page_title: Jagdgeschwader 27
section_title: Defence of the Reich and the Western Front
hierarchical_section_title: Jagdgeschwader 27 / World War II / Defence of the Reich and the Western Front
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 Gruppe which was withdrawn from the Eastern Front after les than two weeks and transferred to Africa.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: I. Gruppe moved to France after its withdrawal from Africa. It was moved to Jagdfliegerführer 3 at Evreux from 2 January 1943. The formation was ordered to defend the Paris area but was still not at full combat effectiveness, in what was to become a demanding combat environment. The group experienced its first combat on 8 March and five days later its commander Hauptmann Heinrich Setz was killed in action with Spitfires. A series of air raids against Rouen and Rennes took place that day, covered by 16 RAF Squadrons and the US 4th Fighter Group. 3./JG 27 lost one pilot killed in the fighting. The gruppe moved to Jagdfliegerführer Südfrankreich after the Axis defeat in Africa. It stayed at Poix for a week before moving to Southern France after Case Anton to defend the area. 2./JG 27 left Jafü 3 and the rest of I./JG 27 and transferred to Amsterdam-Schipol, under the jurisdiction of Jagdfliegerführer Holland for a short time. I. Gruppe was the first formation moved from a peripheral theatre to defend Germany. The unit was then moved to the 7. Jagddivision near Markersdorf, from Münster. It became the first unit under Jagdfliegerführer Ostmark, and was later joined by III. and IV. Gruppe in Austria.
  On 1 October I./JG 27  was sent to intercept the Eighth Air Force's attack on the Messerschmitt factory at Wiener Neustadt. The US Twelfth Air Force was sent to bomb Augsburg. Luftwaffe defences were still weak in this region, and inexperienced against heavy bombers, but the gruppe and III./JG 3, with Messerschmitt Me 410s from I. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 51 in support. JG 3 claimed seven and I. Gruppe of JG 27 claimed six. American records reflect the loss of ten heavy bombers. On 4 October the Eighth AF targeted Frankfurt-am-Main with 155 B-17s from the 1st Bombardment Division, while the 3rd Bombardment Division sent 168 bombers against industrial targets in the Saar, and specifically the Saint-Dizier airbase which housed the recently arrived I./JG 27. The Gruppe withdrew to Wiesbaden on 18 November and remained their until 13 May 1944.Ten days later, the Americans initiated a Second Raid on Schweinfurt. I./JG 27 rushed from Austria to forward airfields to refuel and reached the bomber stream claiming six. The raid was a costly failure for the USAAF, and the high commands on both sides could see it was a victory for the defenders. On 2 November the Fifteenth AF attacked the Messerschmitt factory at Wiener Neustadt again. The attack was successful; only 11 of the 112 bombers failed to return. I./JG 27, II./JG 51, II./JG 53 and the factory protection schwarm claimed successes, but Göring and General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland (former JG 27 adjutant) were dissatisfied and personally flew to Austria to rebuke the group commanders.
  In February 1944 the US Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces began "Big Week". American bomber operations were now protected by growing numbers of long-range US single-engine fighters. On 22 February 1944, the Fifteenth was relieved of support operations in Italy and ordered to attack the Regensburg area, covered by the 7. Jagddivision and its Austrian Fighter Leader command. I./JG 27 flew in action to protect the Messerschmitt factories in the region. Scrambled from Wels-am-Wagram, with eight Bf 109s from the fighter leader school nearby. They assembled over Vienna and flew to Linz, but some JG 27 pilots were dissatisfied with the cooperation from the leader's school. Three B-24s were claimed destroyed and two were reported as Herausschüsse ("forced from formation"), losing two killed and one wounded. The school leaders claimed one Consolidated B-24 Liberator without loss. The weather over Central Europe was clear on 22 February and the Eighth began a complex, three-pronged assault on Schweinfurt, Gotha and Rostock. The Fifteenth supported by sending forces to Styr. The 5th Bombardment Wing was committed to the latter, with escort only on the withdrawal phase. I./JG 27, II./JG 53 and II. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 1 (ZG 1—1st Destroyer Wing) intercepted 160 kilometres (99 miles) from the city. III./JG
caption: Bf 109 G-6s over France, 20 July 1944. The G-6 nearest the camera carries a Erla Haube canopy
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