Somebody site mailed to say "enjoying the pictures but miss the history...", hope this covers it, regarding the lead aircraft in yesterdays post.... Johannes "Hannes" Trautloft , ( 3rd March 1912 - 11th January 1995 ) was a fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1932 until the end of the war and again from 1957-1970. He flew 560 combat sorties and was credited with 58 victories. He was regarded as a very competent leader, and much respected by those serving beneath him. He is also regarded as the father of Jg 54. Following service in Spain, Trautloft held various Staffelkapitan positions, and at the outbreak of World War II he was the commander of 2 Jg 77. He commanded this squadron during the invasion of Poland, in which he got 1 confirmed ' kill '. Trautloft was promoted to Hauptmann and appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I / Jg 20 on 19 September. Trautloft got a further two victories during the Battle of France in May 1940. On 4th July I / Jg 20 was redesignated III /Jg 51. During the Battle of Britain Trautloft got a further two victories with Jg 51 bringing his total to 10. In late August it was becoming apparent to the German High Command that the battle of Britain was not going as planned. A frustrated Goring relieved several Geschwaderkommodore of their commands, and appointed younger, more aggressive men in their place. Adolf Galland was given command of Jg 26 on 22nd August , and Trautloft was given command of Jg 54 on 25th August and promoted to Major. Trautloft flew over 120 combat sorties over the English Channel with Jg 54, and the Geschwader earned a positive reputation among the German bomber crews. During this period Trautloft scored three more victories, bringing his total to 13. In 1941 the Geschwader saw action in the East. First in the Balkans Campaign, then Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22nd June. On 27th June Trautloft was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 20 confirmed victories and outstanding leadership. On 4th December Trautloft ordered that all the aircraft of Jg 54 would wear the Green Heart symbol of Thuringen that he himself had on his aircraft in Spain. From this date forth Jg 54 became known as the Grunherz-Geschwader. During 1942 and 1943 Trautlofts tally rose to 58, on 6 July 1943 Trautloft was appointed as Jagdflieger Inspizient Ost, serving with the General der Jagdflieger office. This position put him in overall charge as Inspector of all the Fighter aircraft units fighting on the Eastern Front. In November he became Inspekteur der Tagjager, giving him overall responsibilities for all day-fighters. In early 1945 Trautloft joined other high-ranking pilots in the "Fighter Pilots Revolt", protesting the squandering of the precious Luftwaffe fighters and pilots in high-loss operations like Operation Bodenplatte. Following this revolt Trautloft was relieved of his position and sent to command the 4 Flieger-Schule Division (4th Pilot School Division) in Strassburg. He spent the remainder of the war there. Trautloft ended the war as an Oberst. After the war Trautloft joined the new Bundesluftwaffe on 1 October 1957, now with the rank of Brigadegeneral. He served throughout the 1960s as deputy Inspector General of the Bundesluftwaffe, and retired in 1970 as a Generalleutnant.