined the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1927 and when independent Slovakia was proclaimed, he was serving with as a bomber pilot flying Marcel Bloch MB.200s and Fokker F IXs with Letka 83 Letecky pluk 5 (No 83 sqn Air Regiment 5) at Brno in Moravia.
Gerthofer subsequently served as a test pilot with the Technical Squadron (later Reserve Squadron) at Piešťany, before joining letka 11 (No 11 Sqn) to fly B.534s. His first tour of duty on the Eastern front came in the summer 1941 but he was flying as liaison pilot. In September 1941 he was promoted to poručnik (Leutnant).
After completing a Bf 109 course in Dennmark, Gerthofer became deputy Commanding officer of Letka 13 first front team and fought over the Caucasus, Kuban, Black Sea and Sea of Azov from October 1942 to July 1943. During this time he flew 175 combat sorties, engaged in 36 aerial combats and achieved 26 confirmed kills – 8 LaGG-3s, 5 Il-2s, four I-16, Four Yak-1s, two Airacobras and one Boston, Pe-2 and La-5. Five other claims remained unconfirmed. He was the first Slovak pilot to shoot down an Airacobra, which was regarded as a dangerous opponent.
Gerthofer received many Slovakian, German, Croatian and Romanian medals and decorations, including Iron Cross I and II Class and Ehrenpokal. Prior to returning to Slovakia he was promoted to nadporučnik (Oberleutnant).
On 31 August 1944 Gerthofer flew general Augustin Malar in a Junkers W 34 transport from Vajnory to Išla, where both men were taken prisoner by German troops who were disarming Malar’s units (Note: Slovak National Uprising was already underway at that time for it was launched on 29 August). Gerthofer was sent to Stalag XVIIA PoW camp in Kaisersteinbruch, Austria, and was not released until February 1945.
After the war, Gerthofer joined new Czechoslovak Air Force, serving as CO of Cvična letka (Training Squadron) at Spišska Nova Ves and later as station adjutant at Piešťany. In July 1947 he became civil transport pilot flying Douglas C-47 Skytrains. But in June 1951 he was discharged for political reasons, finding employment as manual worker, technical controller and planner. He died on 9 August 1991 at Podbrezova.


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## imalko (Jun 13, 2009)

Pictures from book "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944" Volume 2 published by Magnet Press Slovakia

*Picture 1*
The official leave-taking ceremony for the flying element of the first front team of Letka 13 took place in the presence of the SVZ Chief of Staff, Lt.Col Alojz Ballay at Piešťany in October 1942. The five pilots visible in this line up are, from left to right, stotnik Ondrej Ďumbala (13th Sqn CO), *poručnik Ján Gerthofer*, rotniks František Cyprich and Jozef Drlička and čatnik Jozef Švejdik. The latter two pilots were sunsequently killed in combat over Caucasus.

*Picture 2*
Poručnik Ján Gerthofer (middle) after return from another successful combat sortie in conversation with other pilots of Letka 13.


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## imalko (Jun 13, 2009)

Pictures from Osprey "Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2"


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## Lucky13 (Jun 13, 2009)

Great stuff mate!


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## imalko (Jun 13, 2009)

Displaying standard Luftwaffe camouflage, this aircraft also bears traces of the original over painted German radio codes (R?+??). With Letka 13 having more pilots than aircraft, this machine was flown by several different pilots including Gerthofer. Note that engine cowling is thickly spayed with light blotches and that there are no black fuselage crosses only white outlines. (Info from Osprey’s “Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2“)

Picture and both profiles from HTmodel Špecial.

*Note:* In several earlier books (including Osprey and HTmodel) in which profiles of Gerthofer’s Bf 109 “Yellow 11“ were published, this plane was always shown with grey spots on engine cowling (assumed they were in RLM 02 or some other light gray color). However, in most recent HTmodel Špecial publication this same machine is shown with yellow spots instead of gray which created some confusion regarding this aircraft since no explanation was provided for this newest assumption.


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 13, 2009)

I have to admit it's a pretty interesting camouflage pattern.


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## imalko (Jun 26, 2009)

26th June... Today is the 65th anniversary of the destruction of Letka 13.

