JG 51's pilots won more awards than any other fighter wing of the Luftwaffe, and operated in all major theatres of war.

Its members included Anton Hafner, Heinz Bär, Karl-Gottfried Nordmann, and Günther Schack.

From late June 1940 to mid July 1940, JG 51 was the only fighter Geschwader engaged continuously against the RAF.

During the battle JG 51 lost 68 pilots, the highest casualty rate of the Luftwaffe fighter units engaged.

[citation needed] After achieving more than 100 victories (the first time an aviator ever had done so), Mölders was forced to stop flying (for propaganda reasons) and was made an inspector of fighter aircraft.

Night bomber attacks during June 1942 put a part of JG 51's aircraft out of commission on the airfields at Oryol, Bryansk and Dugino (west of Kursk).

In August 1942, JG 51 suffered heavier losses than anything previously during the conflict; 101 Bf 109s were destroyed or written off from all causes during the month, with 17 pilots killed, missing, or hospitalized.

/ JG 51 was transferred to the Mediterranean theatre, fighting over Tunisia, Sicily and Italy before leaving for Sardinia in April 1943.

As Germany was losing the war, JG 51 retreated together with the rest of the Wehrmacht and by May 1945 operated out of East Prussia.