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The weather on the morning of 31 December, 1944 was already
unpleasant. In the Ardennes, hard-pressed German troops were
battling Allied ground forces advancing through several
inches of snow. Above, darkening skies heralded the arrival
of more snow. At 10.45am, in deteriorating weather, a battle
formation of 30 Fw190D fighters climbed out of Varrelbusch
and headed south over the snow covered landscape. Under the
command of 12./JG54 Staffelkapitan, Oblt. Hans Dortenmann,
and initially tasked to provide air cover to their
beleaguered comrades below, the group was re-assigned to
intercept enemy aircraft in the region of Limburg almost
immediately the pilots were airborne. Flying south they ran
directly into the oncoming weather, and with visibility
dangerously reduced, Dortenmann elected to climb through the
solid cloud into clear air. As the Fw190s broke cloud above
the area of Koblenz they sighted a formation of nine 2nd Air
Division B-24 Liberators and formed up for an attack. Some
6000 feet above, top-cover P-51 Mustangs had watched the
Fw190s climbing through the banks of clouds, and turned 180
degrees to position behind the Luftwaffe fighters. Diving in
from their height advantage, the Mustang pilots entered the
fray and within seconds the sky was filled with swirling
dogfights.
Every print in this edition has been signed in pencil by
THREE top pilots who flew with JG54 - The Green Hearts. Each
print is also signed by artist Robert Taylor, and
individually hand-numbered. |