On this day eight Slovak Bf 109Gs attacked the large formation of US bombers with fighter escort. They managed to shoot down one B-24 Liberator and to damage three more bombers but were themselves attacked by escorting fighters. Result was virtual destruction of Letka 13 at the hand of numerically superior American fighter escort. Three Slovak pilots were killed and one was severelly wounded. Letka 13 lost seven fighters Bf 109G-6 and only one Slovak Messerschmitt returned to its base undamaged.

This air battle is described in detail in book "Slovenske letectvo 1944-45" Volume 3. Although this event was already mentioned in several earlier posts, as a conclusion of this thread I intend eventually to post this description, but as the text is rather extensive much editing is needed along with the translation. This is quite time consuming work so don't know when will be finished. However, before that there is still a lot of materials to be posted covering activity of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 on the Eastern front and home defense as well as biographies of leading pilots of this unit. So, if you are interested in history of Letka 13 you should know there is still much to fallow.

In this post I only wish to pay tribute to all those, Slovak and American, who fought and died doing their duty on this day 65 years ago.


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## imalko (Jul 12, 2009)

Born on 16 March 1920 at Hlohovci, Jozef Jančovič achieved total number of 9 comfirmed air victories in air combat on Eastern front. He started his military career in 1938 in pre war Czechoslovak Air Force, only to finish pilot training as a member of new Slovak Air Arms in November 1939. As a member of Letka 11 (11th fighter squadron) he saw action flying Avia B.534 byplanes in his first tour of duty in Russia from 22 June to 1 August 1941. Selected to the first group of Slovak pilots for advanced fighter training on Messerschmitt Bf 109s, he spent three months (25 April- 6 July 1942) in Luftwaffe training center in Dennmark. Upon completion of training course he was assigned as fighter pilot to Letka 13 and on 27 October 1942 departured once again to the Eastern front for his second tour of duty.
Čatnik Jančovič proved himself as an aggressive fighter pilot, never avoiding hardest combat sorties no matter the odds. After scoring 9 confirmed kills, he was mortally wounded during an engagement with LaGG-3s over the Sea of Azov on 29 march 1943. He crash-landed his aircraft, Bf 109G-2 (W.Nr. 14380), and died the next day in German field hospital in Zaporoshskaya. Jančovič was the last of four pilots of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 who were killed in combat over Caucasus and Kuban.


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## imalko (Jul 12, 2009)

Such important event as was departure of the 1st Front Team of Letka 13 to the USSR was well documented by photographs. On this picture is shown official farewell with pilots at Piešťany airfield. Some time later, in December 1942, a reportage on this event was published in magazine „Slovenské Krídla“ No.4 (Slovak Wings). On the picture: Chieff of Staff of Air Arms Command (VVZ - Veliteľstvo Vzdušních Zbraní) A. Ballay is adressing the pilots. Those visible on picture are from left hand - O.Ďumbala, J.Gerthofer, F.Cyprich, J.Drlička, J.Švedík, J.Setvák, Š.Martiš, F.Brezina, *Jozef Jančovič*, I.Kovárik and squadron’s chieff machanic R.Nerad. In the background stand two of seven Messerschmitt Bf 109Es originally on strength with Letka 13. 

Source: HTmodel Special No. 912 "Letka 13 v obrazoch 1940-1944", Photo from Ján Stanislav Collection


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## imalko (Jul 12, 2009)

Already battle-veary by their previous Luftwaffe service, Bf 109Es with which Slovak pilots flew to the Eastern front in 1942 were objectively obsolete at that time and quickly loosing their combat effectivnes. Situation was solved with Germans loaning Bf 109F-4s and later Bf 109Gs to Slovak squadron. While there is many photos of Slovak Gustavs, this is not the case with Bf 109Fs in service with Letka 13, although this unit operated no less then 16 planes of this type which W.Nr. are known. 
This rare photo (indeed only known existing photo of Slovak Friedrich), taken at Krasnodar on 28 January 1943, shows čatnik Jozef Jančovič pointing out the severe combat damage inflicted on his Bf 109F. He had just returned from mission with a piece of I-16 wing embeded in his aircraft as a result of a head-on encounter which ended with the Soviet pilot trying to ram Slovak fighter. Tactic of raming enemy planes, sometimes used by Soviet pilots, was called "Taran". Judging by the amblem beneath the cockpit this Messerschmitt Bf 109F was once on stregth of 8./JG 3.

Source: HTmodel Special No.912 "Letka 13 v obrazoch 1940-1944", Photo Stanislav Bursa Collection


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## Njaco (Jul 12, 2009)

Great posts, imalko!

 to all those flying the skies of WWII for their country.


