Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) “Grunherz” (Green Hearts) was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during the Second World War. It was known as the Green Hearts Wing, and was the second highest scoring wing of all time, JG 52 being the highest. JG 54 flew on the Eastern Front, racking up over 9,600 kills, with aces such as Walter Nowotny, Otto Kittel, Freiherr Peter Grunhertz, Hans “Phips” Philipp, Gunther Lutzow, Emil “Bully” Lang (Lang holds the record for most kills in a day,18), Max-Hellmuth Ostermann, Dietrich Hrabak, Werner Schroer and Hannes Trautloft being the most famous Experten.
Having enjoyed initial success over the Channel and South-east England during the summer of 1940, the unit was transferred to the Eastern Front in the spring of 1941 for Operation Barbarossa – the German invasion of the Soviet Union. JG 54 would remain a Jagdwaffe stalwart in the east, flying firstly Bf 109Fs and then the Fw 190.
JG 54 was known for its non-standard camouflage schemes. For example, Bf-109F-4’s on the Leningrad front 1941-42 were painted in black-green/dark-green splinter finish with yellow under cowling and under the wing tips.
JG 54 was assigned to Army Group North during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941 as part of the Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte 1. From the first days of the conflict, the unit proved to be one of the most effective units of the entire eastern front. June 30th was one of its most successful days of the entire war: JG 54 claimed no less than 65 kills (mostly bombers without fighters escort) over the town of Daugavpils. The “Grunherz” pushed on, still supporting Army Group North, towards the Gulf of Finland, fighting through Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. JG 54’s operations for 1941-43 had a twofold objective: to keep the pressure on the Leningrad sector, and to reduce Soviet pressure on the Lake Ilmen area at the German flank. The Geschwader remained on that part of the Eastern Front for most of its existence. In the period June 22nd – December 5th, 1941, the unit destroyed 1,078 Soviet aircraft in return for 46 losses in aerial combat and a single fighter on the ground. Such was the pace and scale of fighting that JG 54 celebrated its 1,000 kill on August 1st, 1941, thanks to Lieutenant Max-Hellmuth Ostermann.
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