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| CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL NICOLAS TRUDGIAN PRINTS BY TITLE |
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 | Ace with 61.00 Victories |
Hannes Trautloft
Hannes Trautloft is one of the Luftwaffe's great fighter leaders, scoring his first air victory in the Spanish Civil War in August 1936. Returning to Germany in 1937 he joined the national aerobatics team flying the Me109. Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Hannes took command of I./JG20 taking part in the Battle of Britain, before moving to the Balkans as Kommodore of JG54. Now leading the group on the Russian Front, JG54 took part in the heavy fighting, first in the Me109, then the Fw190. In the summer of 1943 Hannes Trautloft joined General Galland's staff. As a 'mutineer' he was sacked by Goering, thus ending an illustrious combat career comprising 550 combat missions and 57 aerial victories. he died 11th January 1995.
| Hannes Trautloft - Signed Nicolas Trudgian Aviation Art Prints Pilot and Aircrew Signatures |
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Green Heart Warriors by Nicolas Trudgian. (B) In the summer of 1940, as a 28 year old captain, Hannes Trautloft took command of JG 54. During the next three years this extraordinary fighter leader shaped the unit into one of the most successful combat fighter wings of World War II. The Green Heart emblem of his home town Thuringischen, in the heart of Germany, became the Groups symbol and the fighter pilots famous as Trautlofts Green Heart Warriors. They carried their reputation throughout almost every European theatre. After campaigning in the Balkans, the unit moved to the Russian Front, where it flew Me109s and Fw190s in the heavy fighting of the Northern Region. By the war-end no fewer than twenty Green Heart Aces had achieved more than 100 air victories, its pilots collecting 58 Knights Cross awards. Nicolas Trudgian portrays a typical scene on the Eastern Front in 1943: IL 2 Stormoviks have attacked a German armoured division who have called for air support. JG 54 Green Hearts have quickly scrambled to the scene and have broken up the attack, downing several Russian aircraft during the encounter. In the foreground, Hannes Trautlofts Fw190 hurtles out of the canvas towards us, as the Ace glances over his shoulder to see an unfortunate IL-2 moments before hitting the snow-covered landscape a few feet below. Behind, two more Fw190s give support while in the background the low-level aerial contest is furiously fought. The drama unfolds in an exquisitely painted landscape, the northern morning sun casting long shadows across the snow drifts. |
Winter Combat by Nicolas Trudgian. Hannes Trautloft in his FW190 leading his famous JG54 bring down a Russian Petlyakov Pe-2 on the Eastern Front in 1943. This dramatic painting is set in a superb winter landscape. |
| Hannes Trautloft Squadron details |
JG54 Country : Germany | JG54 I./JG 54 was initially formed as I./JG 70 near Nuremberg in July 1939, just two short months before hostilities broke out. As was to become tradition within Grunherzgeschwader, the Gruppe took the Nurember coat-of-arms (a veritcally divided shield with a black heraldic bird on the left, and red and white diagonal stripes on the right) to represent the region the unit came from. On September 15, 1939, I./JG 70 was redesignated I./JG 54 The initial unit designation for II./JG 54 was I./JG 138. This unit was raised in 1938 after the Austrian annexation. Naturally many Austrian nationals were recruited when I./JG 138 was formed. The Aspern coat of arms (black lion's head surmounting a white cross on a red field) was taken by the Gruppe for its identity. I./JG 138 was briefly designated I./JG 76 before finally becoming II./JG 54 on April 6, 1940. The III./JG 54 has its roots in Prussia. Initially I./JG 21, the members were drawn from the Jesau region in Prussia. The modified Jesau coat-of-arms (a shield with a Jesau cross with three diving aircraft on a red background, with a white outline on the shield) was adopted as the Gruppe's own. On July 15, 1939, I./JG 21 was redesignated III./JG 54. However, the bureaucratic nature of the young Luftwaffe was such that it was over a year before records would reflect the new designation. Consequently, III./JG 54 fought in Poland and France as I./JG 21. Kommodoren of JG 54 : Major Martin Mettig; 2 Feb 40 to 25 Aug 40. Oberst Hannes Trautloft; 25 Aug 40 to 5 Jul 43. Major Hubertus von Bonin; 6 Jul 43 to 15 Dec 43. Oberstleutnant Anton Mader; 28 Jan 44 to Sep 44. Oberst Dieter Hrabak; 1 Oct 44 to 8 May 45. |
| Hannes Trautloft Aircraft details |
 Me109 Manufacturer : Messerschmitt Built : 33984 | Me109 Willy Messerschmitt designed the BF109 during the early 1930s. The Bf109 was one of the first all metal monocoque construction fighters with a closed canopy and retractable undercarriage. The engine of the Me109 was a V12 aero engine which was liquid-cooled. The Bf109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and flew to the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. During the Battle of Britian the Bf109 was used in the role of an escort fighter, a role for which it was not designed for, and it was also used as a fighter bomber. During the last days of May 1940 Robert Stanford-Tuck, the RAF ace, got the chance to fly an Me109 which they had rebuilt after it had crash landed. Stanford-Tuck found out that the Me109 was a wonderful little plane, it was slightly faster than the Spitfire, but lacked the Spitfire manoeuvrability. By testing the Me109, Tuck could put himself inside the Me109 when fighting them, knowing its weak and strong points. With the introduction of the improved Bf109F in the spring of 1941, the type again proved to be an effective fighter during the invasion of Yugoslavia and during the Battle of Crete and the invasion of Russia and it was used during the Siege of the Mediteranean island of Malta. The Bf109 was the main fighter for the Luftwaffe until 1942 when the Fw190 entered service and shared this position, and was partially replaced in Western Europe, but the Me109 continued to serve on the Eastern Front and during the defence of the Reich against the allied bombers. It was also used to good effect in the Mediterranean and North Africa in support of The Africa Korps. The Me109 was also supplied to several German allies, including Finland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia. The Bf109 scored more kills than any other fighter of any country during the war and was built in greater numbers with a total of over 31,000 aircraft being built. The Bf109 was flown by the three top German aces of the war war. Erich Hartmann with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories and Gunther Rall with 275 kills. Bf109 pilots were credited with the destruction of 100 or more enemy aircraft. Thirteen Luftwaffe Aces scored more than 200 kills. Altogether this group of pilots were credited with a total of nearly 15,000 kills, of which the Messerschmitt Bf109 was credited with over 10,000 of these victories. The Bf109 was the most produced warplane during World War II, with 30,573 examples built during the war, and the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Bf109s remained in foreign service for many years after World War II. The Swiss used their Bf109Gs well into the 1950s. The Finnish Air Force did not retire their Bf109Gs until March 1954. Romania used its Bf109s until 1955. The Spanish Hispanos flew even longer. Some were still in service in the late 1960s. |
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