Taking off

1945 in Alborg, Denmark

Messerschmitt Bf 109Es of Luftwaffe’s Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG26) “Schlageter” on the maintenance area at Gela Airfield, Sicily, Spring 1941. In background an engine’s disassembly with use of a crane and a steamroller obviously used for level out the terrain. The JG26 were part of Fliegerkorps X (Tenth German Air Corps) transferred by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OLK) from Norway to Sicily to support the build-up of the Afrika Korps in Libya and air attack against Malta with a force of some 260 aircraft mostly Bf 109 fighters and Ju 87 Stukas dive bomber. With the arrival of Fliegerkorps X, HQ on Taormina, operational from 1 January 1941 to 31 May 1941, the balance over Malta was decisively shifted in favor to Axis air forces. Victor Sierra