It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French for sabotage in 1923.

[12] JG 26 claimed a first victory on 28 September, when a Curtiss P-36 Hawk from Groupe de Chasse II/5 encountered 2./JG 26 escorting a Henschel Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft.

Gruppe commander by Major Ernst Freiherr von Berg on 31 October, while on 7 November Joachim Müncheberg claimed the last victory during the "Phoney War" over a No.

[20] The Allied armies enacted their Dyle Plan into Belgium on 11 May, screened by three groups of French fighters, four Hawker Hurricane squadrons from the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force, supported by elements of No.

In thirty minutes, ten British fighters were shot down while the Junkers Ju 87 "Stukas" made a successful attack on Dunkirk shipping.

Winston Churchill rejected Adolf Hitler's overtures for a peace settlement and the Nazi leadership resolved to invade Britain as a last resort.

[37] Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ordered attacks on British shipping in the English Channel as a prelude to a full-scale offensive against Fighter Command and its infrastructure, in July 1940.

[52][53] Both sides were grounded by poor weather for several days and on 22 August 1940, Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, dissatisfied with his wing commanders and feeling that younger and more aggressive leaders were needed for the battle, replaced eight Geschwaderkommodore.

Flying closer to the bombers forced the German fighters to engage in manoeuvre battles with the Spitfire, which was superior to the Bf 109 in this respect due to its lighter wing loading.

By the end of September, Galland noticed that "the stamina of the superbly trained and experienced original [cadre of pilots] was down to a point where operational efficiency was being impaired".

The results were better and acceptable to his pilots; by the end of the Battle of Britain, JG 26 had gained a reputation as one of only two fighter wings that performed escort duties with consistently low losses to the bombers.

To counter this threat the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) were tasked with bombing raids in an effort to neutralise the RAF defences and the ports.

[79] The German-led invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, in June 1941, provided a greater strategic rationale for applying pressure to the Luftwaffe in Western Europe.

The psychological impact of the massed-firepower of American bombers encouraged inexperienced German pilots to break off too soon from the classic stern-attack position to cause any damage.

While I. Gruppe went east to support Army Group Centre on the Moscow sector, 7 staffel was detached again, and sent to the Leningrad front until late June 1943 as part of I./JG 54.

[135] In North Africa, the Axis collapsed in May, having expended enormous manpower and material strength to hold African and Mediterranean positions while providing US forces with invaluable experience and intelligence on the quality of their enemy.

On the Eastern Front, the defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad and the failure of Operation Blue denied Hitler victory and forced a continuation of the war which compelled the Luftwaffe to fight multiple enemies with inferior resources.

The Luftflotte 3 operations staff reported in April 1943, the main defensive effort was against USAAF daylight raids[139] From September to December 1942 JG 26 come into contract with the US Eighth Air Force with growing frequency.

The psychological impact of the US bombers' return fire encouraged German pilots to break off and attacks were rarely carried out exactly as Galland prescribed.

[150] JG 26's tactics against the P-47 were summarised by Oberleutnant Hans Hartigs, whose comments were captured on tape in his bugged cell in England in late 1944:If attacked, we should draw the P-47s to a lower altitude (3,000 metres (9,800 feet)) by diving, then turn about suddenly.

Gruppe employed similar tactics, waiting for the US escorts to leave before beginning a 30-minute attack near Aachen claiming four but losing one and three more Bf 109s damaged against the unescorted bombers.

The RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force was also released from escort duty—the Spitfires were now authorised to seek out the Luftwaffe while the bombers softened up the invasion coast in preparation for Operation Overlord.

[180] As the Falaise pocket closed, trapping large German forces, JG 26 lost nine pilots killed and two wounded in a single action with the US 315th Fighter Squadron.

On the last date, British, Canadian, Polish and American forces began Operation Market Garden under the command of Bernard Law Montgomery.

[186] Hitler gambled the last substance of the Waffen-SS and Panzer Divisions on the Ardennes Offensive, an effort to capture Antwerp and split the Americans and British Commonwealth forces militarily, in the hopes of improving Germany's dire situation.

[208] JG 26 resisted Operation Clarion, mainly carried out by the US Ninth Air Force, and over the course of 22 to 24 February suffered the loss of three dead and three wounded.

JG 26 was ordered to conduct reconnaissance, since the German army had no frontlines, intelligence on Allied movements, or close support operations against road traffic.

On 19 April the wing managed to fly 35 sorties and the following day Hans Dortenmann became the last member of JG 26 awarded the Knight's Cross.

[213] In an unusual mission, on 26 April 1945, 12 Fw 190s from JG 26 under the command of Hans Dortenmann escorted Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim and test pilot Flugkapitän Hanna Reitsch from Rechlin–Lärz Airfield to Gatow Airport.

JG 26 was ordered to Norway on 5 May, but Karl Borris argued with commanding officer Franz Götz that weather made the transfer impossible.