September 1942-a month of grief for JG 27:
In the first five days the Geschwader lost six young pilots, five of them to Spitfires and one in an accident.On 6th Sept one ace with 40 claims, Gunther Steinhausen, and another pilot were shot down by Hurricanes. The next day, a second top-scorer, Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt with 59 claims, was killed by a Spitfire of 601 Squadron. In the next fortnight JG 27 lost six more pilots, two of them in a mid-air collision.On the last day of the month they lost Marseille...
Having lost already 15 pilots, the loss of Marseille was the last straw for JG 27. The Gruppe was withdrawn from operations for a month.
Thatīs war....
