Bf 109G-10 of KG(J) 6 in March 1945. Prague, Czechoslovakia.
With heavy losses fighter pilots and an increasingly useless bomber fleet by late 1944, the Luftwaffe decided to convert three Kampfgeschwaders into fighter units and added the (J) suffix for "Jagd" to their designations. KG(J)'s 6 and 27 were outfitted with Bf 109G-10's and K-4's and KG(J) 54 received Me 262's. KG(J) 6 was posted to Czechoslovakia to supplement the fighter force resisting the Soviet push through Poland towards Berlin. But KG(J) 6's downfall would not come from the Russians, but instead the Americans. On March 31, the unit was scrambled to intercept a 15th Air Force raid into Prague. There they met Mustangs of the 31st Fighter Group and suffer many losses and no known victories.
This aircraft was photographed at Prague-Kbely in a junk pile along with other derelict planes of various types. Its camouflage pattern indicates it was one of the 120ish 109G-10's built at the main Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg. That factory was the sole producer of 109K-4's before May 1945 and it's single batch of G-10's was made to utilize already produced 109G-14/AS fuselages and the new DB-605D intended for the new K-4. The red and black checkered Reich Defense system tail band indicated it's ownership of KG(J) 6 - only the units that converted from bombers used checkered bands.
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