A complete modeller’s guide to the most deadly plane of World War
II
The first Bf 109s saw service in the Spanish Civil War. By September
1939, the Bf 109 became the mainstay fighter of the Luftwaffe by World War II,
replacing the biplane fighters, and was instrumental in gaining air superiority
for the Wehrmacht during the Blitzkrieg. During the Battle of Britain the type
was pressed into new roles as an escort fighter, a role it was not originally
designed for, and was widely employed as a fighter-bomber as well as for
photo-reconnaissance. Despite mixed results over Britain, with the introduction of the improved Bf
109F into widespread operational service in the spring of 1941, the type proved
again to be an effective fighter during the Invasion of Yugoslavia, the Battle
of Crete and Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR
and during the Siege of Malta.
