It has occured to me that I don´t know the first time some of the most famous aircraft of WWII had their "baptism of fire". All the details please. Location, date etc. etc.
In 1937 the first production Bf-109 B's rolled off the assembly line. The first of these went to II Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 132 based at Jueterbog-Damm. The next 16 were crated and sent to 2 Staffel of Jagdgruppe 88 in war torn Spain. Here, the Messerschmitts proved their immediate superiority, especially at high altitudes. There were never many of them employed here but they achieved success far out of proportion to their numbers. By 1938 the Republican Forces were beaten and the final encounter was on March 27, 1939. The Condor Legion passed all of its 47 Bf-109's to the new Spanish Air Force. Sorry i couldnt give you an exact date on the Bf109's baptism of fire ! KBO
From what I can tell, the 2/88 didn´t get into action until July 1937 when their Bf 109Bs encountered Republican I-16s during an escort mission. I´m not sure if anybody knows when a Bf 109 first shot down an enemy aircraft, was shot down itself or even fired its guns in anger for the first time. Then Leutnant Rolf Pingel was credited with "one of the first" victories during the fighting around Brunete during July 1937. Three of the prototypes ( V3, V4 and V5 ) were sent to Spain in December 1936 for evaluation. They experienced much trouble, and the prototypes were returned to Germany in January 1937, but Leutnant Hannes Trauloft apparently managed to take one of the prototypes ( probably V4 ) on its first combat sorties. I´ve read excerts from Trauloft´s diary, however, and no mention is given to this except from an entry on January 14 when he writes that the aircraft are ready to be moved to the Madrid front.
