page_title: Jagdgeschwader 27
section_title: North Africa and Mediterranean
hierarchical_section_title: Jagdgeschwader 27 / World War II / North Africa and Mediterranean
caption_attribution_description: German Messerschmitt Me 109E fighters from I/Jagdgeschwader 27 (1st Group, 27th Fighter Wing) in flight over North Africa, circa 1941.
context_page_description: Jagdgeschwader 27 "Afrika" was a fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The wing was given the name "Africa" for serving in the North African Campaign predominantly alone in the period from April 1941 to September 1942. Elements of JG 27 fought in every major theatre of operations in which the Wehrmacht operated.
  Stab JG 27 was created in October 1939 and assigned two gruppen in the Phoney War. The wing's first campaign was Fall Gelb, the battles of the Low Countries and France. In the second half of 1940 JG 27 received a third gruppe and fought in the Battle of Britain. In 1941 it returned to Germany then fought in the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Battle of Greece in April 1941. The wing was then separated with two gruppen sent to support Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. I. Gruppe was sent to Italian Libya beginning JG 27s North African Campaign from mid-April 1941. It was joined by II. Gruppe which was withdrawn from the Eastern Front after les than two weeks and transferred to Africa. III. Gruppe joined the other gruppen in North Africa in late 1941.
context_section_description: On 10 June 1940 Benito Mussolini brought the Italian Empire into the war on Germany's side. Mussolini hoped to capitalise on the rapid fall of France by entering the conflict before its conclusion and receiving a share of the territorial gains. The Italian invasion of France ended with a German victory in Fall Rot. The second land offensive occurred in September 1940 with the Italian Invasion of Egypt, and in October with the Greco-Italian War. The campaigns failed, compelling German support in Africa and Greece. The Axis powers were swift to achieve victory in Greece. Hitler sent the Deutsches Afrika Korps to Italian Libya in March 1941 to forestall an Italian collapse in the wake of Operation Compass. Operation Sonnenblume succeeded in stabilising the Axis position in North Africa. The Luftwaffe sent Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters from III./ZG 26 to support the Italian African Army from January 1941. The unit claimed its first success on 19 February. JG 27 arrived in April, in the form of I. Gruppe under the command of Eduard Neumann. The gruppe arrived at Gazala on 14 April, and first engaged in combat five days later. Karl-Wolfgang Redlich and Werner Schröer claimed the first victories in Africa, but Schröer had the distinction of being the first German Bf 109 pilot shot down in Africa. The first day of combat operations yielded four claims for one loss. JG 27 soon moved to airbases in the vicinity of Tobruk to support the Siege of Tobruk. From 21–21 April the Desert Air Force had the best of fighting. The bombers assisted in breaking up several of Rommel's early tank attacks.  
  The situation rapidly deteriorated for the RAF in mid-April. Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw, commanding 204 Group RAF (renamed the Desert Air Force), wrote to Air Marshal Arthur Tedder on 24 April. The arrival of JG 27 and ZG 26 near Tobruk allowed the German formations to arrive at great height within ten minutes of an air raid warning, leaving British fighters at lower altitude and a great disadvantage. He remarked attrition had caused  "a serious reduction in our fighter force." Air Marshal Arthur Longmore cabled the Air Ministry in London. He told London that to maintain patrols, the fighters were forced to refuel at Sidi Barrani granting Axis air units a free hand over Tobruk but arguing that without patrols to defend fighter squadrons refuelling at Tobruk on the ground, they were "hostage to a fortune we cannot afford." On 1 May, for example, No. 274 Squadron RAF lost all six Hurricanes it sent on a single mission when a flight of Bf 109s from JG 27 led by Gerhard Homuth, and containing the most successful fighter pilot in Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille, engaged them from a superior altitude over Tobruk. JG 27 opposed the aerial element of Operation Brevity. The operation was called off within 48 hours after strong German resistance. JG 27 accounted for four British aircraft, one of them was piloted by Noel Agazarian who was killed. The Tobruk defenders were hard-pressed against Luftwaffe fighter operations and on 21 May; 73, 213 and 274 Squadrons were their main units. Joachim Müncheberg arrived with 7./JG 26 on 1 June to assist JG 27. In the build-up to Operation Battleaxe, RAF bombers attacked airfields at Gazala. I./JG 27 were forced to decamp personnel to the beach, and pitch camps between the dunes. 2 staffel Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt may have sunk a 200-ton sailing ship, the eight crew washed up in German territory and were captured. In early June, pilots were pressing for the arrival of the Bf 109 F. The Bf 109 E, which the Hurricane could match under some circumstances, was grossly inferior to the newer Bf 109. On the eve of Battleaxe, the Luftwaffe could muster 7./JG 26, I./JG 27, several staffeln from LG 1, two gruppen of Ju 87s from StG 1 StG 3. At the beginning of the battle another well-known and long-serving pilot began to achieve success; Ludwig Franzisket, future Geschwaderkommodore. Twenty-four British aircraft were shot down and three badly damaged in the brief fighting. JG 27 lost two pilots killed. The 17 June 
caption: JG 27 Bf 109s over Italian Libya, 1941. The Bf 109 nearest the camera carries the emblem of I. Gruppe
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