Messerschmitt ME109 Bf109

The BF109 E was the Luftwaffe's standard single-seat fighter for the first three years of the war and was able to outfight or outrun virtually all opposition. From the summer of 1942 the Messerschmitt 109G powered by a Daimler-Benz producing 1,800 hp with water-methanol injection and giving a speed of 685 km/h (428 mph), entered service in Russia and North Africa before being deployed in every other theater. With its standard armament of a cannon and two machine guns the Messerschmitt 109, like the Spitfire , saw action throughout the war.

Bearing in mind that the Messerschmitt 109 was to become one of the Royal Air Force's major opponents in the Second World War, it is ironic that the prototype had a British Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine when it made its first flight in September 1935. The power plant was, however, soon changed. In any case, Rolls-Royce was using a German built Heinkel He 70 to flight test some of its latest engines at about the same time.

The irony is, of course, far more apparent in retrospect. Hitler maintained to the end that he had never wanted to fight Britain. Nonetheless, the Germans were hard at work building up their armed forces to fight somebody in the mid thirties, with special attention to the Luftwaffe. And what the Luftwaffe needed, it got. The first German fighters were, understandably, biplanes. When first 'blooded' with the German Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War, it became clear that they were inferior to fighters built in Italy and the Soviet Union Polikarpov I-16s. However, back at home Professor Willy Messerschmitt was already preparing the first production Messerschmitt 109s for dispatch to Spain.

Only a few Messerschmitt 109s operated in Spain, but they proved superior to all opposing fighters and showed that, with some refinement, the type was ideal for large-scale front-line operation. Simultaneously, specially prepared versions and developments of the Messerschmitt 109, fitted with greatly boosted engines, gained a series of world speed records, some of which were to remain unbeaten for 30 years.

On September 1,1939 Germany attacked Poland, including in the aerial spearhead of its forces with about 200 Messerschmitt 109s, which quickly destroyed the obsolescent Polish PZL fighters. The standard version of the German fighter at that time was the Messerschmitt 109E, which was still the major variant when the Battle of Britain began in August 1940. During this battle, which lasted many weeks, RAF Hurricane and Spitfire fighters were directed mainly against incoming German bombers, although escorting Bf 110 twin-engine fighters and Messerschmitt 109s were necessarily engaged. Fighter losses on both sides were comparable, but the battle ended in victory for the RAF, as it had prevented the achievement of German air superiority which might have heralded a sea invasion of Britain.

The fact that the BF109 had too limited a range to be fully effective as a bomber escort during this battle persuaded the German authorities to consider the type most useful as a defensive fighter in Europe. This was reflected in the more refined but relatively lightly-armed next production version of the fighter, the Messerschmitt 109F. Not until the arrival of the Messerschmitt 109G was faith in the type fully restored; and this version was then built in huge numbers for many varied roles. It was in a Messerschmitt 109G-14 that Major Erich Hartmann of the Luftwaffe reached his unrivaled total of 352 confirmed victories, although these were gained on the Eastern Front where German fighters easily outclassed the early Soviet fighters.

In September 1939 the Luftwaffe had a front line strength of 1,200 fighters, including the formidable Messerschmitt Bf l09. As the war progressed, and the advantage swung away from Germany. Greater emphasis was placed on interceptors and night fighters than on bomber escorts, and in the last year output was concentrated almost entirely on last-ditch defenders.

The Messerschmitt 109G remained the major version right up to the end of hostilities in May 1945; it is thought that some 35,000 BF109s of all versions were produced. Others were built in Czechoslovakia, and many went into Czech Air Force service after the war. Another post-war operator was Israel, while BF109s built by Hispano in Spain as HA-1109s and HA-1112s, were still active into the seventies. With the last of them the wheel turned full circle. Like the original prototype they were powered by a Rolls-Royce engine - this time the Powerful Merlin.