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 12, 2009)

Excellent posts imalko, great information!


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## imalko (Aug 1, 2009)

When one goes through the books covering history of Letka 13 and its deployment on Eastern front, one finds that there are many pictures of Bf 109Gs flown by Slovak pilots, but pictures of Slovak Bf 109Fs are rare to none existent. Even when Slovak Bf 109Es are concerned there are many pictures covering departure of Slovak Emils to the East and their use in home defense after return to Slovakia, but none (or maybe very few) while serving in Russia. This can be explained by simple look at the list of bases of Slovak squadron (and times spend there) while stationed on the Eastern front (map with four main bases of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 in southern USSR can be seen in attachment):

Maykop (4 November - 31 December 1942)
Krasnodar (January 1943)
Slavyanskaya (31 January - 17 February 1943) 
Kerch (17 February - 19 March) 
Taman (19 March - 1 April)
Anapa (1 April - 18 September) 
Taman ( 18 September - 12 October)
Bagerovo (12-28 October 1943)

The use of Bf 109Es by Slovak pilots on Eastern front was quite short (effectively only one and a half month - November/December 1942). First Bf 109Fs were loaned to Letka 13 in December 1942 and the last examples were handed back to the Luftwaffe on 5 March 1943. The use of Bf 109Fs with Letka 13 coincided with negative developments (for the Axis) on Eastern front. In conditions of chaotic retreat, frequently changing the base of operations due to the Red Army advance and facing growing Soviet air superiority, there simply wasn’t opportunity, time or will to take photograps of aircraft. On the other hand, through entire spring and summer of 1943 (April-September 1943) Letka 13 operated from Anapa air base and majority of pictures which can now be seen in books are from this period. However, this doesn’t mean that Slovak pilots weren’t engaged in heavy aerial fighting while operating from Anapa. They have participated in massive aerial battle over Kuban, achieving great success and for a while, in late summer 1943, Letka 13 was, in fact, the only Jagdstaffel still operating from Kuban bridgehead in time when all other German fighter units were already transffered to the Crimea.


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## vikingBerserker (Aug 1, 2009)

This is an area where I am weak at when it comes to WW2, this is some really great stuff!


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## imalko (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks VB! Glad you find this thread interesting. That was my intention in the first place - to share this very interesting, but not widely known subject (which also fascinates me very much) with everyone who would like to know more about it. I can recommend few books on history of Letka 13, but I'm afraid that most of these are available only in Slovak language, which unfortunately makes them unreadable for English speaking people.
Here are some books which covers this topic: 

- Slovenske letectvo 1941-1945 Volumes 1-3 (in Slovak language only)
- Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch (in Slovak language only) 
*- HTmodel special No. 912: Letka 13 - 13(Slow)/JG 52 v obrazoch 1940-1944* (pictorial history of Letka 13 with great photos and aircraft profiles, written in Slovak language with summary and picture captions in English)
- Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 58 - Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2 (written in English of course)

Folowing books cover the use of Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Slovak Air Arm, with mentions of Letka 13 (all written in Slovak language but with great photos and aircraft profiles):

- HTmodel special No.902 - Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 slovenskych Vzdušnych zbrani 1944
- HTmodel special No.903 - Messerschmitt Bf 109F, G-2 a G-4 slovenskych pilotov 1942-1943
- HTmodel special No.907 - Messerschmitt Bf 109B, D a E slovenskych pilotov 1942-1944

Letka 13 was also mentioned (with very short history of the unit) in book JAGDWAFFE Vol 4 Sect 3 - War in Russia (Nov 1942 - Dec 1943).


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## imalko (Aug 1, 2009)

Two top scoring Slovak fighter pilots, Ján Režňák and Izidor Kovárik, were already mentioned earlier in this thread, but here is also a video clip of this two aces receiving Deutches Kreuz in Gold, the highest German medal awarded to any Slovak servicemen in World War Two.


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## vikingBerserker (Aug 1, 2009)

Great, I appreciate the book recommendations!


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## imalko (Oct 18, 2009)

After a while here’s an update to the thread with life story of František Brezina, another Slovak ace and member of 13(Slow.)/JG 52. With 14 aerial victories to his credit Brezina was fourth most successful Slovak fighter pilot of World War Two.

