Jagdgeschwader 50

Jagdgeschwader 50
Emblem of JG 50
ActiveJuly–October 1943
Country Nazi Germany
BranchLuftwaffe
TypeFighter Aircraft
RoleAir superiority
SizeAir Force Wing
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Hermann Graf
Aircraft flown
FighterBf 109

Jagdgeschwader 50 (JG 50), sometimes erroneously referred to as Jagdgruppe 50, was formed at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield in the early June 1943 as Jagdgruppe Süd.[1] It only controlled two augmented Staffeln (squadrons). It was a specialized unit with the primary objective to combat the United States Army Air Forces' heavy bomber formations as well as intercepting the Royal Air Force's de Havilland Mosquito light bombers during World War II. The Geschwader was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, some of them equipped with the under-wing WGr 21 rocket-propelled mortar, as well as a special high-altitude variant.[2]

  1. ^ Prien et al. 2009, p. 204.
  2. ^ Dierich 1976, p. 47.