Siegfried Freytag

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Would like to complete this picture regarding Freytag's Bf109F with 57 victories on the rudder....no full pics that I know of....don't know if he flew White 1 or not....certainly flew an early G, White 2 at a later date, though.
 

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Funny ended up in Indochina?? A lot of German ex-military ended up down there fighting for the French.There was a book written about this involving a group of only SS men who were totally badass and feared by the Viet's for there ruthlessness.I always get the title of the book incorrect but for some reason I recall they were labeled the Death Brigade.The book is listed as fiction but a good % of the FFL was German??

here we go Devils Guard by George Elford
 
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I am trying to research Freytag myself for a collection of aircraft concerned with Malta. Could someone please share some of their refrence sources. I am having trouble finding articles and books with the pictures of Freytag that I keep hearing refrenced.

Also, thanks to Wayne for sharing the profile you made. You mentioned a 109G that he flew that was marked white 2. Would this had been during his time around Malta or did the 109Gs arrive at JG77 later than that? I know that I./JG77 Gruppenkommandeur Heinz Bar flew an 109F during this same period... or at least that is how the books portray his aircraft.

Lastly, as a general question, if I put white "1" on Freytag's Malta 109 would I be close to the mark? As Staffelkapitän of 1./JG77 white "1" should be correct according to the research I have done on Luftwaffe unit markings, but this was not always adheared to very strictly as seen in photos and profiles.

Thanks for the help!

Glenn
 
I am trying to research Freytag myself for a collection of aircraft concerned with Malta. Could someone please share some of their refrence sources. I am having trouble finding articles and books with the pictures of Freytag that I keep hearing refrenced.

Also, thanks to Wayne for sharing the profile you made. You mentioned a 109G that he flew that was marked white 2. Would this had been during his time around Malta or did the 109Gs arrive at JG77 later than that? I know that I./JG77 Gruppenkommandeur Heinz Bar flew an 109F during this same period... or at least that is how the books portray his aircraft.

Lastly, as a general question, if I put white "1" on Freytag's Malta 109 would I be close to the mark? As Staffelkapitän of 1./JG77 white "1" should be correct according to the research I have done on Luftwaffe unit markings, but this was not always adheared to very strictly as seen in photos and profiles.

Thanks for the help!

Glenn

Will check further...

here is White 2, with Freytag at the controls...it is a G series most likely a G-2 and flown in the MTO, White 1 'should' be correct, but this is not always the case.

Source unknown, provided to me by a friend.
 

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Hey Wayne!

Thanks for sharing the photo you have with me. This gives me a good idea what to be looking for.

I am working on a couple of simple profiles that I want to post to give everyone an idea of what I am thinking of for markings for Freytag's 109 on Malta. I will also include the 109G White 2 just to hash over the general ideas. I want to get imput form those who know more about Freytag than I do.

On another note, the emblem seen on the cowl in the picture of White 2 was for 1./JG77 or for another unit? I know I Gruppe JG77 went through some changes during the time around Malta, but the research I found only got me more confused.

Again, thanks for the help.

Glenn
 
Hello Everyone:

Here is the first of the two profiles. I did the 109G-2 "White 2" first since Wayne was kind enough to share his photo of Freytag. The cammo and the tail markings are guesswork. I did the tail markings guessing that JG77 didn't recieve the 109G-2 until late in the Malta campaign, or even after it and I adjusted his kill number in the wreath to represent what his score would have been in the fall of 1942. The cammo is the standard RLM 74/75/76 but could have been overpainted with tropical colors or even Italian paint as was done on a few machines.

Please give me feedback, especially those of you who know more about this subject that I do. Thanks!
Freytag109GWhite2.png
 
interesting character - IIRC he featured in Steinhoff's book 'The Straits of Messina' - under another name. He's the one that was stuck on 99 vics and drank very heavily..
 
Hello Everyone:

Here is the first of the two profiles. I did the 109G-2 "White 2" first since Wayne was kind enough to share his photo of Freytag. The cammo and the tail markings are guesswork. I did the tail markings guessing that JG77 didn't recieve the 109G-2 until late in the Malta campaign, or even after it and I adjusted his kill number in the wreath to represent what his score would have been in the fall of 1942. The cammo is the standard RLM 74/75/76 but could have been overpainted with tropical colors or even Italian paint as was done on a few machines.

Please give me feedback, especially those of you who know more about this subject that I do. Thanks!
Freytag109GWhite2.png

One source I have indicates I/JG77 received their G-2's in late September 42, at this time freytag's tally was 70 victories, his 71st victory was on 4th Oct 42.

