Anton Resch

This Staffel was part of I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann and then by Major Johannes Wiese.

[2] On 11 October 1943, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Nove Zaporizhzhya located approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) west of Zaporizhzhia on the western bank of the Dnieper.

[4] On 27 January 1944, Resch and his wingman Leutnant Franz Schall flew a combat air patrol in the area of Kerch.

On this mission, they engaged in aerial combat with six Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and Resch was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20581—factory number).

[1][6] Following his return to combat, Resch claimed two P-39s from 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (16 GvIAP—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk) on 31 May.

[12] On 10 September 1944, he was again wounded when he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 166490) by anti-aircraft artillery 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Altsohl, present-day Zvolen.

The request was made by Oberst Hermann Graf who had been appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 52 in September 1944.

Resch and other soldiers of JG 52 surrendered to the 90th US Infantry Division near Písek on 8 May 1945 and became a prisoner of war (POW).