Bf 109F flown by Hans Strelow of 5./Jg 51. This plane was photographed shortly after Strelow achieved his 40th victory on February 28th 1942. The brash 19 year old apparently grew impatient of waiting to be awarded the Knight's Cross for his 40th, which was typical at the time, that he painted a uniform collar with the medal adorned on his rudder beside the 40th kill bar - along with a question mark. As if to say,"Hey, where's mine?"
Another interesting feature of his plane at the time was the dent in the prop spinner.
Strelow was a rising star in the Luftwaffe. He scored his first victory on June 25th 1941 over central Russia and averaged better than 4 victories per month through the end of February. But it was in March where Strelow really break out. Victory number 50 would come on the 17th and with it the Knight's Cross medal, finally. He would down 7 soviet planes the very next day and 7 more over the following 5 days to surpass 60 victories and was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. Strelow became the youngest recipient of the Oak Leaves during the entire war at 19 years and 363 days of age.
Hans Strelow's 68th and final victory would come nearly 2 months later. On May 22, Strelow shot down a Pe-2 but suffered critical engine damage in the attack. He was forced to land behind Soviet lines. Fearing capture and torture, Strelow committed suicide.
