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

[imalko]

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.

 

[imalko]

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.

 

[drgondog]

Imalko - thanks for sharing this.

 

[imalko]

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

 

[imalko]

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.

 

[trchala]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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

 

[imalko]

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

 

[trchala]

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.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool, and welcome aboard Emil Jr.

 

[seesul]

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.

 

[ivanotter]

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

 

[imalko]

Thank you for your comments and for taking interest.

 

[imalko]

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

 

[jana alexander]

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

 

[Crimea_River]

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!

 

[jana alexander]

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

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

 

[jana alexander]

Thank you very much I'll wait

 

[AV77]

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?