František Brezina was born at Dolne Jatovo on 28th August 1918. He started pilot training in 1937 at Prostejovo and finished training by 1939 earning his “wings“. As of 1st November 1940 he served as fighter pilot with Slovak Air Arms. As a member of Letka 13 he served two tours of duty on the eastern front: in 1941 (from 3rd of July to 15th August) and in 1942/43 (27th October 1942 till 14th July 1943). He was also a member of first group of Slovak pilots that completed advanced fighter training on Bf 109s in occupied Dennmark in 1942. During his service in the East Brezina managed to shot down total number of 14 Soviet aircraft. Upon his return from the front Brezina served as a member of Readiness Flight and 13th Readiness Squadron (Pohotovostna letka 13) in home defense duties. On 15th April 1944 he was transferred to the Flight School as an instructor. Taking part in the uprising in fall of 1944, Brezina also remained active in postwar Czechoslovak Air Force eventually achieving the rank of Flight Leutenant. He was discharged from the Army to the reserve in 1952.

One truly remarkable event marked flight career of František Brezina. It ocurred on 25th July 1941 during Brezina’s first tour of duty on the Eastern front, when his unit - Letka 13 - was still operating Avia B.534 biplane fighters. On the morning of that day three Slovak Avias were giving an escort to the German Hs 126 recconnaisance plane over the enemy held territory. Due to the strong Soviet antiaircraft fire from the ground Brezina’s plane was damaged forcing pilot to make emergency landing 16 km behind enemy lines and in the proximity of one Soviet infantry unit. Right after the landing Slovak pilot sought cover as he came under fire of Soviet infantrymen. His wingman, čtk. Martiš, observed this and came to his rescue. After firing his machineguns on the enemy soldiers he landed near of the Brezina’s damaged plane. Brezina climbed onto the wing of the biplane and they took off immediatelly still under enemy fire. During the flight Brezina was holding to the wing struts firmly with his hands, but at one moment his legs slipped from the wing leaving him hanging from the wing. Eventually he managed to climb onto the wing again, but exposed to the cold and airflow he was strugling to keep consciousness. Eventually they landed safely at Tulčin.
For this remarkable act in history of aerial warfare Štefan Martiš was decorated with Medal for Heroism 2nd Class and Brezina was decorated with Medal for Heroism 3rd Class. Both men were also decorated with German Iron Cross 2nd Class.

*Pictures:*

*Picture 1. *
Pair of Slovak Avia B.534 fighters of Letka 13 during aerial patrol in Jarmolice area in July 1941.
*Pictures 2 and 3.*
Reconstruction of Brezina’s rescue.
*Picture 4.*
German instructors and Slovak pilots at Grove training center(Dennmark) in 1942. From left to the right: J.Jakab, German instructors Marxen and Federle, J.Drlička, *František Brezina* and F.Cyprich

*Source: *“Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch“ and “Slovenske letectvo Vol 1“ published by MagnetPress Slovakia
*Pictures and profiles* also from HTmodel Special No. 912 “Letka 13 v obrazoch 1940-1944“


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## imalko (Oct 18, 2009)

*Messerschmitt Bf 109G-4/R6 (CU+PQ) flown by rotnik Brezina, Anapa, Kuban, April 1943*

This Kanonenboot (gunboat) wears standard camouflage, RLM 74/75/76 with blotches of RLM02 on the fuselage and yellow theatre markings. Noteworthy is the fact that its radio codes (CU+PQ) have not been removed from fuselage and wing undersurfaces. František Brezina claimed destruction of a Soviet Airacobra on 16 April 1943 whilst flying this machine, although the victory was never officially confirmed.


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## imalko (Oct 18, 2009)

*Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 (White 1) flown by zastavnik Brezina, Vajnory, Slovakia, September 1943*

Worn out Emils performed front line air defense tasks in Slovakia well into 1944, this particular aircraft belonging to a readiness unit which was later raised to squadron strength. It was then assigned to the air defense of the Slovak capital and the industrial plants in the Povazi Valley. "White 1" was flown by numerous pilots during this period, including 14-kill eastern front ace František Brezina. The aircraft displays standard camouflage for this time period, consisting of RLM74/75/76 as well as the mandatory yellow wingtips and fuselage band.


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## drgondog (Oct 18, 2009)

Imalko - thanks for sharing this.


