Luftwaffe Over Britain 1939-45
A ‘Free Hunt’ over England
For Luftwaffe fighter pilots operating over Britain, there were two enemies: the Royal Air Force and the English Channel.
Contemporaneous accounts by German fighter pilots operating over southern England during 1940 are relatively rare. For one thing, the pilots were either too tired or too busy to spend time writing up diary accounts of air battles or their flying adventures. Of those who survived the war, some would go on to later write of their experiences.
However, the following is an account written directly for a friend after an air battle over southern England, dated as being 11 November 1940 and flying from his airfield base at Guines, Pas de Calais.
The account was written by 22-year-old Leutnant Erwin Leykauf, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 E pilot, when he was serving with 7./JG54:
“In general, I don’t like to write essays or reports, but since there’s only room for one person in a Messerschmitt 109, and a reporter can’t fly with me, I will just have to tell you about a front-line experience myself.
“Our engines drone evenly in our ascent to altitude and the aircraft of my Staffel are to the left and right of me. The morning haze out over the coast of France is slowly drifting away from under us; 4,000 metres and then 5,000 metres is indicated on the pointer of the altimeter.
“Now, oxygen masks are put on as we go higher and head towards London. A ‘Free Hunt’ is our mission. This is where we are simply hunting for the enemy and not tied as escorts to the bombers. We fly out over the English Channel, and from this altitude it just looks like a wide river. Small
clouds cover the white cliffs along the coast of ‘Old England’ ahead of us.
“The clouds that form a layer at 2,000 to 3,000 metres over southern England are becoming more and more dense. Every hole in the cloud is watched closely, because that is where the enemy pop through if they want to engage us.
“Above us, a ‘cover pack’ that comprises two fighters working in a pair watch behind us and above us to meet any nasty surprises from those directions. The view is wonderfully clear, and now you can plainly see Canterbury. The anti-aircraft guns will soon start firing. We already know this area well enough.”
OUT OF THE SUN
For Erwin Leykauf and his fellow pilots, the knot of fearful anticipation intensified in their stomachs as their formation penetrated further into British airspace. They knew that the enemy would likely be waiting for them. But any fears or tensions would dissipate soon enough when battle was joined.
From that point, there would be far too much going on to suffer from nerves and it became an all-consuming effort to hit the enemy and stay alive at the same time. Importantly, it also meant keeping a watch on fuel gauges; a limited fuel capacity restricted how much time the Messerschmitt Bf 109s could spend fighting over England.
Erwin Leykauf, though, continued his account of the battle:
“Suddenly, there is a crackle in the headphones: ‘Attention! Below us through a hole in the cloud, six or eight machines!’ But you hear that often. Sometimes, it was just our own ‘planes flying back. But this time we know they are not ours. The line formation in which they are flying is suspicious. So…we must be careful!
“Now, they come higher. And now we can spot them perfectly. The dark silhouettes of the Spitfires stand out clearly against the white cloud cover. Another 1,000 metres and I guess they will be among us. Apparently, though, they haven’t spotted us yet. But…damn it! Why, oh why, doesn’t our Staffel leader attack now? What is he doing? If they notice us, then the chance of surprise is lost for us.
“We make another tight left climbing turn, but then I realise that our cunning old fox of a leader knows exactly what he is doing after all. And I quickly realise that his idea is to make an attack from out of the sun.
“Soon, the jittery moments before the
dogfight will be over! Let’s get this started! I’m flying as the third aircraft behind the leader, and we are now in a nosedive. Let’s get started…let’s get started!
“Suddenly, a plume of smoke traces a downward arc, tumbling away into the clouds. The leader of our Staffel has taken care of the first one. The next Spitfire is now in front of me. The roundels are tantalisingly bright. Now, release the safety catch and press the buttons. Damn it! The beast has spotted me, and he pulls away in a tight curve. At the very same moment, I have another one in front of me, flying in the same direction. I’m already within ramming distance!
“The pointed wings, the radiators, the roundels…my machine guns and cannon hammer them. With thick black smoke, I see the burning Tommy fall into the void below me. That was the fourth of his tribe who made the acquaintance of my faithful old number ‘5’*. But what is that thread of smoke just passing my cockpit? Tracers!
“At once, everything is in high tension again. I can just see a Tommy behind me, but he is on his back, burning, and disappearing. A few pieces of debris flutter behind him. Then, a ‘109 pulls past, very fast. I wave as I recognise a comrade of my Staffel. He has slammed this Tommy off my back. It was all over in a matter of seconds. A look at the instruments, but everything is still in order.
“At low level, we roar over our home airfield, waggling our wings. The luck of the hunter has stayed with me. But tomorrow we will do it all again. Will we all come home?”
Erwin Leykauf was one of the lucky ones. He did come home the next day. Indeed, he survived the war with an impressive ‘kill’ tally.
During the campaign in France in 1940, and later in the Battle of Britain, Erwin Leykauf scored a total of five victories as listed below:
• 10 May 1940, Gloster Gladiator, France
• 12 August 1940, Spitfire, SE England
• 28 August 1940, Hurricane, Canterbury
• 30 August 1940, Spitfire, SE England
• 2 September 1940, Spitfire, Dover/
Folkestone
Given that Erwin Leykauf’s letter from the front was dated 11 November 1940, it will be noted that no claims are attributed to him for that date. Additionally, his unit had been rotated out of the front line by then. Thus, it must be concluded that his letter relates to one of his victories between 12 August and 2 September 1940 and that his account was either post-dated or incorrectly dated.
Erwin Leykauf ended the war with 33 confirmed victories, 27 of these being claimed on the Eastern Front. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold in 1942.