14th October 1942 Erich Hartmann took off for his first combat mission as a wingman of feldwebel Eduard ‘Paule’ Rossmann. By that day Hartmann was 22 years old lieutenant of 7.III/JG-52.
Immediately after take-off they’ve received order: “Seven fighters and three Il-2 are attacking the road near Prohladniy. Intercept and destroy.”

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The skies over Germany has cleared out on the 11th January 1944 and though brilliant weather conditions supposed to be not for a long, 8th Air Force has decided to strike.

By the noon time about 663 bombers took off, formed up three groups and headed to the one target: fighters production in Brunswick-Halberstadt-Aschersleben. This area lay down on the straight air route to Berlin, less then 100 miles away.
German HQ has decided this bombers wave goes to Berlin, so not being in a hurry fighters were prepared.

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In spite of RAF pilots advices USAF decided to perform bomb strike on Schweinfurt ball bearing plant without fighters cover.
Both RAF and Luftwaffe has studied this lesson during the beginning of war: bombers without fighters cover can reach targets behind the enemy lines only by the cost of great losses, which at the end of the day will become unacceptable. In 1943 USAF still were thinking they will manage.

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8 August of 1941 bombers group of Order of the Red Banner Baltic Navy Air Forces performed first in the WWII Soviet bomb strike on Berlin.
This event was widely presented in media and had great influence on the moral of all Soviet people, which was extremeley necessary that time.

Maj. Hannes Trautloft was born in Thuringia, which always was called “Germany Green Heart”, so during the combat duty in Spain Trautloft has painted bug green heart on his Bf-109.
When 25 of August 1940 Maj. Hannes Trautloft became a commander of JG54, “Green Heart” or “Grunherz” became an official title of the group.

Later, in 1944 JG54 was the most resultative group of the western front.

See else: Robert Weiss, III/JG54 commander death