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## imalko (Jan 24, 2010)

*1.* *Ondrej Ďumbala* (1st CO of Letka 13 in USSR, 1 aerial victory, killed at Mauthauzen on 28 March 1945)
*2.* *Ján Roža* 
*3.* *Viliam Grúň*
*4. **Emil Trchala*
*5.* *Ján Setvák* (defected to USSR on 28 August 1944)
*6.* *Michal Danác*
*7.* *Ján Režňák* (leading Slovak ace with 32 confirmed aerial victories)
*8.* *Jozef Štauder* (12 aerial victories)
*9.* *Ján Nemec*
*10.* *Ladislav Fitz-Vtáčnik*
*11.* *Peter Horváth*
*12.* *Ján Očenáš*
*13.* *Jozef Kolembus*
*14.* *František Brezina *(14 aerial victories)
*15.* *Štefan Martiš* (5 aerial victories, retired from AF due to health problems on 15 July 1944)
*16.* *Vojtech Kaliský*
*17.* *Ľudovít Šramko*
*18.* *Jozef Švejdík* (1 aerial victory, KIA on 31 January 1943 at Kropotkin in Soviet Union)
*19.* *Ľudovít Zaťko*
*20.* *Ladislav Hodro*
*21.* *Ján Chupek*
*22.* *Vladimír Kriško* (9 air victories in USSR, CO of Letka 13 in home defense 1943/44)
*23.* *Ján Gerthofer* (26 confirmed air victories, POW on 31 August 1944)
*24.* *František Cyprich* (12 kills of Soviet planes on Eastern front and 2.5 kills of German planes during National Uprising in 1944)
*25.* *Jozef Drlička* (1 aerial victory, KIA on 2 January 1943)
*26.* *Jozef Jančovič* (9 confirmed air victories, KIA on 31 March 1943)
*27.* *Jozef Vincúr* (KIA on 17 January 1943 south of Krasnodar, shoot down by German flak by mistake)
*28.* *Pavel Zeleňák* (12 air victories, shot down by P-38s and wounded on 26 June 1944 at Horna Streda, Slovakia)
*29.* *Izidor Kovárik* (28 air victories, killed in air accident on 11 July 1944)
*30.* *Jozef Páleníček* (second CO of Letka 13 on Eastern front, defected to the Red Army on 31 August 1944)
*31.* *Juraj Puškár* (9 confirmed kills in the East, KIA on 26 June 1944 over western Slovakia)
*32.* *František Hanovec* (7 confirmed kills - 1 Polish, 5 Soviet and 1 German plane, joined the Uprising, POW on 17 November 1944)
*33.* *František Melichač* (1 confirmed air victory)
*34.* *Augustín Kubovič* (1 kill, member of the insurgent Combined squadron, killed in air accident on 25 October 1944)
*35.* *Gustav Lang* (3 confirmed kills - 2 in the East and one B-24 Liberator which he shoot down over western Slovakia on 26 June 1944, killed during this same engagement by US escort fighters)
*36.* *Štefan Jambor* (KIA over western Slovakia on 26 June 1944)
*37.* *Anton Matúšek* (12 air victories, defected to the Soviets on 9 September 1943)
*38.* *Rudolf Božík* (achieved 8 kills in the East and 2,5 kills of German planes as a member of insurgent Combined Squadron)
*39.* *Alexander Gerič* (9 kills, defected to the Soviets on 11 September 1943, killed in air accident in August 1944)
*40.* *Ľudovít Dobrovodský* (defected on 9 September 1943, as a member of 1st Czechoslovak Fighter Wing in USSR he shoot down 1 german plane on 18 October 1944)
*41. Karol Geletko *(1 confirmed kill, defected to the Soviets on 31 August 1944)
*42. Štefan Ocvirk* (5 air victories)
*43. Rudolf Palatický* (6 kills on the Eastern front, defected to the Soviets on 31 August 1944)
*44. Jozef Jakáb
45. Ondrej Šingliar*
*46. Michal Ilovský*

*Source of info:* "Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch" by Jozef Bystricky and Peter Šumichrast
*Pictures* from HTmodel Special Letka 13 - 13(Slow)/JG 52 in pictures 1940-1944


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## imalko (Jun 27, 2010)

