JG 3 Fighter Wing

This is an info about the fighter wing where Minna was Commander before the 501st joint fighter wing: Jagdgeschwader 3
Logo of JG 3


JG 3 was formed in May 1939.
Campaign in the West (1940) JG 3 participated in the battles over France and went back as most succesfull group with 88 enemy shot down and 10 own lost. They also fought intensively in the Battle of Britain.
Campaign in the East (1941) Battles over Sovjet
Reorganisation and the Battle for Stalingrad(1942)JG 3 got the Nickname "Udet", named after Ernst Udet. In the same year, Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke became Kommodore of the JG 3, further also known as JG Udet.
Continued fighting in the East, and home defence (1943) As Allied bombing raids in Germany increased during mid 1943 each of the gruppen of JG 3 were in turn recalled to Germany to defend the homeland. On 23 March 1944, Wilcke led JG 3 in an attack on a USAAF bomber formation near Braunschweig. During combat, Wilcke shot down a P-51 for his 162nd victory, but was then shot down and killed.
Battering Rams (1944) As the American bomb attacks increased, a new attack technique was proposed; getting as close as possible or as last resort, ramming the bomber. JG Udet was supplemented with Fokke Wulf Fw190.

Jet fighters and the final offensives (late 1944-1945) When WW2 was about ending, JG 3 was supplemented with the first jet fighters, Messerschmitt Me262, aka Schwalbe (Swallow)

More information in Wikipedia