Hello everyone!
This is a quick message to update you on everything that is happening over at II./JG53.
www./freewebs.com/jagdgeschwader53
We have recently finished our Stalingrad campaign, and are about to progress on to bolster the numbers in North Africa. It is now early January 1943, with a successfull virtual year behind us we are looking forward to a bright future, even with the Russians and the Allies increasing their efforts we are still fighting strong. Many medals have been earned and many promotions have been granted as each pilot develops their skills and abilities both in official missions and in one of our many practice sessions.
Stalingrad has been lost but at a great cost for the Russian forces. We as a group have grown exponentially the past few months, with over 55 pilots in the group. Activity is at a massive level with us regularly having over 12 pilots per mission. Both Weisse (UK/Europe)and Gelbe (Aus/NZ) are regularly flying missions, with Rote (USA/CAN) members joining in when they can.
Recruitment and retention are very high priorities for us as a group, so if you have any suggestions on how to maintain activity/ gain new recruits or even ensure that everyone enjoys their time with the group even more, feel free to post in suggestions and let us know. Everyone in the group is more than welcome to make suggestions and they will be discussed fairly - as afterall, we are a group of people who choose to spend some of our free time flying together and sharing this interest.
Over this next operation we intend to get every section flying their own regular missions in order to give everyone a chance to fly. I know there are some of you who have not been seen in a little while, so I hope everything is good and we are all looking forward to your return. If you do not believe you will be returning please let me know so that I can move you to our Retired section of the roster and free up your number. For those of you who have joined but are yet to fly, please drop by the forums and keep us updated of your situation.
For those of you who are behind on your screenshots (I know I have 4+ missions to do) can you please try and get these done as soon as possible as they do form an integral part of our kill claims procedures.
To those of you who still need custom skins for the desert campaign, please let me know what you are after if you require me to skin them for you - I will be on holiday in 2 and a half weeks and will be available to skin around then. If you are doing the skin yourself or downloading one then it must be approved by a member of Gruppe stab BEFORE it is used in official missions.
Training Officers:
Since both Zieg and Hertz have been inactive for some time due to various real life events (hope to see you both soon though), we have opened up the training officer positions for each section. Nominations and applications have been recieved and the final decision will be announced very shortly.
North Africa:
Over NA we can expect to engage a vast variety of British and American fighters and bombers. Mostly Spitfires and hurricanes, each of these units has its own rudder markings creating a bit more depth to the campaign, allowing us to build rivalries against certain squadrons. The immersion factor for this campaign should remain very high as well as it being a much more difficult fight then we have previously experienced.
Any other news?
For all the latest information and to catch up with the group, the best bet would be to visit our website
www.freewebs.com/jagdgeschwader53 and take a flick through the forums, found via a link on our website.
Once again, I hope this message finds you all well and I hope to hear from everyone soon!
Kindest Regards,
Major Valantine Zimmermann
(Paul)
II./JG53
www.freewebs.com/jagdgeschwader53