*Anton Matúšek - short biography*

Born on 10th May 1919 at Dolný Hričov and trained as pilot with _Cvičná letka leteckého pluku Piešťany_ (Training Squadron of Flight Regiment 'Piešťany') in 1939, he was assigned to _Letka 39_ (later to be renamed as _Letka 11_). Veteran of Polish campaign, Matúšek also served three tours of duty on the Eastern front; from June-August 1941, June-October 1942 and June-September 1943. As a member of second flight team of _Letka 13_ (13.(Slow)/JG 52) he was credited with 12 confirmed kills. On 9th September 1943 he defected to the Soviets flying a Bf 109G-4, W.Nr. 19347, 'Yellow 9'. 
In December 1943 Matúšek joined the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in USSR and on 1st May 1944 he became a member of 1st Czechoslovak Fighter Wing in USSR (fighter unit of new Czechoslovak Air Force the core of which was provided by experienced Czech pilots previously serving with the RAF). Equipped with Soviet La-5FNs, the wing took part in the Slovak National Uprising in September-October 1944. The unit’s experienced pilots quickly managed to achieve temporary air superiority over insurgent territory, destroying 13 German aircraft without a single loss. Matúšek himself didn’t achieve any victories during the Uprising however and when Uprising was suppressed the unit was withdrawn to Soviet held territory. During a withdrawal on 25th October Matúšek was shot down by flak. Crash-landing near Branisko he joined partisan forces and managed to return to his unit only several months later.
Since 24th February 1945, Matúšek was a member of 2nd Czechoslovak Fighter Wing of 1st Czechoslovak Mixed Air Division in USSR. He continued to serve in postwar Air Force but was dismissed from the Army in 1948 out of disciplinary reasons. In 1950 he was deprived of rank of Flight Lieutenant. In 1960 his rank was reinstated and later he was promoted to Air Force Major in reserve.

*Picture 1.*
When flying over Eastern front 12-victory ace Anton Matúšek flew an aircraft displaying black crosses but returned to his native country at the control of a machine with red stars. After the war he served with the newly-formed Czechoslovak Air force until 1948.
*Picture 2.*
Probably the best know machine of 13.(Slow)/JG 52 was Messerchmitt Bf 109G-4, W.Nr. 19347, 'Yellow 9'. Formerly used by leading Slovak ace Ján Režňák who achieved 7 of his 32 confirmed kills with this aircraft, it was flown over to the Soviets by Anton Matúšek on 9 September 1943. The final fate of this aircraft is unknown.
*Picture 3.*
Matúšek later flew Lavochkin La-5FNs with the 1st Czechoslovak Fighter Wing participating in Slovak National Uprising. His Lavochka was painted in standard Soviet late-war camouflage with two-grey upper surfaces and light blue undersides. The large white number '62' with black outline represented the two digits of the factory serial number.
*Picture 4*
Posing with Bf 109G-4/R6 Kanonenboot at Anapa in summer 1943 are, from left to right, čatnik Alexander Gerič and rotniks Gustav Kubovič, Anton Matúšek and František Melicháč. Matúšek and Gerič were both aces with 12 and 9 victories respectively, and in September 1943 they flew their Gustavs over to the Soviets.

*Source: *Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch and Osprey Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of WW2.


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## trchala (Dec 14, 2010)

Imalko, I am very pleased to read your post regaring Letka 13. My father is Emil Trchala and would very much appreciate any information you may have regarding his service with Letka 13.

Regards
Emil Jr.


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## Njaco (Dec 15, 2010)

Welcome to the forum Emil Jr. Hope your enjoy your stay.


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## imalko (Dec 15, 2010)

trchala said:


> Imalko, I am very pleased to read your post regaring Letka 13. My father is Emil Trchala and would very much appreciate any information you may have regarding his service with Letka 13.
> 
> Regards
> Emil Jr.



Ahoj Emil!
Hello and welcome to the forum. Glad you like this thread. I made a quick search through some of my books and other materials about this subject and sorry to say haven't found much about Emil Trchala. However, here's what I did found... 

In HTmodel Špecial No.912 "Letka 13 - 13.(Slow)/JG 52 v obrazoch 1940-1944" he is listed as one of first members of Letka 13 joining the unit upon its formation in January 1940. At that time Letka 13 was equipped with Avia B.534 biplane fighters. Apparently he didn't took part in unit's first tour of duty on the Eastern front in 1941 and he definitely wasn't there in 1942/43 as he was transferred to another duty by that time.

