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During the closing months of the war, the battle for air superiority over occupied Norway became ever more critical as the Germans continued to use the coastal waters to transport men and materials from the north and from the crumbling Russian Front. Day after day, allied aircraft operating from Scottish coastal bases, launched heavy strikes against the German shipping in an attempt to cut this vital supply line.
To counter this threat, elements of Jagdgeschwader 5 'Eismeer', (lit frozen sea), were pulled back from the Russian and Finnish fronts and positioned at various bases along the Norwegian coastline. The airfield at Herdla, some 30km NW of Bergen, was ideally placed to defend a crucial sector of the shipping routes and so became a major Luftwaffe base. Over 20 Focke Wulf 190s of 9 and 12 Staffel JG5 were posted here and they saw extensive combat, right up to the final days of the war.
This outstanding print was originally commissioned by the Norwegian armed forces, using research from military archives and from top Norwegian historian Cato Guhnfeldt and is, without doubt, the most accurate portrayal of an operational Luftwaffe airfield ever produced in this medium. The picture depicts an aircraft from each staffel returning to Herdla, from an operational sortie, in March 1945. 'Weiss 10' was the personal aircraft of Fw. Rudolf 'Rudi' Artner, a highly skilled pilot who had, in less than a year, achieved 20 victories against Russian, British and Finnish aircraft. 'Blau 9' was flown by Lt. Karl Heinz Koch who had flown throughout Europe with the Luftwaffe and ended the war in command of 12/JG 5.
This historically important print is only available in restricted quantities outside of Norway.
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