Joachim Peiper Decorates a Soldier of the SS Leibstandarte Division at the Battle of Kursk

SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim "Jochen" Peiper (right) decorates a soldier of the Leibstandarte Division with the Iron Cross Second Class during Operation Zitadelle in July 1943. Behind is his adjutant SS-Untersturmführer Werner Wolff, awarded the Knight’s Cross shortly afterwards.

Tank Commanders and Platoon Leaders of the SS Leibstandarte Division

Tank commanders and platoon leaders of the Leibstandarte Division’s 13./SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 proudly pose in front of their newly painted Tigers in Italy in the autumn of 1943 (from left to right): SS-Oberscharführer Otto Augst, SS-Untersturmführer Michael Wittmann, SS-Unterscharführer Ewald Mölly and SS-Oberscharführer Jürgen Brandt.

Officers of JG 1 at Leck Airfield

Pilots of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1). In front of a partially painted Heinkel He 162 are, from left to right: Major Werner Zober (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 1), Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld (Geschwaderkommodore Jagdgeschwader 1), Hauptmann Heinz "Heinrich" Künnecke (Staffelkapitän 1.Staffel / I.Gruppe), Oberleutnant Karl Emil Demuth (Staffelkapitän 3.Staffel / I.Gruppe), Hauptmann Bernhard "Bernd" Gallowitsch (Staffelkapitän 4.Staffel / II.Gruppe), Hauptmann Gerhard Strasen (Gruppenkommandeur III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 4), and Hauptmann Wolfgang Ludewig (Staffelkapitän 2.Staffel / I.Gruppe). When this photograph was taken at Leck, Schleswig-Holstein, towards the end of the war, there were about 45 Heinkel He 162s of I.(Einsatz)/JG 1 in the background.

A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 of Walter Oesau (part 2)

Walter Oesau, Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1), with his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 'Grüne 13' (Werknummer 1230). He reached his 100th victory on 26 October 1941

Oberst Walter Oesau

Oberst Walter "Gulle" Oesau, Geschwaderkommodore for Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1) and for whom it was named after his death on 11 May 1944. Oesau scored 127 victories in over 300 combat missions. 9 victories were scored during the Spanish Civil War, 74 were scored on the Western front including 14 four-engined bombers (one B-17 as engültige Vernichtung) and 44 over the Eastern front