Clues about this can be found in book "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944 Volume 1" by Juraj Rajninec. In October 1940 Flight School of Slovak Air Arms was moved from Piešťany to Trečianske Biskupice. One of the most experienced pilots who was transferred there to serve as a flight instructor was čatnik Emil Trchala. He was still carrying out this duty in 1942 as can be seen by the first picture I'm posting in the attachment which shows flight instructors and their pupils from Fighter Course at Trečianske Biskupice in 1942.

During his time at Trečianske Biskupice in 1941/42 Trchala also joined a three-member aerobatic team. The team leader was stotnik Julius Trnka (CO of Cvična letka - Training squadron) and third member was čatnik Jozef Ondris. They flew colorfully painted Avia Ba.122 biplanes. The profile in the attachment shows the machine of team leader J.Trnka. The other two aircraft were identical apart from the code letters in black "S-2" and "S-3" respectively. (Picture and color profile from: "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944 Volume 1" by Juraj Rajninec.)

This is all I could find about Emil Trchala on short notice. Will look into it further and if I find any more info I'll post it here.
Regards
Igor


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## trchala (Dec 15, 2010)

I thank you very mush imalco. I remember his stories about the aerobatic team and the trouble they used to get into. Also a lot of stories regarding his flight instructor experiences. Again I thank you for this information.

Emil Jr.


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 16, 2010)

Very cool, and welcome aboard Emil Jr.


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## seesul (Dec 20, 2010)

trchala said:


> Imalko, I am very pleased to read your post regaring Letka 13. My father is Emil Trchala and would very much appreciate any information you may have regarding his service with Letka 13.
> 
> Regards
> Emil Jr.



Mr. Trchala,

may I ask you where were you born and where do you live today? Greeting from Zlin, Czech Republic.
And do you have this book? *"Letka 13 v dokumentoch a obrazoch" by Jozef Bystricky and Peter Šumichrast*, mentioned also by Imalko. That´s a nice source of information on Slovak pilots serving in Luftwaffe during WW2.


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## ivanotter (Jan 6, 2011)

This was very very interesting reading. This was by and large unknown to me.

Thanks for sharing this very interesting and well researched piece of important history with us.

Yours,

Ivan


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## imalko (Jan 8, 2011)

Thank you for your comments and for taking interest.


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## imalko (Jan 8, 2011)

*PART 1*
With ever increasing activity of Allied Air Forces over Europe in 1943 the need arose to secure air defense of Slovakia, especially industrial areas around capital city of Bratislava and major weapons factories in Považie region (Dubnica nad Váhom, Považská Bystrica). To meet this goal a Readiness Flight (_Hotovostný roj_) was formed on 20th August 1943. The unit was based at airfield Vajnory near Bratislava, its flying personnel consisting of experienced pilots - zastavniks František Cyprich (CO), Izidor Kovárik, Ján Režňák, František Brezina, Pavel Zeleňák and Jozef Štauder - all of them former members of first front team of _Letka 13_ recently returned from Russia. _Hotovostný roj_ was equipped with four Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters (W.Nr. 6442, 3317, 972, 4870). Despite their obsolescence at this late stage of the war, these were still the best and most modern fighter aircraft available to Slovak Air Arms at that time. The unit also had three biplane aircraft - Praga E-39.32 for courier duties and Letov Š-328.109 and Avia B-534.404 which were to be used for flights related to training of anti aircraft gunners in defense of Bratislava. 

During the fall of 1943 the pilots of _Hotovostný roj_ flew interception missions, but without actually engaging the enemy because Allied bomber formations weren’t entering Slovakia airspace. Typical of these missions occurred for example on 1st October. At 2.16PM on this day, Slovak observation service detected two Allied bomber formations approaching Bratislava fallowing the flow of Danube river. At 2.46PM anti aircraft batteries opened fire, while fighters of _Hotovostný roj_ scrambled for interception. However, Allied formations changed course to south and southwest never entering the airspace over Bratislava. On one another occasion, on 2nd November 1943, four Slovakian Bf 109Es were patrolling in Bratislava airspace during a heavy air raid on Meserschmitt factories at Wiener Neustadt in neighboring Austria. During this time, interception missions were also supplemented by an intensive training program.