Keep the wreath as I showed it with 40 and add additional kill bars to when you want to represent, Freytag did not receive further awards that would alter the 40 in the wreath during the rest of 1942.
The fuselage cross should be larger also.

Here is a shot of Fretags rudder from an Ebay auction some time ago...can't explain why it is detached from his aircraft....other than he may have taken possession of another 109F and the rudder was transferred. 57th Victory was 10th July, 58 wasn't until the 21st July, so another aircraft is a possibility during the period between these victories....
 

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I'm no expert where JG77 is concerned, but shouldn't there be an "Ace of Hearts" emblem on the profile?

Any clues why he had the British Isles as his personal emblem?
 
Thanks for the imput Wayne. So, If I understand you correctly, I can depict Freytag's Malta aircraft he used after September as the G-2 I have depicted here with the changes to the markings that you mentioned and I would be pretty close to the mark or should the rudder have "70" in the wreath on his G-2 since it was a new aircraft? I was guessing at "75" but a second look at his victory list confirms what you said. Thanks for pointing that out, I would have missed it otherwise. Maybe the time between victory 70, which was on 8/13/42 and victory 71 on 10/4/42 accounts for the transition time between the 109F to the 109G-2. Just speculating though.

Also thanks for the other picture. It is interesting that the picture was taken with the rudder detached from the aircraft. It does seem to indicate that he was transferring it to another aircraft.

To answer Maximowitz's question, I./JG77 was detached from the rest of the Geschwader and for a period of time operated seprately from the rest of JG77. The symbol they used at that time was the "L" with England superimposed which belonged to LG1 (I hope I'm getting this unit right). I./JG77 went to the standard "Ace of Hearts" in 1943 when they were reassigned yet again. I'm not sure exactly when this was but I know they did not use the "Ace of Hearts" during their time around Malta in 1942 but it did reappear when they were in the Medeterranian in 1943. I have been searching fo copies of Dr. Prien's book on JG77 in hopes that it will help me understand what exactly was going on with this unit but so far no luck.

Again, thanks for all of the help. I'll correct White 2 and repost it and I'll get the 109F done soon as well.

Glenn
 
Yes after Sept 42 most likely a G-2.

40 in the Wreath, this does not change with victory tally...it would only change with an award....as he already had the Knight's Cross the next award would be the Oak Leaves, which he did not receive.
How long he continued to record his victories on the rudder is anyone's guess as there are no further pics of his rudder tally....likely he continued to add white bars to his rudder, But it would still be 40 within the wreath.

Yes the LG 1 marking was used but did not appear on all aircraft.
 
To answer Maximowitz's question, I./JG77 was detached from the rest of the Geschwader and for a period of time operated seprately from the rest of JG77. The symbol they used at that time was the "L" with England superimposed which belonged to LG1 (I hope I'm getting this unit right). I./JG77 went to the standard "Ace of Hearts" in 1943 when they were reassigned yet again. I'm not sure exactly when this was but I know they did not use the "Ace of Hearts" during their time around Malta in 1942 but it did reappear when they were in the Medeterranian in 1943. I have been searching for copies of Dr. Prien's book on JG77 in hopes that it will help me understand what exactly was going on with this unit but so far no luck.

Many thanks for the clarification Glenn, most kind. I might be able to contact Dr Prien with regard to this thread, he frequents a forum I am a member of. Perhaps I could get you in touch with him?
 
40 in the Wreath, this does not change with victory tally...it would only change with an award....as he already had the Knight's Cross the next award would be the Oak Leaves, which he did not receive.
How long he continued to record his victories on the rudder is anyone's guess as there are no further pics of his rudder tally....likely he continued to add white bars to his rudder, But it would still be 40 within the wreath.

Thanks for that information Wayne, I will change the rudder accordingly. I'm thinking now that I will go with the G-2 since that seems to be the most likley airplane he flew in his later time on Malta.

I might be able to contact Dr Prien with regard to this thread, he frequents a forum I am a member of. Perhaps I could get you in touch with him?

Hey Maximowitz, that would be awesome! I would love to hear from him and get his imput into this subject.

Thanks for all of the imput everyone!!!!

Glenn
 
Here is a updated image with the information provided by Wayne. I haven't changed the cross size yet and I just realized that I didn't put crosses under the wings, but I did update the rudder so you'll have to use your imagination on the rest. ;)

Let me know what you guys think, and thanks for the imput!

Freytag109GWhite2Update1.png
 

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