Acknowledging the escalation of air war in the vicinity of Slovakian borders, Air Arms Command decided to further strengthen the defense of Bratislava by replacing _Hotovostný roj_ with one full strength squadron - _Letka 13_. The date which can be considered as the beginning of service of _Letka 13_ in home defense is 31st January 1944. The unit now numbered 18 pilots (mostly eastern front veterans) and 73 members of ground personnel, but the equipment was still inadequate and obsolescent - eleven Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and three biplane fighters Avia B-534! By this time Allied bombers started occasionally passing through Slovakian airspace on their way to targets in Germany and Silesia. However, not a single bomb was dropped on Slovakian territory, so pilots of _Letka 13_ regularly only shadowed Allied formations from above but didn’t attack them. Considering their numerical and qualitative inferiority, it is only fortunate for Slovakian pilots they didn’t have to engage Allied formations. However, that was about to change with tragic consequences. 

In the meantime, interesting incident occurred on 13th April 1944. Two Slovakian Bf 109Es, with pilots R.Hanovec and R.Božík at the controls, scrambled to intercept lone unidentified enemy aircraft near the southern Slovakian border. Upon making a visual contact Slovakian pilots identified this aircraft as German (and thus "friendly") aircraft - twin engined Bf 110G-2 (as it was later established the Zerstörer was from II/ZG 1 based at Welse). As they were about to disengage and return home, German rear gunner opened fire on them. Božík made evasive actions, dived and then attacked from bellow opening fire. Bf 110 received hits to the fuselage which killed the pilot, while the gunner saved himself by parachute. Upon their return to base, Božík and Hanovec conspired to hide the truth and reported the shooting down of an "four engined American bomber". On the other hand the surviving German gunner claimed they were shot down by an American P-51 Mustang, stating that "enemy American fighter had a square-edged wingtips". Obviously a case of mistaken identity, since Bf 109E (still in service with Slovak Air Arms in 1944) had square-edged wingtips.

*Picture 1:* Airfield Vajnory in late summer 1943. Four Slovakian Messerschmitt Bf 109Es of _Hotovostný roj_.
*Picture 2:* Zastavnik František Brezina in front of Bf 109E "White 1" at Vajnory airfield in fall 1943.
*Picture 3:* Veteran of Eastern front with _Letka 13_ zastavnik Rudolf Božík rejoined his old unit in winter of 1944 when _Letka 13_ was redeployed in home defense role. He was involved in an incident of shooting down of German Bf 110G on 13th April 1944.
*Picture 4 5:* Two aerial shots of Bf 109Es of _Hotovostný roj_. For the lack of more modern fighters, the obsolescent Emils were used by Slovak Air Arms as front line fighters well into the 1944.
*Picture 6:* Members of ground personnel of _Hotovostný roj_ with Bf 109E "White 7" in the background. The picture was taken in late summer 1943 at Vajnory.
*Picture 7:* Typical appearance of Slovak Emils with weary camouflage and traces of extensive over painting of earlier tactical markings on the fuselage and German swastika on the tailfin.


Source: "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1944" Volume 2 and HTmodel Special


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## jana alexander (Mar 9, 2017)

trchala said:


> I thank you very mush imalco. I remember his stories about the aerobatic team and the trouble they used to get into. Also a lot of stories regarding his flight instructor experiences. Again I thank you for this information.
> 
> Emil Jr.




hello Emil 
My name Jana and I'm your dad's niece I'm your father's brother Ivan daughter
I was just doing a quick research on my phone and I have found this link very nice pics and stories. Just wanted to say hello I live in Florida with my family


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## Crimea_River (Mar 9, 2017)

Hello Jana. Your cousin Emil has not posted on this forum for quite a long time and may not see your post. I hope he does see it though and that he will make contact. Thanks for posting and be patient!


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## jana alexander (Mar 10, 2017)

jana alexander said:


> hello Emil
> My name Jana and I'm your dad's niece I'm your father's brother Ivan daughter
> I was just doing a quick research on my phone and I have found this link very nice pics and stories. Just wanted to say hello I live in Florida with my family




I have this pic


Crimea_River said:


> Hello Jana. Your cousin Emil has not posted on this forum for quite a long time and may not see your post. I hope he does see it though and that he will make contact. Thanks for posting and be patient!


ths


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## jana alexander (Mar 10, 2017)

Thank you very much I'll wait


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## AV77 (Jan 14, 2022)

Hello.
My name is Andrey. I am interested in the biography of Jan Rezhnyak. He is especially interested in his victories on the eastern front. Is there any information about his victories in April 1943?


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